Top Ten in Tampa Bay: Week 4

For the purposes of this ranking; I’ve included Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. Here they are: <strong>1. IMG Academy (6-1)</strong> IMG is playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, so it was only a matter of time before they picked up that first loss. They won two of their three matchups in DC against some of the best teams in the country. A win over St. John’s (DC) by 16, a loss to Duncanville (TX) by 9, and a 5 point win over St. Paul VI (VA). [player_tooltip player_id="32623" first="Grace" last="VanSlooten"] and [player_tooltip player_id="91558" first="Kailyn" last="Gilbert"] have been balling out and showing why they are committed to Pac 12 programs in Oregon and Arizona, respectively. They’ll face two undefeated Minnesota teams this weekend with Minnetonka and Hopkins. <strong>2. Cardinal Mooney (7-1)</strong> Mooney has picked up two good W’s since the last rankings which keeps them at this #2 spot. [player_tooltip player_id="91637" first="Jordyn" last="Byrd"] picked up a double-double with 20 pts/14 reb against Academy of the Holy Names in their 21 point win. [player_tooltip player_id="91658" first="Olivia" last="Davis"] led the team in scoring with 21 pts in a win over South Fort Myers by 15. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="243900" first="Kali" last="Barrett"] is playing some solid basketball as she had 12 boards against AHN and 14 points against SFM. They should pick up one more win against Sarasota before heading into Christmas tournament time. <strong>3. Brooks DeBartolo (7-2)</strong> The Phoenix won their last three games with some really nice wins over Miami HS by 6, Gulf Coast by 9, and Cambridge Christian by 38. Big shoutout to [player_tooltip player_id="91581" first="Jaela" last="Davis"] who scored her 1,000th point against Cambridge Christian! [player_tooltip player_id="243947" first="Tyra" last="Kennedy"] has been shooting the ball well with 14, 15, and 12 points in the last three games. They’ll get a fun matchup against Plant on Saturday. <strong>4. Clearwater (8-2)</strong> Clearwater has pretty handily won their last four to also keep them at the same ranking of #4. Their closest of those matchups came against Pinellas County rival Boca Ciega by a score of 58-46 which had to feel good. [player_tooltip player_id="166169" first="Olivia" last="Fuller"] (Liv) had a 19/11 double-double effort in that big win, and [player_tooltip player_id="166172" first="Ace" last="Sturdivant"] contributed with a 16 point/8 assist effort. The Tornadoes followed that one up with a convincing win over Countryside that saw five players in double figures: [player_tooltip player_id="214172" first="Beckham" last="Hockley"] with 16, Pink Sturdivant and [player_tooltip player_id="166172" first="Ace" last="Sturdivant"] with 11 each, and [player_tooltip player_id="166169" first="Olivia" last="Fuller"] and [player_tooltip player_id="247221" first="I’Yania" last="Sarnoff"] with 10 apiece. Liv also had a double-double in that one with 10 boards, and Ace almost had one yet again with 9 rebounds of her own. Speaking of Liv, she popped off for 20 against Mitchell and 19 against Braden River in a game that ended in dramatic fashion. They’ll face their other big test in Pinellas County with 7-1 Lakewood on Saturday. <strong>5. Carrollwood Day (10-1)</strong> CDS won their last five since the ranking, and they’ll get their chances to move up soon. Of those five wins, they beat a decent Winter Haven squad by 18 and took down Gulf Coast and Miami by a combined two points (I’ll let you figure out that math). They won those in some dramatic fashion, too. [player_tooltip player_id="248611" first="Ka’Yanti" last="Burden"] hit two free throws with virtually no time left to beat GC 53-52, and [player_tooltip player_id="219928" first="Leah" last="Barnes"] got an offensive board/put back to beat Miami at the buzzer by a score of 34-33. Another game to look forward to this Saturday is a showdown between Carrollwood Day and Bloomingdale. <strong>6. Bloomingdale (9-0)</strong> I’d heard rumors this summer that Bloomingdale is going to surprise some people. And they’ve done so with some impressive wins over teams in the area which has boosted them in this top 10 ranking. Early in the season, they beat Plant by 2 and Steinbrenner by 5. The past couple weeks, they’ve beat Durant by 5 and Riverview by 2 showing they are capable of beating good teams in close games. 