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Last Year's Lesson: Expect The Unexpected In Boys Basketball District Tournaments

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By NICK WILLIAMS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

Looking back on last season, regular-season records didn't seem to mean much when the boys basketball district tournaments began.

A fifth-seeded and under-.500 Middleton squad upset state-ranked and top-seeded Plant in the Class 5A-District 10 semifinals, and in 5A-8, Bloomingdale upset a 20-5 Brandon team to advance to the district final.

Starting tonight, anything can happen in the 2008 boys basketball district tournaments.

"There are a lot of good teams in Hillsborough County that could be going home early," said Brandon coach Mark Hermann, whose Eagles earned the top seed in 5A-8. "Look at what Middleton did. It can happen to us. Our district is unbelievable."

"There is no sure thing in our district by any means," said Plant coach Mike Phillips, whose Panthers clinched the top seed in 5A-10. "There's not much difference in the kids. After you get away from the top two kids on each team, the next kids, on any team, are close to being similar. It's not much of a shock if a Hillsborough or Jefferson wins the whole thing. It's a matter of getting hot at the right time."

Defending 5A-8 champion Wharton started the season 1-6 overall and 2-4 in district play but won 10 consecutive games after the holiday break to earn the second seed in the district tournament and is currently 13-12.

"We were defeating ourselves," Wharton first-year coach Comer Copeland said. "The turnaround for us was when we stopped turning the ball over and starting rebounding better."

Berkeley Prep clinched the top seed in 3A-11 for the second consecutive year as did Tampa Prep in 2A-9 and Bayshore Christian in 1A-10. Sickles won the top seed in 6A-7 against St. Petersburg by a coin flip. Canterbury earned the top seed in 1A-11 and Spoto will be the bottom seed in 4A-9, while state-ranked Lakeland Kathleen clinched the top seed. Plant City earned the third seed in a tiebreaker with Sarasota Riverview.

"I like our chances," Plant City coach Dale Chambers said. "But a lot of teams have come on late. It's up for grabs, but you never know."

"I don't know what's going to happen," Copeland said. "I really can't tell you what the outcome will be."

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 865-4848 or nwilliams@tampatrib.com.

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