Polk County Classic features highly ranked teams & heavily recruited prospects

Posted by Brad Winton on Jan 18, 2012 in EBS News, Featured

The Hoop Exchange Florida High School Tour has made four stops around the state of Florida and seen many highly touted prospects as well as many teams ranked in the state/nation. The Polk County Classic (stop 5 of 6 on the tour) on Saturday January 21 will follow suit. Here is a look at the top teams and players who will butt heads this weekend.

Location: Lake Wales High School  

Date: Jan 21, 2012

Times: 3:30pm   Tampa Catholic vs Teneroc

  5:00pm   Chipley vs Avon Park

  6:30pm   Summit Christian vs Winter Haven

  8:00pm   Leesburg vs Lake Wales

The first matchup will be Tampa Catholic vs Teneroc. Teneroc comes in with a seasoned team of juniors and seniors, led by do-it-all Junior, Karlos Odum. Teneroc has done very well against most area teams, but have their work cut out for them in one of the toughest districts in 5A. Tampa Catholic comes in young, starting 4 of 5 sophomores. They are a talented group led by Chivarsky Corbett and Isiah Thomas. TC has had some good recent wins against Sickles and Chamberlain that put them in the top 10 rankings in 4A.

Avon Park and Chipley should be a fast pace, interesting matchup of two teams who are consistently reaching Lakeland for a run at a state title. Unsigned Seniors Reggie Baker and Romeollo Roberts as well as Junior Marcus Dewberry lead the way for Avon Park. They should be smooth sailing to a district title in their quest back to Lakeland. Chipley is nestled at #3 in the state 1A rankings, but should improve that ranking as they have been rolling since getting their entire roster back after football season ended. Chipley is led by LA Tech signee, Alex Hamilton and heavily recruited point guard, Cameron Dozier.

Winter Haven will have a great test in the 3^rd game of the day against a very hot Summit Christian. Summit Christian is coming off their state championship title year and has not missed a beat. They are the favorite to win 3A and are ranked #8 overall in the state. Josue Levy is has been playing well along with veteran leaders, Brandon Williams (signed, Kennesaw St) and Farad Cobb (signed, UT Chattanooga).

Winter Haven is anchored by 4-year starter and high-major D1 recruit, Devon Walker. Walker is waiting until the spring to make his college decision, but in the meantime he is giving coaches a reason to be excited with several 30+ point outputs. Winter Haven is a favorite to win their region in 6A and has a great young group, with freshman Chance McSpadden and Darius James.

The final match up of the day will feature Lake Wales and Leesburg. Lake Wales is the host school with high expectations. They are currently rated #3 in the state and come in as a heavy favorite to capture the 5A state title one year after reaching the state finalist. Lake Wales has an experienced group of 2012  D1 recruits with Marcel White being the most coveted and a standout junior in Douglas Brooks. Leesburg, their opponent is no stranger to success.  They are coming off a state championship year and returned the majority of their roster from last season. Leesburg will try to repeat that title in 6A and are  led by senior point guard, Joe Toolie who has caught the eye of many college coaches. Undra Mitchem and Troy Willis were major contributors in last year’s title and haven’t missed a beat. Both teams play hard and fast so look for a great deal of action.