TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

4A-8 Is Wide Open

ADVERTISEMENT

By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

DADE CITY - Pasco might have beaten Hudson on Tuesday night, but the Pirates led most of the game - by as much as 10 points - before the Cobras pulled within two late in the fourth quarter.

That was probably an indication of what is to come in two weeks when Pasco, the No. 2 seed, hosts the Class 4A-District 8 tournament. There will be no easy games.

Springstead is the top seed, with its only district loss coming to third-seeded Nature Coast. Springstead is an up-tempo team led by junior Dante Valentine, who averages 20.9 points.

Zephyrhills is the No. 4 seed and recently beat Pasco 50-48. The Bulldogs have been hot since the holiday break, losing only twice in nine games.

Hudson is the No. 5 seed and has the district's top scorer in guard Jarrod Branco at 23.3 points per game.

Wiregrass Ranch has the No. 6 seed, while Gulf is No. 7, Sunlake is eighth and Hernando is ninth.

"I'm expecting that two weeks from now this district is going to be wide open," Pasco coach Poncho Broner said.

The Pirates also have one of the tougher schedules as the regular season winds down. They play Land O' Lakes on Jan. 29 and Wesley Chapel on Feb. 1.

The 4A-8 tournament begins Feb. 4.

THREE POWERS, TWO SPOTS: The two playoff spots in Class 5A-District 7 are likely to come down to Ridgewood, Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes, as has been the case in recent years.

Ridgewood beat both teams two times each and earned the No. 1 seed and the bye with a win over Wesley Chapel last week.
Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes face each other in the first round of the 5A-7 tournament at Ridgewood. River Ridge and Central will play for the right to face Ridgewood. Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes split their two games this season.

The tournament begins Feb. 5.

MUSTANGS AT NO. 6: Mitchell is going into the Class 6A-District 7 as the No. 6 seed of a six-team district. The Mustangs had one district win this season - against third-seeded Gaither on Jan. 10 - so an upset in the tournament isn't out of the question.

Mitchell still had to play St. Petersburg this week for its final district game.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT