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Not Satisfied Yet, Raiders To Face Tough Lakeland

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By NICK WILLIAMS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2008

PLANT CITY - This may be the farthest the Plant City boys basketball program has been in more than a decade, but first-year coach Wardell Chambers and the players aren't satisfied yet.

"Not by any means," Chambers said.

"Now, it's win or go home," senior guard Channing Woodall said. "We want to win real bad. Everybody in the city is rooting for us."

Tuesday, the Raiders (16-9) travel to Lakeland (24-5) in a Class 6A-Region 2 semifinal game. The victor will advance to Saturday's region final against the winner of the Orlando Edgewater-Orlando Evans game.

"The kids are playing with a lot of emotion," Chambers said. "Our kids believe."

Leading the attack for the Raiders is Woodall, a 6-foot-2 guard who is averaging 16.5 points and 3.7 assists per game. Chambers said colleges such as Division II Limestone have shown interest.

"He's really blossomed this year," Chambers said. "He's a factor in a lot of baskets getting made."

"I take whatever they give me," Woodall said. "I don't try to force anything. My game is balanced. I don't always shoot and I don't always drive."

But Chambers won't credit Woodall for the team's success. Senior guard Rod Henderson (11 ppg) and senior small forward Steve Hardnett (11.6 ppg) provide speed and athleticism and are key defenders, while junior forwards Denzel Drone (4.5 ppg) and Josh Thiebe (3.8 ppg) provide size and scoring in the post. Hardnett leads the team in rebounding with 8.7 per game.

"That's a luxury to have a solid starting five," Chambers said.

Lakeland won the two regular-season meetings easily 80-60 and 64-46, but narrowly won the district title game, 68-64.

Chambers said the team has become more experience during the course of the season, and when it plays Lakeland a fourth time Tuesday, he's optimistic his players have a chance.

"We have the ability to do it," Chambers said. "I don't know if we can get into a running game with them. Rebounding and turnovers is going to be the difference. We have to be able to control the tempo like we want to and beat their press. Hopefully, they'll have an off night."

After losing to the Dreadnaughts in the district final, however, Chambers, who guided a high school program in Maryland to the state final four prior to accepting the coaching job in Plant City, noticed the players were content with just being able to advance to the playoffs.

"I told them, 'Guys, you still lost the game,'" he said.

"He told us we still got games left and we needed to keep pushing and stay greedy," Woodall said."

Woodall said Chambers, a former Division II player and Harlem Globetrotter, earned his and the other players' respect very early in the season.

"He drives us hard in practice every day," Woodall said. "After we started winning, it paid off for us."

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

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