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Basketball Rivals Join Forces For County All-Star Game

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: March 11, 2009

PLANT CITY - For the last couple of years they were the biggest of rivals, but this Saturday A.J. Garden and Josh Thiebe will be literally shooting for the same goal.

Durant's Garden and Plant City High's Thiebe were selected to play for the East in the Tampa Bay Basketball Coaches Association's Hillsborough County All-Star Game.

Their coaches will also be working together. Durant's Jeff Shotwell and Plant City High's Dale Chambers are coaching the East squad.

"That will be a lot of fun," Shotwell said. "I'm really looking forward to working with Coach Chambers and the All-Star kids. We'll have a pretty good squad. And Chambers, like myself, is a sweater vest guy so we should work really well together."

Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Tampa Prep.

Also on the East team is King's Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who led the Lions to a trip to the 5A state semifinals. King lost to Gainesville in the March 4 semifinal.

John Henson, 6-foot-10-inch center for Sickles who's headed to the University of North Carolina, will lead the West side.

Only seniors are playing in the East-West game, but Durant sophomore Andre Nation did get recognition from the coaches association. Nation, Garden and Thiebe were all among those chosen to the association's All-Star team, the top 24 Hillsborough County players regardless of class.

There were 10 underclassmen including Nation on the All-Star list. The 24 players will be honored at the annual association banquet April 1 in Tampa.

As for the All-Star game, if the East team wins, Shotwell and Chambers will get to coach the Hillsborough County squad the following weekend as it takes on Pinellas County All-Stars at Eckerd College.

Another Durant player, Jeffrey Thomas, was recently named to the Western Conference First Team for the National Division along with Garden.

Shotwell, who was voted Coach of the Year for the National Division, was glad to see Thomas get noticed.

"The coaches recognized his impact on our team and our success this year," Shotwell said. "Maybe his statistical numbers don't warrant recognition but all of the coaches who have seen him play know his importance to the team."

With Thomas running the point Durant went from 12 wins last season to 21 this year.

Plant City had one player, Quet Shaw, make the girls First Team in conference honors. Janae Lancaster of Durant was all named First Team and her Cougar cohort Taylor Broadnax merited Second Team honors.

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