Lakeland Bound: 7A State Finals Preview
It doesn’t feel like the season should already be nearing the end, but we are down to just 4 teams in each class with everyone headed to Lakeland this week. Here is how 7A has been re-seeded: Plant (29-1) Miami…
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Continue ReadingIt doesn’t feel like the season should already be nearing the end, but we are down to just 4 teams in each class with everyone headed to Lakeland this week. Here is how 7A has been re-seeded:
- Plant (29-1)
- Miami (25-5)
- Timber Creek (23-7)
- Palm Beach Lakes (21-8)
Matchup No. 1 – Plant vs. Palm Beach Lakes – 02/28/2020 @ 12:30 pm
Plant made pretty easy work of their region, whereas PBL was tested a bit more by upsetting the top seed in Boca Raton. These teams will be facing off again as Plant won the first meeting about a month and a half ago at the Ledawn Gibson Invitational by a score of 73-57 by setting the tone early with a 19-4 first quarter. This rematch is very intriguing with Lakes having played the toughest schedule of the four teams left and Plant playing the weakest SOS of the Final Four. With that in mind, Plant has not lost in their last 20 games and Lakes has only lost once since they met to Wekiva who is fighting for a 6A title. I believe both teams are playing their best basketball right now. We will see how that SOS impacts this game with two very strong teams who have earned every bit of this state appearance on their road to Lakeland.
Plant has all of the pieces to win a title with their frontcourt size and skill, their backcourt who can shoot it and take care of the ball, and their defensive pressure with their bigs being able to block or adjust shots if the guards get broken down. If Kendal Cheesman and Kayla Sieper can control the paint against this guard-heavy PBL team, I think they have a real shot of making it to the championship game. They won’t be able to do it alone, so they will need Nyla Jean and Honor Culpepper to step up with some big buckets by limiting those turnovers while creating some on the other end. After those 4, the Panthers will need some significant play from their X-factors in Silvia Farfante, Kerrigan White, and Tanner Strickland to push them through. Plant is the real deal, and they understand seeding and records don’t mean anything at this time of year.
Palm Beach Lakes has a very good 2020 class with Keishmy Ayuso, Sh’Naya Anderson, Mia Jones, and Tra’Shauna Agnew. And then you add in one of the best 2021’s in the state with Zaida Gonzalez to round out a talented starting 5. I think Tra’Shauna will really have to step up to match the two bigs from Plant for them to have a shot at knocking them off. PBL has terrific guard-play in Keishmy, Sh’Naya, and Zaida that make up a trio who can match up against any team in the state. Keishmy and Sh’Naya are also two of the best unsigned seniors in the state, and they will get to show out on a big stage this week with plenty of eyes on them. The Rams can’t afford to dig a hole like they did last matchup against this caliber of a team from Tampa if they want to move on.
Matchup No. 2 – Miami vs. Timber Creek – 02/28/2020 @ 2:30 pm
An interesting tidbit for this game is that UCF Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson will be able to watch her daughter (Savannah Henderson) and future UCF Knight (Colleen Bucknor) face off against each other in a high stakes game. Both of these teams lost to Lake Highland Prep, Montverde (x2 for Timber Creek), and their other common opponent is Florida Prep. Miami beat FL Prep, but Timber Creek lost to them which doesn’t mean much but it’s some commonality between the teams. Miami didn’t have much trouble in their region with Gulf Coast being the toughest game for them, and Timber Creek actually struggled more with the 6 seed in their region than they did with the 1 and 2 seeds making it a more tested path for them in the postseason thus far.
Miami is one of the deepest teams in the state with 8 players who average 5 points or more a game. They are led by seniors Colleen Bucknor, Jeannine Scott, Darria Whitley, and junior Kiara Cruz. According to MaxPreps, Miami High is technically the highest ranked team left by edging out Plant by one-tenth with that SOS. Their bigs in Colleen Bucknor and Sema’j Terry will need to put up quality minutes to keep up with the size of TC. The Stingarees have the guard play and pace (most points scored out of the teams left) to keep up with and beat any team in 7A if they play their game.
Timber Creek is surprisingly the youngest team left, but not by a large margin which just shows you how important experience can be at this point in the year. Their two key seniors are Sarah Napoli and Jourdan Avery, but they have a strong 2021 and 2022 class too. A lot of people counted the Wolves out because of their tough region, but if you’ve been following them this season, you had a feeling they would get the work done with every piece needed to be successful. Savannah Henderson is one of the most dangerous Sophomore’s in the state with her ability to do just about everything, and she has a big help in scoring/rebounding/defense from Zora Fray Chinn and Colleen Shanahan. Don’t ever count this team out.