By FRANCIS FEDOR
When one includes girls teams in those sports teams nicknamed the South Shore Six, there have been good stories quietly happening both inside and outside of the South Shore Six this basketball season. Two, in particular, include Sumner Girls Varsity Basketball team, off to a 7-2 start, and WCPA, also off to a great start.
Winthrop senior Kai Brookins (shown in 2024 action vs Sumner) is one of five seniors on the roster excelling on the court, leading the Spartans in steals (1.7) and is 83 pct. successful from the free-throw line.
Spartan senior Nidley St. Fort is the team leader (shown in 2024 action vs Sumner) in dishing out assists at nearly four a game and is one of the senior leaders on the team making an impact.
Francis Fedor Photos
Stingray senior Camryn Jeter is out on the court producing another successful season. He is third on Sumner with 8.2 points-per-game and has picked the pocket of the opponent 27 times. (File photo from 2024 season)
Sumner girls basketball, under the leadership of Coach Marika Starks since the inception of the program in 2020, has grown into a top South Shore program in girls basketball. Starks is 76-56 as the Stingray head coach and 62-27 since the start of the 2022-23 season. The program, like the new Morgan HS, started with no seniors and went 4-16 in its first season. The Stingrays closed in on .500 in their second season at 10-18 as Starks built confidence in the players and created leaders on and off the court. The team is currently ranked at 77 in Florida, the highest the program may have ever been ranked. The Stingrays started their current run of success in that 2022-23 season at 18-8 and undefeated at 4-0 in the district. In 2023-24, Sumner won its first district championship, going 21-6 for the season that ended with a heartbreaking first-round loss to Riverview-Sarasota in the Florida State tournament, 55-53. Last season, the team played in the district championship game but lost another close game to Palm Harbor University, 55-49. The team was invited into the state championships and drew a tough Haines City squad, losing 67-30. The landscape of Florida high school girls basketball is very competitive, and Starks is putting her team into the conversation.
Sumner senior Mariah Farmer leads the Stingrays in points, assists and is second on the team with 32 steals, fueling the first- half success for the Stingrays. (File photo from 2024 season)
This season, Sumner is off and running, having already defeated each SS6 opponent it has faced, starting with East Bay, 43-33, on Nov. 18. The Stingrays have also taken care of business against Morgan, Lennard and Riverview with Spoto still left on the schedule. Lennard was the team’s most impressive SS6 victory, at 61-11, as the Longhorn girls are having a good season as they hit the break at 5-4. Their losses have been to teams having strong seasons, most notably, a 75-39 loss on the road at 10-2 Winter Haven. On the court, the team has been led by senior Mariah Farmer, putting up an average of 14 points-per-game. Senior Camryn Jeter, freshman Baylee Sapp and junior Jada Mathurin have also taken turns as leading scorer in a game. The Stingray girls are a team effort and have a number of key games left on their slate, including road match ups against Haines City, Sarasota and Plant. They welcome Spoto and Armwood to the Tank for the second half of the season. The ’Rays are a team to watch in the SS6 girl’s realm as the second half unfolds.
Another team having a strong season is Winthrop College Prep Academy (WCPA), just about a mile up 301, past the Big Bend intersection. Tucked back off the road, this small high school, which is not one of the South Shore Six, is off to a 9-5 start and is ranked 138 in the state. Head coach Brian Brilmyer coaches a tenacious group and in a recent game against Lennard, I had an opportunity to see the team in action first hand as it pressured every pass. WCPA opened its season with an 81-52 win over Morgan in the Mustangs’ first appearance. Two nights later, Sumner took the Spartans down to the wire, but a buzzer beater from the Spar istans pulled off the exciting home win. They completed the sweep of the SS6 with the 90-54 win over Lennard. Three of their five losses have come against a grouping of teams that are, as of this writing, a combined 28-6 in Jesuit (12-1), Sarasota (8-2), and Braden River (8-3).
Winthrop senior Jaiden Martin (shown in 2024 action vs Sumner) is leading the way for the Spartans in scoring at just over 13 points-a-game.
Sophomore Jaiden Martin leads all scorers at just over a 13 point average with Trajan Henson just behind at 12 points-per-game. Spartan junior Maikel Miranda is 35th in Florida with 2.4 blocks per game and is also pulling down 5.5 rebounds-per-game. The team has 11 games left on its schedule and looks to finish strong heading into the post-season.
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