Sickles hold on and wins 6A-11 title

Brett Westwood scored 13 points, including five in the fourth quarter, and the Sickles High boys basketball team beat visiting Strawberry Crest, 38-37, in the title game of the Class 6A-District 11 tournament.

Strawberry Crest (18-9) senior Brandon Channer had a game-high 17 points and 13 rebounds, and sophomore Austin Griffin was 3-for-5 from 3-point range and scored nine points.

Channer was fouled with 1 second left in the fourth quarter after Westwood's free throw gave Sickles a two-point lead. Channer made the first of two free throws to pull the Chargers to within 38-37, but his second shot was around the rim and out and the Gryphons' Eric Floyd grabbed the rebound to end the game.

Sickles (21-6) played without junior point guard Dan Harris, who had a season-ending knee injury in the Gryphons' 53-45 win Wednesday night against King in the semifinals.

"We didn't have Dan's leadership on the court and it showed in parts of the game," Sickles coach Renaldo Garcia said. "Defense is our bread and butter every year. I'm a believer that kids (who) can't score can play defense."

Don Trello

8A-7: Holston, McGill key Wharton

Troy Holston and C.J. McGill scored 16 points apiece and Wharton limited Plant to five points in the second quarter as the Wildcats claimed the Class 8A-District 7 title with a 68-48 victory.

Plant (20-5) took a 12-8 lead with less than 4 minutes left in the first quarter when Anthony Haynes scored on a layup. But McGill nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Wildcats (24-3) ahead for good with 2:41 left in the quarter.

"I am really proud of the effort from our guys (Friday)," said Wharton coach Tommy Tonelli. "We hadn't really played a lot of zone throughout the season. We knew they had some players that could shoot, but we rolled the dice and they didn't make their shots."

Wharton held the Panthers scoreless for more than 6 minutes spanning the end of the first and the beginning of the second quarter as it pushed the lead to 33-20 at the half.

"They made some adjustments since the last time we played them and that really bothered us," said Plant coach Michael Slonaker. "They put it to us tonight."

Kieffer Jordan led the Panthers with 16 points and Haynes added 12.

Kevin Orth

7A-8: East Bay claims crown

Jonathan Jean scored to break a tie with 3:17 remaining as East Bay held on to beat Tampa Bay Tech, 56-51, in the Class 7A-District 8 final.

"This is the first time we have done this since 1970," an exuberant Indians coach Billie Teeden said of the title. "I told Justin (Green) he needed to have to have that big game for us to win and he produced like no other. He had a great game in rebounding and scoring. Justin had a wonderful game."

Green led all scorers with 22 points.

Tampa Bay Tech came out and took an early lead 13-7, led by Elgrin Wilson's six points and Adrian Johnson's five. However, Jean hit a 3-pointer, followed by a fast break basket after a turnover, allowing East Bay to pull within 13-12.

In the second quarter, Tampa Bay Tech did not score a goal until 2:27 was left, missing 10 straight shots. Meanwhile, Green took control, scoring 11 points, including a 3-point shot. East Bay led, 29-20, at halftime and held on until the Titans crawled back, tying the score with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.

Barry Carroll

7A-9: Hart's 40 lead Chamberlain

Moments after Chamberlain sealed the Class 7A-District 9 title with an 80-65 victory against Wiregrass Ranch, the Chiefs hooted and hollered for pictures with the championship trophy for almost 10 minutes.

Front and center was Chiefs junior Reggie Hart, who scored a career-high 40 points mostly on determined drives to the basket – a perfect symbol of Chamberlain's surging confidence.

"I think this team was extra happy because they played with great confidence," Chamberlain coach Chris Snyder said. "When you lose seven games, including six of those by single digits, some self doubt can creep in.

"I think (Friday) they played without that doubt and they feel like they finally got it going."

Chamberlain (16-7) dominated after the first quarter that ended with the Chiefs leading, 18-17. By halftime, the Chiefs led, 39-33, and from there never let the Bulls get closer than four points.

"I thought our defense was the biggest difference," Snyder said. "I mean Wiregrass can score a lot of points (averaging 77 points a game), but (Friday) we caused them some problems."

Wiregrass Ranch's leading scorer, Rico Kerney, was held to 10 points while struggling with foul trouble. Christian Parra led the Bulls with 17 and Larrentz Manora and David Burgess had nine apiece, but nothing came easy.

"We knew we had to come strong and we did," Hart said. "We're feeling good about the way we're playing right now."

During the regular season, Wiregrass Ranch (17-10) split with Chamberlain, which defeated the Bulls by three and later lost to them by seven.

"I think (Friday) shows that we've improved," Snyder said. "We're believing in ourselves."

Scott Purks

6A-10: Land O' Lakes edges Mitchell

Land O' Lakes held off Mitchell to win the Class 6A-District 10 championship, 58-56.

