Rivalries will be heightened for at least the next two years for area basketball and volleyball teams, after the Florida High School Athletic Association released the final state series assignments for the sports earlier this month.
Beginning next year, Plant City, Durant and Strawberry Crest will join Brandon, East Bay and Tampa Bay Tech in the new Class 7A District 7 for girls and boys basketball and girls volleyball.
This will mark the first time all three Plant City area schools will compete in the same district in those sports. Earlier this year, the FHSAA announced all three football teams will compete in the same district for the first time, beginning this fall.
Other sports are likely to follow the trend in the coming weeks, including new state assignments for baseball and softball.
The FHSAA releases new state series assignments ever two years, based on student population and geography. After preliminary assignments are released, schools have the opportunity to submit appeals to the FHSAA. The final assignments for basketball and volleyball were released April 12. Class 7A comprises schools with fall 2012 student populations of 1,878 to 2,254 for basketball and 1,878 to 2,248 for volleyball.
“I am looking forward to the new district for a couple reasons,” said Plant City High volleyball coach Jessica Thornton, who guided her team to the region quarterfinals in her first season at PCHS. “I played in an area where, every year, we competed against the same conference with schools that were local to ours. It built strong competition and tradition for our sports programs. I believe, for our
Plant City schools, this is going to put an extra emphasis on what is at stake when we match up.”
Plant City will lose district champ Riverview from its district but will welcome Strawberry Crest — the 6A-11 runner-up — and Durant, a program trying to reestablish itself as a perennial power in volleyball under head coach Brittany Wilson. The Lady Cougars fell in the 8A-7 semifinals to Wharton last season but picked up 3-0 wins over Plant City and Strawberry Crest in the regular season.
“All three of us Plant City area coaches are highly competitive, so this will help bring some more attention out this way for exciting volleyball,” Thornton said. “Each school has some different excitement going on that will be interesting to see against each other.”
In girls basketball, Strawberry Crest becomes a favorite, on paper, to win the new 7A-7 next season. Plant City, Brandon, East Bay and Durant all finished under .500 last year, while the Lady Chargers fell to 6A-11 champion Sickles in the tournament title game before later falling to them in the region semifinals, ending their 20-8 season. Like Strawberry Crest, Sickles also will move up to 7A, but will compete in District 8.
Tampa Bay Tech looks to be Strawberry Crest’s biggest threat in the new district. The Lady Titans went 17-10 overall last season and won the 7A-8 tournament before losing in the region quarterfinals to Bartow.
“I feel like this probably should have been the district all along,” said SCHS head coach Latosha Lewis. “A lot of these teams in this district are rebuilding, but we’ve already done our rebuilding. We feel confident that we can make a run at a district championship and make a playoff run.”
For area boys basketball teams, Strawberry Crest is also coming off the best season of the three programs. The Chargers went 18-2 last season but fell to Sickles in the district semifinals.
Trent Tice and his Durant team are looking forward to having the new district comprising Eastern Hillsborough County teams. Durant and Plant City have built a nice rivalry over the years, including a battle for the Ron Frost rivalry trophy, and should benefit from being in the same district.
“I love the new district; it will be a much shorter travel schedule and it will emphasize local rivalries,” Tice said.
Durant defeated Plant City twice last season, once in a preseason classic and again in an out-of-district game late in the season. Durant currently has possession of the Ron Frost Trophy.
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.ActualSpy ActualSpy