Inside Preps: Future Looking Bright for Squads

Wed. February 08, 2012 at 9:08 p.m. | By Solange Reyner

By SOLANGE REYNER

THE LEDGER

It's playoff time, which means someone has to go home at the end of the day.

And as gut wrenching and heart breaking as it is for some teams to have to pack up their gear after a tough loss, there has to be a little glimmer of hope in it all, something to look forward to at the end of the day.

For a few teams I had the chance to watch over the course of the last few days the case is certainly "we'll be better next season."

Should be at Haines City and Bartow for boys basketball and at Fort Meade for boys soccer.

Those teams have most, if not all, of their starters returning next year.

Jack Cortez, the leading goal scorer for the Miners, comes back, as does the rest of that squad that plunged deep into the post season, deeper than any team had in school history.

That's 11 starters with playoff experience, 11 starters who have felt the pain of losing at a point so close to making it to the state tournament. Fort Meade lost a regional final match-up 3-2 to Tampa Prep on Tuesday evening, a game that not many pegged as a close one coming into it.

"No one expected us to even go this far," Fort Meade coach Lynn Haase said. "But we were the little engine that could."

Now let's see if they can ride that train even farther next season.

Bartow, which lost by one point to Ridge Community in the Class 7A, District 7 tournament on Monday night, is only losing one senior in Akeem Severin.

The Yellow Jackets, playing in the toughest district in Polk County, return big man Chris Perry, who averaged a double-double, along with point guard Kerry Jones and guard Ricky Williams, all key players.

Roy'Qies Graham, Quincy Childs, Michael Walker and Vontarius West should also suit up next season.

The team was a bit up-and-down this season in terms of results, but if things come together over the summer and into next season they should be a tough group to handle, especially on nights when Perry is on.

That means hard work, and remembering the feeling of being bounced in the first round of the district tournament.

"That definitely hurt," Bartow coach Terrence McGriff said. "Hopefully these guys use that to fuel them next season."

Haines City, another team that has played opponents close at times this season, is a young squad. Monday's game against Lakeland in the Class 7A, District 7 tournament was only a 63-55 loss, the outcome a result of the same story line plaguing the Hornets all season long: Turnovers, and lots of them in the second half.

But that's what you get sometimes with a young team and something they should shore up if they continue to work together during the offseason. They'll have everyone returning except one player, Jerrell Harbison.

That group coming back includes junior Osney Vital and sophomore Akeem Martinez and Jack Tisdale, the team's leading scorers this season.