Gaither Eyeing District Bye After 5-0 Victory Against Mitchell

TAMPA - Gaither did all it could to secure a first-round bye in next month's Class 6A-District 7 tournament, knocking off Mitchell 5-0 in its final regular-season district match.

The Cowboys (9-1-1, 3-1-1) got two goals and two assists from Darnell King to spark the offense, and goalkeeper John Nardozzi needed to make only three saves to shut out the Mustangs (8-4-1, 1-3-1).

"This was a very big game for us," Gaither coach Eric Sims said. "The district is still very much wide open. Everybody has a loss."

In order for the Cowboys to get a bye in the tournament, they needed a loss or tie from St. Petersburg, which played Countryside on Tuesday night. Gaither defeated St. Petersburg earlier in the year.

Gavin Scott and Jordan See also scored second-half goals for Gaither.

Bart O'Connell

PLANT CITY 2, SARASOTA RIVERVIEW 1: Stevie Lamas' second goal of the night - this one in the match's 76th minute - lifted Plant City past host Sarasota Riverview 2-1 in Class 6A-District 8 boys soccer.

Lamas scored his second goal the same way he scored his first in the match's 16th minute. Teammate Brian Feteke put a point-blank shot on Rams goalkeeper Steven Osario, who turned the shot away. But the rebound went right to Lamas on the opposite side, and he tapped it in.

The goal gave the Raiders (9-0-2, 5-0) a hard-fought victory against the Rams (7-1-2, 3-1-1) in a match that feature four yellow cards and one red card.

"I told the kids before the game," Plant City coach K.C. Van der luit said. "It's one thing to be undefeated. It's another thing to stay that way. We knew this would be our toughest match in district."

The victory also makes it likely the Raiders will be the No. 1 seed in the district tournament next month. The Raiders have one district match left.

Matthew Postins

PLANT 2, HILLSBOROUGH 0: Plant (8-0-1, 6-0) took advantage of getting nine players back from a club soccer tournament in North Carolina to beat Hillsborough (4-5).

"Half of our team just came back from one of the most competitive tournaments in the nation," Plant senior sweeper Chelsea Hearne said. "The way you play up there, the success we had there, I knew we'd be prepared for this game tonight."

Hearne scored the Panthers' first goal in the first half after a corner kick led to a pass from Ellen Moore that found Hearne in front of the goal.

The Panthers' second goal came late in the second half on a header by Kelly Coker.

For the Terriers, goalkeeper Amber Davis had 10 saves. The game also marked the first official game coached by Daniel Garcia. Garcia, who spent the last five years as an assistant at Sickles, has been the special coach to the goalkeeper at Hillsborough for the past 13 years.

Jarrett Guthrie

Plant Girls Beat Blake In 5A-10 Basketball

TAMPA - The Plant girls basketball team never trailed Tuesday and remained undefeated in beating Blake 76-50 in a Class 5A-District 10 game.

Sophomore Michelle Taylor led three Panthers in double figures with a game-high 26 points.

"I think we'll keep her," Plant coach Carrie Mahon said jokingly. "She's real smooth and has been doing a good job of finishing. Earlier in the season, she missed some layups, but she's really been coming on lately."

Plant junior Kaitlyn Ostroski, who looks fully recovered from a left knee injury, scored 18 points, while senior Morgan Langlo added 15.

The Panthers (7-0, 6-0) led by as many as 12 in the first half before Blake rallied to get within 29-25 late in the second quarter.

"Blake is an explosive team. We built a nice lead, but they came back fearless," Mahon said. "Their trap kind of gave us a little trouble for a while."

The second half, however, was all Plant, which upped its lead to 67-39 midway through the fourth quarter.

Chanele Patton led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points, while Ashley Gary chipped in 12 before fouling out.

Gregg Becnel