St. Petersburg, Shorecrest Prep Eye Boy's Basketball State Playoffs

In a county rich in basketball tradition, it is two non-traditional basketball programs that are on the cusp of school history.

Fort Myers Evangelical Christian (22-8) at Shorecrest Prep (22-8), 7pm

For 17 years, the Chargers couldn't scrape together a winning season. Shorecrest wasn't an afterthought on the local high school basketball landscape, the Chargers weren't thought of at all.

That began to change when, in a pinch, Daryl Blume took over the program when an opening popped up. His son, Luke Blume, was on the team.

Suddenly a coach that wasn't supposed to be the coach turned around the program and is now one win from an improbable state tournament.

The Chargers host Fort Myers Evangelical Christian Saturday in a Class 3A region final Saturday at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the Class 3A state semifinals held in Lakeland.

Now Blume, who only planned on coaching the Chargers until his son graduated, is being heavily courted by the school to stick around. Easy to understand since Blume has led Shorecrest to unprecedented heights and a 48-29 record the past three seasons.

"Yeah, they're trying to convince me into staying," Blume said with a wide grin.

What makes the Chargers run in the postseason more remarkable is that with class reorganization from last year, Shorecrest found itself in the same Class 3A district as local basketball powerhouses like Admiral Farragut, St. Petersburg Catholic and Indian Rocks Christian.

Despite the odds, the Chargers were able to win this new tough district and dispatch St. Petersburg Catholic again in the region semifinal earlier this week.

"It's tough to beat someone two or three times in the same season," Blume said. "Beating St. Petersburg Catholic, each time we played them, it was a war."

The Chargers are pretty much a three-headed monster led by Johnny Koenig who averages 24 points a game followed by Ricky Quiroz and Luke Blume who each average 18 points a game.

But it has been the somewhat unexpected play of Chargers big man Jay Joyner who may be the unsung hero.

Last year as a freshman Blume promoted him to the varsity not so much for his skills, but his size. Blume admitted Joyner's hoops skills needed some polishing.

"He couldn't do a push-up, he could barely touch the rim and he had trouble catching the basketball," Blume said. "Now, he's averaging 10 points a game, 15 rebounds a game, four or five blocked shots a game and though we haven't asked him to do any pushups lately, he can do a bunch."

Blume also noted Joyner can also dunk the ball jumping flat-footed.

Stuart Martin County (27-3) at St. Petersburg (17-6) 7pm

Known more for baseball and soccer, the Green Devils boys basketball squad is one win from a state tournament of its own. A 77-50 win over district nemesis Seminole puts St. Petersburg in the Class 7A region final hosting Martin County.

The win was St. Petersburg’s fourth consecutive victory over Seminole.

Saturday is St. Petersburg’s second trip to a region final in the past three years. The 7 p.m. game is expected to be a sellout.

The Green Devils are led by leading scorers junior Demontrae Adams and senior Dayon Griffin.

St. Petersburg coach Chris Blackwell, like Blume, is looking for his first state semifinal berth as coach.

"Actually we are pretty blessed putting something together," Blackwell said. "We have kids that work really hard. I'm very, very proud of them. They work hard. We're just in the process of building one of those powerhouse teams.

"We've been at the door quite a few times with district titles, just never could complete the task. Hopefully, this will be the charm. I'm just thrilled and excited about the opportunity."

The Green Devils sort of called themselves "The Killer Dees," sort of a takeoff on the old Miami Dolphins stingy defense, "The Killer Bees." each of the Green Devils' five starters have a first or last name that begins with the letter "D." And like the letter, the Green Devils pride themselves in stingy defense, holding region opponents Wiregrass Ranch and Seminole to 50 and 39 points, respectively.