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Durant Boys Shoot For The Playoffs

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: February 11, 2009

PLANT CITY - Durant High hopes the third time will be the charm when it comes to playing Lakeland.

Actually, a third loss to Lakeland would not be the worst thing in the world - it would mean the Cougars are in the boys basketball playoffs for the first time since 2003.

The district 6A-8 tournament is under way and Durant is hosting the event. Both Durant and Plant City were scheduled to play first-round games on Tuesday. Durant is the No. 2 seed and was expected to cruise past bottom-seeded Riverview on Tuesday; Plant City was matched up with Sarasota.

Tuesday's winners advance to Friday's semifinals, and the semifinal victors are assured a place in the 6A playoffs. The district title will be decided at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Lakeland is the top seed and on the opposite side of the bracket from Durant, so if the teams play again it will be in the finals. The Dreadnaughts won the first two meetings with Durant, most recently 52-44 on Jan. 30 in a loss that denied the Cougars the No. 1 seed.

Assuming Durant won its opener, it will tip off Friday night, with the opponent most likely to be Sarasota Riverview. Durant beat Sarasota Riverview twice this season but both games were decided by two points, and the Rams were the lone 6A-8 team to defeat Lakeland.

Cougar head coach Jeff Shotwell didn't even want to think about meeting Lakeland, with his team's focus being on Riverview - and not the one from Sarasota.

"We have to beat the Riverview Sharks first," he said. "Last year we had beaten Sarasota twice. In fact, we had beaten them by 31 points the week before the district tournament, and they proceeded to kick our tails in the opening round of play. So we're focused on the first one."

Friday's first semifinal, between the Durant-Riverview and Sarasota Riverview-East Bay winner, will tip off at 6 p.m. Then at approximately 8 p.m. Lakeland plays the winner between Plant City and Sarasota. The Raiders are seeded fifth.

Though both finalists will be headed to the playoffs, there are a couple of major benefits to winning the district title this year.

The way the bracket sets up this season, the 6A-8 winner could end up getting to be at home straight through all three regional rounds.

Also, the 6A-8 runner-up is all but certain to be headed to Sickles for a first-round playoff game. Sickles is led by 6-foot-10-inch John Henson, who has signed with the University of North Carolina. The Gryphons are almost a lock to win District 6A-7, where they went 10-0 during the regular season. Sickles beat second-place St. Pete High by an average of 30 points when those teams met up.

After the second loss to Lakeland, Durant bounced back with a 67-51 win at Brandon, where Dexter Barge scored a season-high 21 points. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 20-5 record.

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