Eagles Thinking State Championship

BRANDON - Boston College-bound forward Evan Ravenel said his Brandon team should have entered this season as the defending Class 5A state champions.

"If we were going to win a state championship, last year was the year," Ravenel said.

But last season, the Eagles didn't make it to the state championship. Despite a 20-5 record, they didn't advance to the district championship.

Equipped with arguably the most talent in Hillsborough County last season, which included Ravenel and current Tennessee Tech freshman Jeremy Jackson, the Eagles were eliminated in the Class 5A-District 8 semifinals by Bloomingdale.

"That was disheartening," said senior guard Blake Allen, who leads the team with a 17.2 points-per-game average. "Some could say we were looking past that game."

This season, Brandon (5-0 as of Wednesday), isn't overlooking any team, but the Eagles are confident they have the talent to win a state title.

"Realistically, we feel like we can win a state championship," 6-foot-6 senior forward Marcus Morrison said.

The Eagles have four players averaging double figures, a feat Coach Mark Hermann said is a first in his 13 years as coach.

"In five games, we've had four different high scorers," Hermann said. "If I can get all of them to be on a same page on one night, look out."

Senior point guard Tarron Stewart (14.6 ppg.), who has received interest from Air Force, Ball State and Florida Gulf Coast, is the head-strong guard.

"I drive to the basket," Stewart said.

Allen, at 6 feet, is the team's pure shooter and leads the team in 3-pointers with 14. He has interest from UCF and Watford. Morrison (16.8 ppg.) has interest from Tampa, Flagler, Jacksonville and Eckerd and "does the dirty work" on the court. Ravenel (16.0 ppg.), at 6-8, controls the paint.

"If you stop one of us, someone else is going to score," Ravenel said.

Last year, the players and Hermann said the team lacked balance.

"We had great talent, but we never could get a good chemistry," Hermann said.

"There wasn't enough ball to go around," Morrison said.

Hermann led Brandon to a 5A state championship in 2000. That team finished 31-4 as the runner-up and was led by Joey Graham, now with the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

"Florida basketball is really good outside Hillsborough County," Hermann said.

Hermann hopes the memory of last year's early departure fuels this year's team.

"We'll use that as motivation," he said.

SANDERS TO ANNOUNCE GAMES: Former Tampa Prep and Duke center Casey Sanders will be the color commentator for all of the Catch 47 boys basketball games of the week this season. Sanders, who graduated from Tampa Prep in 1999, ended his high-school career as the second all-time leading scorer in Hillsborough County with 2,441 points. While at Duke, Sanders helped the Blue Devils win the NCAA championship in 2001.