By FRANCIS FEDOR
The week for the South Shore Six (SS6) kicked off with Spoto losing a tightly contested 72-70 game to Strawberry Crest on Monday, Jan. 26, in front of its home crowd. The difference was a 19-18 second and third quarters. Lennard, the only other SS6 team in action, lost another tough game to King, 53-52.
Morgan, in wrapping up its first regular season, led all the South Shore Six (SS6), averaging 59 points-per-game, and beat Robinson, 70-55, on the road for its third consecutive win. (Sumner is second with 58 with Spoto just behind at 57.) Sumner leads the point differential between offensive scoring and defensive allowed points by plus four. Spoto is second with a plus three.
Stingray senior Keondre Barton eyes a layup in win over Tampa Bay Tech on Jan. 29.
Sumner’s Karson Coleman takes the ball to the net between two Tampa Bay Tech defenders in win on Jan. 29
On Tuesday evening, Sumner continued its struggles, dropping its fourth in a row, 71-62, to a surging King Lions team that moved to 17-7 on the season. Karson Coleman, continuing a strong junior season, scored 20 in the loss and is averaging just under 13 points-per-game. The very next night the Spoto Spartans bounced back with a 68-61 home win over Middleton, sending the crowd home happy. East Bay won at home, 59-57, over Robinson in a thriller in Gibsonton, and Morgan could not carry the momentum of the winning streak in a home loss to Wharton, 62-49.
SS6 action continued on Thursday night as Sumner got a clutch 62-59 win over 13-9 Tampa Bay Tech in the second-half of a twin bill in the Tank. The Stingrays needed the win to break a four-game losing streak and got out to an early 20-15 first quarter lead. Sumner held leads as large as 20 in the third, but the Titans did not wilt, trimming the lead to one with seconds remaining but could not get off a final shot, being down by three with less than a second on the clock. Karson Coleman again came up big for the Rays, scoring 23.
In the first game (Sumner was hosting a Western Conference tournament) Lennard picked up a 60-48 win over Wharton, which was coming off a win over Morgan two nights earlier. Spoto could not generate enough offense and lost 63-58 at Chamberlain and finished 12-10, heading into district playoffs. East Bay scored a win over Steinbrenner, 60-47, to finish the regular season a game over .500 at 13-12. Riverview closed out its season with a 55-51 loss against Blake. The Sharks ended their regular season 11-14.
The week ended with Morgan losing 85-72 to Strawberry Crest (17-8) at home in Wimauma. The Mustangs have played gritty basketball this season and got a clutch buzzer-beating half-court heave to be within three at halftime, 39-36. Morgan would get within two with 3:09 left in the third at 50-48, but the Chargers took over and had a lead that Morgan could not overcome.
The playoff match ups have been set. In 7A District 7, Sumner earned a bye as the second seed in the bracket and will play the winner of Palm Harbor University v Alonso. Riverview and Lennard will face off, with the winner moving on to play top-seeded Plant. The bracket was decided in a Plant vs Sumner final last year, won by Plant. The SS6 have designs on changing that this year.
Francis Fedor Photos
Stingray coach Augustine Gaddis has a pre-game conversation before home win over Tampa Bay Tech on Jan. 29.
In 5A District 9, the other half of the SS6 will be in action. Morgan will play Spoto, with the winner facing the top-seeded Jesuit. Morgan played Jesuit on Jan. 17 in Wimauma with the Mustangs taking the 84-44 loss. Morgan will be looking to avenge that loss. East Bay, as the three seed, will play Southeast and play the winner of a Braden River vs Hillsborough match up.
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