Holiday Tournaments: 5 Best of The Bay Area
When high schools select their holiday events and/ or extra games, what do you suppose they looking for? Is it competition? Is it coaches teams to try to get their team on track against weaker competition? Is it just a connection thing for familiarity? I honestly don’t know and can’t tell with some of the games but 1 thing for sure is that every team avoids a district opponent.
5 Best Events in Tampa Bay:
1) ARS National Hoopfest
This event is held at Berkeley Prep and features some of the best national high school teams. The teams this year are: Berkeley Prep, Huntington Prep (West V.A.), IMG Academy, Montverde Academy, Oak Ridge, Oldsmar Christian, West Oaks, St. Pete and Victory Rock.
January 19: Huntington Prep (W. Va.) vs. Oldsmar Christian, 5; Berkeley Prep vs. West Oaks, 6:30; Montverde vs. IMG, 8
January 20: Huntington Prep (W. Va.) vs. Victory Rock, noon; IMG vs. West Oaks, 1:30; Oak Ridge vs. Tampa Prep, 3; Oak Hill Academy (Va.) vs. St. Petersburg, 4:30; Montverde vs. Berkeley Prep, 6
2) Prep Hoops Sun Bash
This event is held at Carrollwood Day and is a new event. The teams that are coming have plenty of talent and should make it fun to watch. The teams this year are: Alonso, Anclote, Bayshore, Canterbury Christian, Creekside, Durant, Edgewater, Holy Spirit Prep (Ga.), Carrollwood Day, Lake Gibson, Lakewood Ranch, Lake Wales, Nature Coast, Newsome, Ocala Vanguard, Palm Glades Prep, Pebblebrook (Ga.), Plant, South Miami, Sante Fe Catholic, Superior Collegiate, and St. Pete.
January 5: Alonso at Carrollwood (5:30), South Miami at Holy Spirit Prep (7), Pebblebrook at Edgewater (8:30)
January 6: Nature Coast at Canterbury St. Pete (8 AM), Superior Collegiate at Anclote (9:30 AM), Alonso at Santa Fe Catholic (11 AM), Palm Glades at Bayshore Christian (12:30 PM), Newsome at Lake Gibson (2 PM), Durant at Carrollwood (3:30 PM), Plant at Creekside (5 PM), Lake Wales at South Miami (6:30 PM), Holy Spirit at Vanguard (8 PM), Lakewood Ranch at Pebblebrook (9:30 PM)
3)Clearwater Shootout (Spectrum Sports Challenge)
This event will be held at Clearwater. A few of the games will be televised on Spectrum cable. The match-ups look very intriguing and teams included are: Boca Ciega, Brooks DeBartolo, Calvary Christian, Clearwater, Lakeland, Lakewood, Plant City, Seminole, Strawberry Crest, Tampa Bay Tech, Wharton, and Winter Haven.
January 5: Plant City vs. Lakeland, 3; Seminole vs. Winter Haven, 4:15; Largo vs. Wharton, 5:30; Clearwater vs. Strawberry Crest, 6:45; Lakewood vs. Tampa Bay Tech, 8
January 6: Boca Ciega vs. Strawberry Crest, 1; Calvary Christian vs. Brooks DeBartolo, 2:15; Seminole vs. Tampa Bay Tech, 3:30; Wharton vs. Lakewood, 4:45; Lakeland vs. Clearwater, 6; Winter Haven vs. Largo, 7:15
4) Ram Classic
Ridgewood High will host some of the most competitive games in my opinion. This classic will feature a few district opponents and will add to the competitiveness because some of them will be looking that edge going into the tournament. Teams featured are: Anclote, Clearwater Central Catholic, Citrus, East Lake, King’s Academy, Leto, Plant, River Ridge, Ridgewood, Sickles, Springstead, and Wesley Chapel.
December 27: Clearwater Central Catholic vs. Anclote, noon; East Lake vs. Sickles, 1:30; Leto vs. Wesley Chapel, 3; King’s Academy vs. River Ridge, 4:30; Plant vs. Springstead, 6; Citrus vs. Ridgewood, 7:30
December 28: Loser’s bracket games, noon, 1:30 and 3; CCC-Anclote winner vs. East Lake-Sickles winner, 4:30; Leto-Chapel winner vs. King’s-River Ridge winner, 6; Plant-Springstead winner vs. Citrus-Ridgewood winner, 7:30
December 29: Consolation games, noon, 1:30, 3 and 4:30 p.m.; third-place game, 6; final, 7:30*
*Championship game opponents determined by highest point spreads from winner’s bracket
5) Nature Coast Christmas Tournament
Hosting its own Christmas Tournament, Nature Coast wants to do well. They have separated it into two brackets and include the following teams: Alonso, Armwood, Berkmar (Ga.), Brooks DeBartolo, Countryside, Fletcher, George Jenkins, Hernando, Jefferson, Lakeland, Land O’Lakes, Mitchell, Orlando Dr. Phillips, Nature Coast, Superior Collegiate, and Zephyrhills.
First Bracket
December 27: Lakeland vs. Orlando Dr. Phillips, 2; Superior Collegiate vs. Armwood, 3:30; Berkmar (Ga.) vs. Brooks DeBartolo, 6:30; Fletcher vs. Countryside, 8
December 28: Loser’s bracket games, 12:30 and 2; semifinals, 6:30 and 8
December 29: Consolation games, 11 a.m., 2 and 5; final, 8
Second bracket
December 27: Mitchell vs. Hernando, 9:30 a.m.; Alonso vs. Zephyrhills, 11 a.m.; George Jenkins vs. Land O’Lakes, 12:30; Jefferson vs. Nature Coast, 5
December 28: Loser’s bracket games, 9:30 and 11 a.m.; semifinals, 3:30 and 5
December 29: Consolation games, 9:30 a.m., 12:30 and 3:30; final, 6:30