FHSAA Playoffs: Predicting 7A

FHSAA Playoffs: Predicting 7A By Michael Wholey 2/3/22 11:00 AM EST The district tournament starts this week in Florida and over the next 3 weeks, the top teams in Florida will compete for a coveted state championship concluding February 23-26 in Lakeland at the RP Funding Center. Let’s look at the top teams in 7A and who we predict to win it all!   FLORIDA PLAYOFF INFO District Tournament: February 1-4, 2022 (at host school) Regional Tournament: February 10, 12, 15, and 18th (at host school) State Championships: February 23-26 (at RP Funding Center)   PREDICTING 7A Maxpreps lists the following as the top 7 schools in 7A. <ol> <li>Phillips</li> <li>Colonial</li> <li>Miami Senior</li> <li>Riverview Sarasota</li> <li>Gulf Coast</li> <li>HB Plant</li> <li>Spruce Creek</li> </ol>   Make your own prediction for who you think will be the 2022 FHSAA 7A State Champion in Girls Basketball. *Voting closes 2/15 https://poll.fm/11033411   <img class="size-medium wp-image-204287 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/42-Katie-Ambrose-2.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />7A is the most wide-open classification in 2022. Miami Senior has been one of the top two teams each of the last four years winning it all in 2020 and Plant is the defending champ but lost Gatorade state player of the year Kendal Cheesman to graduation as she is now suiting it up for Vanderbilt. So who is our predicton for the 2022 FHSAA 7A State Champions? We are predicting the Gulf Coast Sharks take it home this year! The Sharks are 20-3 and are led by Saint Francis (PA) signee [player_tooltip player_id="91571" first="Katie" last="Ambrose"], fellow Seniors Kaylee Travios and [player_tooltip player_id="91599" first="Reese" last="Tremitiere"], and Junior sharp shooter [player_tooltip player_id="166163" first="Madelyn" last="Leslie"]. Ambrose runs the show and is an extension of the coach, consistently pushing the ball in transition, attacking the paint, and getting the ball to her scorers in scoring position. Tremitiere is the team’s leading scorer (13.6 PPG) and rebounder (10.3 RPG) and is one of the state’s most athletic players and top rebounders. She is active on both ends and fills up the stat sheet. While Leslie is one of the state’s top 3-point shooters. You can not leave her open, as she shoots a high percentage from 3 and does not miss many open shots. Could this be the year for Gulf Coast? We think so and are predicting the Gulf Coast Sharks as the 2022 FHSAA 7A State Champions. <img class="alignright wp-image-382937 " src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_3170-e1643674650475-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="153" height="230" /> If not Gulf Coast, then who? Dr. Phillips is the highest ranked team in 7A by Maxpreps and are led by Prep Girls Hoops Florida class of 2024 number one ranked player [player_tooltip player_id="248320" first="Trinity" last="Turner"]. The dynamic playmaker does a little bit of everything for Dr. Phillips leading the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game, to go along with 8.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 3.0 steals per game. Turner is the type of player that can completely take over a game. If Dr. Phillips were to win it all, they need Turner to be unstoppable and Senior [player_tooltip player_id="91573" first="Kalea" last="Rainey"] and Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="249436" first="Sariah" last="Johnson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="248677" first="Anilys" last="Rolon"] to come up big. With three of their top four scorers being Freshman and Sophomores, look for Dr. Phillips to be the team to beat for the next couple years!   <img class=" wp-image-339027 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/Santos-244426270_903053033642500_6289369943493242455_n.jpg" alt="" width="323" height="215" />Gulf Coast and Dr. Phillips are definitely tough squads to beat with talented players, but Colonial might be the most balanced and deep team in the field. The Grenadiers go 9 deep and have a number of players that can step up for them on any given night. [player_tooltip player_id="243892" first="Carmen" last="Richardson"] led the team in scoring (13.4 PPG) and rebounding (5.4 RPG) but [player_tooltip player_id="243934" first="Milan" last="Santos"] (10.9 PPG), [player_tooltip player_id="248877" first="Jaiden" last="Ross"] (8.1 PPG), Sophya Barrerio (6.9 PPG), Raenne Eccleston (5.3 PPG), and [player_tooltip player_id="220012" first="Camila" last="Zbynski"] (4.6 PPG) are all pivotal pieces of their balanced offense. Colonial has played all the top teams in the state tough but have just had difficulty getting over the hump, dropping close contests to Lake Highland Prep, Miami Country Day, Wekiva, and American Heritage. They will not have to see any of those teams in 7A and have just as good of a shot at winning the whole thing as any team in the field!   Riverview should not be a dark horse candidate, as they enter the playoffs with a perfect 18-0 regular season record. They are led by Juniors 5’11 Wing Samaire Slusarek, 5’6 Guard Amiya Lloyd and Senior 5’11 Wing/Forward Caroline King. Their 53-50 overtime win over Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate in November is their feature win but other than that they have not faced many of the top teams in the state. It is hard go undefeated, can they keep it going? We will find out over the next 3 weeks!   Michael Wholey is the lead scout for Florida Prep Girls Hoop Florida and a former division one Assistant Coach at American University, University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech. Wholey and the rest of the Prep Girls Hoop staff, seek to cover the entire state of player, keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news. Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information. If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.