BROOKSVILLE- Nature Coast Technical High School’s boys basketball team hosted a Summer Shootout Tournament this past weekend with teams from all over the area taking part. The tournament featured varsity and junior varsity tourneys, in which champions would be crowned on both ends.
Out of the 30 varsity teams that took part in the tourney, it would be a local club that won the NCT Summer Shootout championship, as Sickles High School of Tampa defeated Zephyrhills. In the junior varsity bracket, Seffner Christian took home the championship in the 8-team tournament.
The final four teams in the varsity bracket featured Sickles, Zephyrhills, Springstead and Citra North Marion. Two of the four teams finished with a record above the .500 mark for the 2020-2021 campaign. Sickles ended up finishing with a record of 14-12 from last season and finished the campaign with a loss to Wharton 52-31.
Zephyrhills ended last season with a record of 6-11 and lost its final game to Fivay 69-59 in the district tournament. The Bulldogs’ appearance in the finals definitely showed a swing upwards for the program.
Springstead is coming off a strong 2020-2021 season in which the Eagles finished with a record of 19-5. The other final four team was North Marion, which the Colts finished last season with a record of 8-10.
The host team Nature Coast was eliminated before the final four stage, but the Sharks will certainly be a team to watch for, heading into next season. Nature Coast finished the 2020-2021 campaign with a record of 18-10. The Sharks season ended this past winter in the opening round of the playoffs, 39-36 loss to Eustis.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