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="248439" first="Joline" last="Raposo"] (Jojo) has been leading the way using her speed on both ends and her ability to hit shots from outside to put up points (10.7 ppg). Outside of her, this team is really balanced and plays a lot of girls every night. Aissatou Diallo (10.1 ppg) contributes all over, Ava Knauer scores and shoots it well (9.1 ppg), Melody Womack can clean up the boards, and Noelle Mengel is a top 2025 in the area. They have two tough area matchups this weekend with Lennard and Carrollwood Day to see where they truly stand in Tampa Bay. <strong>7. Plant (8-2)</strong> The Panthers have lost two tight games this year: early in the season to Bloomingdale by 2, and this past weekend to Westminster Academy by 4. Besides those two losses, they have nice wins over CDS by 1 and Charlotte by 9. [player_tooltip player_id="166173" first="Tanner" last="Strickland"] has been the motor for this team as she’s stepped up to being a scorer inside and out (10 ppg) with her speed, athleticism, and hustle. [player_tooltip player_id="331749" first="Julia" last="Miller"] is starting to mesh well as one of the best shooters in the area that plays hard on defense. The twin towers in Allie Logue and [player_tooltip player_id="244002" first="Hayden" last="Stern"] can cause problems for opposing teams with their height and length if they continue to play well. A couple other upperclassmen that have a big affect on this team are [player_tooltip player_id="243992" first="Silvia" last="Farfante"] who sees the floor and plays hard, and [player_tooltip player_id="91647" first="Morgan" last="Sieper"] who also knows the game really well and makes an impact outside of leading the team in scoring (10.7 ppg). Keep an eye on 2025 [player_tooltip player_id="331729" first="Azzariah" last="Styles"] who could find herself being a top area player in the coming years. They will have to shake off their most recent loss for what will be a fantastic matchup against Brooks DeBartolo this weekend. <strong>8. Riverview Sarasota (9-0)</strong> The Rams are another team who are a pleasant surprise to these rankings as they sit undefeated with a big OT win against Brooks DeBartolo last month. They don’t have any statement wins outside of that one, but they have beat a decent Venice team twice and Braden River, North Port, and Sumner. I could potentially see this team going undefeated with the schedule they have left, but it won’t be doing them any favors when they’ll need to compete with teams like Colonial, Spruce Creek, Gulf Coast, etc. come 7A tourney time. This team has put up some serious points with three players averaging double digits. 2023 Samaire Slusarek leads the way with 13.6 ppg and nearly 4 steals per game,  2023 Amiya Lloyd is dropping 12.4 ppg, and 2022 Caroline King is putting up 10.9 pgg to go with 7 boards and 3 steals per contest. This team did go 20-1 last year, but eventually got routed by Plant in the Region Semifinal on their way to a state title. <strong>9. Seffner Christian (8-2)</strong> Seffner has been blown out in their two losses (33 to Spruce Creek and 24 to Timber Creek), and their only win within single digits was Calvary Christian (Clearwater) by 5. They’ll have to rely a lot on [player_tooltip player_id="91583" first="Milahnie" last="Perry"] as she begins to gel with the team and is one of the top players in the area/state. They do have a mix of role players that can drive this team to be successful, though. [player_tooltip player_id="219990" first="Nini" last="Davenport"] is a sharpshooter that is fine tuning other parts of her game, [player_tooltip player_id="223784" first="Nicole" last="Carreno"] shows a lot of potential in the skills she has on offense, [player_tooltip player_id="248344" first="Mia" last="Hastings"] is constantly improving, and [player_tooltip player_id="248861" first="Jahleh" last="Scott"] plays hard and can knock down some big shots. They’ll have two more light matchups before a big Christmas Tournament hosted by them in Wiregrass. <strong>10. Boca Ciega (6-3)</strong> Bogie barely sneaks into the top ten over some other quality teams looking in. Their three losses are to Brooks by 8, Colonial by 5, and Clearwater by 12 which are three of the best in the state. They’ve yet to pick up any signature wins, but they will get those chances to prove themselves with a competitive December and January schedule. This is a new group of girls together, so they should only get better as the year goes on. They have four players who have the chance to take this team far. [player_tooltip player_id="91567" first="Olivia" last="Delancy"] is a strong, physical player that can truly do it all with over 20 ppg and over 8 rpg. [player_tooltip player_id="331750" first="Karimah" last="Nix"] has length and athleticism that allow her to do a lot on both ends with 13 ppg and over 6 rpg. [player_tooltip player_id="248460" first="Alexis" last="Staton"] is another one who has size and plays tough with a lot of skill on offense and defense with over 13 ppg and over 5 spg. Those three are seniors, and [player_tooltip player_id="331748" first="Geriya" last="Grady"] is a speedy 2023 guard that adds a lot of grit and toughness for this team that can score it, sees the floor, and is a pest on defense. <hr /> <em>Other Teams to Watch: Lakewood, Booker, Haines City, Calvary Christian (Clearwater), Lake Gibson, Durant, East Bay, Lennard, Riverview, Tampa Bay Tech, Academy of the Holy Names, Steinbrenner</em>