New Tampa Sports Notebook: Jan. 12

WHARTON:

Basketball: boys - The boys are having a tremendous season as they come out of the holiday break. Their 15-1 record, with an undefeated 7-0 District 7 record, has them in the driver's seat for the top district seed in the February district playoffs. They are coming off a 52-40 win over district rival Alonso on Jan. 6.

The Cats could actually clinch the #1 seed with a win this Friday against district rival Plant (11-4, 5-2) and an Alonso loss to Durant.

Basketball: girls - The girls team halted a five-game skid, beating Alonso 60-34 on Jan. 6. They improve to just 7-11 on the year but the win pushed their Class 8A District 7 record up to 4-2. That is good enough for third in the district behind Plant (14-2, 6-0) and Durant (11-7, 6-1).

The girls have four of their last six games against district opponents, including a Friday night matchup against Plant. Thus, district seeding is still very much up in the air.

Soccer: boys - The boys have not lost a match since taking the Wharton Invitational back on Dec. 20. They extended their win streak to five games after dropping Alonso 3-2 on Jan. 3. The win pushed their record out to 13-3-1 and wrapped the Class 5A District 7 #1 seed up with an undefeated 6-0 mark.

"I like what we are doing," said head coach Scott Ware. "We've been steadily improving since day 1. That was a goal of ours, to keep getting better and hopefully playing some of our best soccer starting in late January."

The Cats have three more regular season games against King, Sickles and Plant City that they can now use to season some of their backup players and experiment with different rotations.

"We gain confidence in playing our district opponents in the District tournament. Furthermore, we get a bye to the semifinal. We need to put our focus on winning one game to get to the State Playoffs, whereas the other 6 teams need to win 2," said Ware.

Soccer: girls - The girls improved to 10-5-3 after a 6-1 romping of district rival Alonso on Jan. 3. However, their Class 5A District 7 record of 4-1-1 puts them just behind Plant (12-1-1, 4-1) and one game ahead of Newsome.

With just one game left on the slate, a non-district matchup at King, it looks as though the Cats will take the #2 seed into the district playoffs.

 

FREEDOM:

Basketball: girls - The girls dropped to 11-6 after a 79-54 loss to Gainesville on Jan. 7. They still possess a respectable 3-2 record in Class 7A District 9 and are tied for second place with Wiregrass Ranch.

They face Wiregrass Ranch next Wednesday, Jan. 18. That Friday, they face first place Steinbrenner with a chance to really shake up the seeding for the February district playoffs.

Basketball: boys - The Patriots slipped down to 4-6 after losing a 72-43 game to rival Wharton back on Jan. 3. Their 2-3 Class 7A District 9 record has them in fourth place behind Wiregrass Ranch.

Their next three opponents, Gaither (1-11, 0-6), Wiregrass Ranch (7-7, 3-2), and Steinbrenner (7-5, 4-2) are all district games with important seeding scenarios.

Soccer: boys - The boys improved to 6-6-1 after a 5-1 roll over Hillsborough back on Jan. 6. Their impressive 4-1 Class 4A District 8 record seats them comfortably with the #2 seed, one game behind Steinbrenner (7-1-1, 3-0) and one game ahead of Gaither (12-4-1, 3-2).

The 1-0 win over Gaither on Jan. 4 helped cement that #2 seed and a first round bye in the district playoffs.

Soccer: girls - The girls have soared to a 9-1-1 record after edging out Hillsborough 1-0 back on Jan. 3. Like the boys, they are nipping at the heels of Steinbrenner, looking like they will carry the #2 district seed into the playoffs.

They have only a non-district matchup at Easy Bay this Friday night before the district playoffs begin.