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Powerful Raiders Teams End Seasons In Defeat

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2008

PLANT CITY - What were among the best seasons in Plant City High history for their respective sports both came to an end last week, when within 24 hours the boys soccer and girls basketball squads were defeated.

The Raiders boys soccer team, which posted the best record in school history, was eliminated Jan. 31 in the first round of the state playoffs. Alonso, a defending 6A state semifinalist, scored with five minutes left in regulation to win 1-0 at Raider Stadium.

Then on Feb. 1, an equally promising season came to a close when the girls basketball team fell in their 6A-8 tournament semifinals. Sarasota broke loose in the fourth quarter for a 48-25 win at Riverview High School.

"It was a great year and I'm really proud of the girls," Raiders head coach Ginger Forte said, though she could not mask her chagrin over how the final game unfolded. Plant City had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night against the Sailors, a team the Raiders had taken to overtime in their previous meeting.

After not scoring in the game's first four minutes, Plant City took a 6-5 lead on Quet Shaw's basket at the first-period horn only to have Sarasota jump out to a 19-10 halftime lead. The Raiders came out with intensity in the second half, and got the margin down to 19-13 early on.

However, with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter, the Raiders missed two lay-ups that would have cut the deficit to four. At several points in the contest, just a couple of consecutive short hoops could have drastically altered the outcome.

"I'm still baffled by it," Forte said a few days after the game. "We were so confident, we were ready, we were psyched. We played good defense. The shots just didn't fall. I just feel bad for them, because these girls deserved to be in the championship. That's the saddest part."

It was the last game for standout senior Sade Dunkley, who led the Raiders in scoring the past three years. Tanay Tatum will also graduate, but the rest of the roster returns.

Plant City made only four of 20 free throws for the game, hindering its comeback effort. Sarasota put the game away in a whirlwind 10-0 run that took just 67 seconds to produce, ending with Sarasota ahead 36-19.

The Raiders finished with a record of 13-6, their best year in more than a decade.

The final mark for the boys soccer team was 13-3-3. Had they beaten Alonso, the Raiders would have been without its head coach for the regional semifinals. The mother of Raiders coach K.C. Van der Luit was admitted to a hospital in her home of Amsterdam. Van der Luit left Monday to be with her.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib .com.

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