After the Gators took the lead with 2.1 seconds remaining, Mitchell's Jake Driscoll attempted a half-court shot that rimmed out.

"Both teams played extremely hard (Friday)," Land O' Lakes coach David Puhalski said. "It (has) been awhile since we've won a district title (2001). (With) Jake Driscoll on the floor, 2.1 seconds is a lifetime."

The Gators took a 5-0 lead to start the game, as guard Ernest McClendon (20 points) nailed a 3-pointer and a couple of free throws. Land O' Lakes (21-6) went into halftime with a 25-23 lead and in the fourth quarter held a 43-33 advantage with 7 minutes to go.

Mitchell (20-7) crept back into the game and with 1:38 remaining, tied it at 54-54 on a Jordan Dong (14 points) 3-pointer.

Andy Villamarzo

5A-8: Hudson, Wesley Chapel prevail

Host Hudson advanced to the Class 5A-District 8 championship with a convincing 66-53 victory against Anclote. The Cobras will meet Wesley Chapel, a 45-38 winner against Ridgewood, in Saturday's final.

Trailing by double digits, Anclote closed to within four points (55-51) on a 3-pointer by Brandon McWhorter. But the Cobras closed the game out with an 11-2 run for the final deficit.

Jamal Branco led Hudson with 17 points.

In the first semifinal, Eric Thomas caught fire in the second half, scoring 14 points to lead the Wildcats to the win.

Steven Campbell

5A-11: Robinson, Jesuit advance

Tre Leonard scored 27 points to lead Robinson to an 87-61 victory against Lennard in the Class 5A-District 11 semifinals. Robinson will meet Jesuit, a 66-45 winner against host Blake, in Saturday's final.

Lennard was led by Caelen Watts' 20 points.

Devin Harris scored 16 points to lead Jesuit, while Travis Johnson added 14.

Bryce Flemister

4A-9: Berkeley cruises

Berkeley Prep had no problems in its 59-28 Class 4A-District 9 championship victory against Sarasota Booker despite playing for the second straight game without it head coach.

The Bucs (19-7) dominated from the start, running up a 31-10 lead and they coasted from there. The Bucs were playing without head coach Bobby Reinhart, who was suspended after being hit with two technical fouls in the last game of the regular season. Assistant coach Ronnie Williams coached the Bucs, but Reinhart will take over next week when the Bucs host Arcadia DeSoto County a region quarterfinal game Thursday.

Sophomore Justin Gray dominated, scoring 21 points in three quarters. Williams emptied his bench for most of the fourth quarter.

"This team has bought into everything we have been teaching them all year,'' Williams said. "Justin played great and so did everyone else. Now we have our players back and that makes a difference.''

Jeff Berlinicke

3A-8: Tampa Prep, Seffner Chr. win

Top-seeded Tampa Prep cruised to an 89-23 victory against Brooks-DeBartolo in the Class 3A-District 8 semifinals. The Terrapins will meet Seffner Christian, a 76-58 victor against Carrollwood Day School, in Saturday's final.

Senior Devontae Morgan, who is committed to Butler University, led all Terrapins (25-1) with 18 points. Adonis Rwabigwi added 12 points, while Marshall Holmes had 10.

In the other semifinal, the Crusaders were led by Barrett Swartz's 21 points. Connor Klorer added 16 points, while Kent Hegarty had 15.

Carrollwood Day (16-8) got a game-high 22 points from Luke Hunter, while Dillon Ford added 13.

Jacob Perper

2A-8: AATL earns first region berth

Last year, the Academy at the Lakes boys basketball team was a little jealous of the girls team as the female Wildcats came within one win of a trip to the state final four.

The boys saw how much fun the girls team was having and wanted to experience that. Whether the Wildcats (15-8) make it as far as the girls is undecided, but the boys took the first step with a 58-46 Class 2A-District 8 semifinal win against Bayshore Christian on their home court and will host No 1 seed Cambridge (20-4) tonight in the championship. Both winners advance to Thursday's region quarterfinals.

The Lancers had no trouble with Tampa Bay Christian, winning, 64-35, in the nightcap.

"(Watching the girls last year) made (the boys) hungry," Academy at the Lakes coach Tom Haslam said. "They saw how exciting the games were. Region tournament games are different. They saw that and they liked it. They want to be them. I felt the same way. I wanted to be like them"

Freshman Ethan Haslam, the coach's son, led all scorers with 24 points as the Wildcats took a 33-25 halftime lead. But the Faith Warriors cut the lead to 39-33 late in the third quarter.

Bayshore began pressing and the Wildcats got some easy fast-break baskets to put the game away.

For Cambridge, 12 different players scored, led by Brandon Park's 11. A 16-5 first-quarter lead was all the Lancers needed.

Rick Harmon