PLANT CITY SOCCER ADVANCES TO DISTRICT FINAL IN THRILLING FINISH

TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER

After amassing a 15-3-1 regular season record, the Plant City Raiders entered the 7A District 6 tournament as the second seed, earning a first-round bye and an automatic spot in the semifinal round. After six-seed Ridge Community upset Strawberry Crest in a 0-0 contest that was ultimately decided by penalty kicks, the Bolts made their way to Plant City on Tuesday where the elimination game once again went down to penalty kicks in a scoreless contest, with the Raiders escaping victorious and advancing to the district championship.

Plant City was able to open the contest with offensive pressure. The Raiders saw their first scoring opportunity come in just the second minute as senior Manny Nava bolted up the right side on a beautifully sent through ball, cutting back and finding senior forward Angel Guerra at the top of the box. But despite the opportunity, the first-touch shot was sent just wide of frame. In the fourth minute the Raiders were threatening again with another run from Nava, this time steered back to the middle of the pitch before he sent a 25-yard shot just inches outside of the left post. For the next several minutes the offensive chances for both clubs were scarce, with Ridge Community settling for one deep shot from well outside of the 18-yard box, saved without much trouble by Plant City keeper Francisco Miranda. But in the 22nd minute Ridge put together a dangerous opportunity with a well-timed run into the 18-yard box, only for the chance to be thwarted by a sliding clear from sophomore defender Miguel Hernandez-Garcia.

In the 28th minute Plant City answered back with another pair of great opportunities, led by Nava beating his defender to create space, passing the ball up the left side to Fredi Trejo who raced his way into the goal area and ripped a shot on frame that was just sent out of play off of the outstretched hand of Ridge Community’s keeper. On the ensuing corner kick, Guerra managed to put his head on the cross but the ensuing shot was sent a foot over the bar. Throughout the remainder of the half Ridge Community was finally able to start mounting some meaningful offensive chances of their own, but it was a handful of stellar saves from Miranda that kept the contest knotted at 0-0 as the whistle marked an end to the first half.

The Raiders nearly pulled ahead with another great opportunity early in the second half as the ball was brought into the offensive third through midfield, dropped off to senior Jose Hernandez and ripped inches outside of the right post from 30 yards out. But alas, the game remained tied. The remainder of the second half was tightly contested as defenses adjusted and stayed behind their opposing offenses, forcing difficult shots from outside of the 18-yard box as space near the goal was cut off effectively. At the end of full time, the game remained even at 0-0 and the two teams prepared for two 10-minute extra time periods with the hope of pulling ahead to avoid penalties. Ridge was able to take advantage of quick counter attacks early in the first extra time period, but Plant City’s back line stood strong to avoid conceding any chances that were overly concerning for Miranda. And the best scoring opportunity for Plant City came in the final seconds of the second extra time period as Hernandez created space on the right side, just outside of the 18-yard box, and sent a cross into the goal area where an unmarked Noah DeFrancesco leapt to put a head through the pass, only for the storybook ending to fall inches short as the resulting shot soared just high over the crossbar.

With the Raiders season on the line, they huddled together ahead of their win-or-go-home penalty shootout, deciding as a team which players wanted to step up in the biggest moment of the year.

“You dance with who brought you,” head coach Ben Henderson said. “They may not be the best pure PK guys that we have on the squad and admittedly we may have a couple of guys that may be better at PKs, but when it’s a pressurepacked situation, your career and season is on the line, you also have to have poise in that moment. Our team talk was just, ‘who wants to take it?’ In your head you know guys that you want to take it but truth be told, the guys picked it themselves. I didn’t point at guys. It was asking who wanted to take it and five guys stepped up.”

To begin penalties, Guerra stepped up to the line first and tucked a perfectly-placed shot into the lower corner to immediately give Plant City a 1-0 lead, but Ridge Community’s first shooter quickly drew the shootout even with a goal on the Bolts’ attempt. Then it was Nava’s chance to pull Plant City ahead, doing so with ease as he buried his attempt, and once again the pressure was back on Miranda in net. In a huge moment, Miranda rose to the occasion as he made a diving save on Ridge Community’s second attempt and gave Plant City a crucial advantage. Sophomore Kameron Kropp scored on the Raiders’ third attempt and as Ridge Community’s third shot missed the frame wide right, DeFrancesco stepped up with a chance to seal the contest and clinch a spot in the district championship, just minutes after narrowly missing a chance to win the game in extra time. With poise, the senior midfielder converted and the celebration began for the Raiders.

“What we knew coming into this game from watching the film was that Ridge Community has a very solid keeper and that they are very organized in the back,” Henderson said. “So even though we had scoring chances and we can look at opportunities that we should have had, we could probably claim a goal or two, but when a team is organized in the back with a good keeper you have to come up with quality yourself to score and we knew that coming in. That’s why we didn’t panic necessarily, because we felt confident about our back side. We didn’t feel like we were under duress so we kept pushing but we just couldn’t find a goal. Honestly, having watched their tendencies on film, I think we also felt confident going into the shootout. We took notes, we knew where they liked to go and so it really helped our confidence level — and shootouts are all about confidence. They have a good keeper but we felt confident in our plan. Then, as we saw, Francisco was pretty accurate in his predictions of where they would go.”

Plant City will now face Newsome in the district championship, a Wolves team that handed the Raiders one of their three losses on the year by way of a 6-0 final on Dec. 22. With a plan in place, Plant City will look to get revenge and lift their second district trophy in three years on Thursday.

“Newsome is the cream of the crop, there’s not getting around that, but if you want to win the district title you have to beat someone good at some point,” Henderson said. “So we’re going to watch film tomorrow and we’re going to come up with a game plan of formation-wise what we want to do, tactics-wise what we want to do and then you have to follow through with the plan. Don’t go rogue, trust the plan, trust what we see on film. I will say this about Newsome, structure-wise they have mostly stayed in the same structure for four years so we know what to expect, but they just execute at a very high-quality level. It’s going to be a game where we probably just have to capitalize on one or two mistakes in the back for them if we want to get through but I told the boys, it’s the same expression as in football, flags fly forever. So we have an opportunity to get a trophy and get a picture that will be in the hallways forever and I hope they don’t miss out on that opportunity.”

Durant Girls Basketball Ends Regular Season With Big Win Over Sickles

TAYLOR JENKINS SPORTS WRITER

Durant girls basketball made a long trip over to Sickles on Friday to face a tough Gryphons squad, ultimately heading home with a convincing 76-43 win as the Cougars now prepare for district tournament play this week on the heels of an 18-4 regular season record and a 10-game win streak to finish the year.

After seven consecutive dominant victories throughout the month of January, Durant faced some stiffer competition in 15-10 Steinbrenner last week, narrowly escaping with a 59-53 win over the Warriors. Following the contest, head coach Al Mitchell spoke about the importance of consistency and remaining focused as playoff basketball creeped closer, and how those hurdles can be tough for a young team when they face stretches where the competition on their schedule isn’t quite as challenging. He added that he was grateful to have a pair of tougher opponents on the back end of their schedule and Sickles — entering Friday night at 17-5 — provided an ideal matchup for the Cougars to rise to the occasion and regain focus.

From the opening tipoff it was clear that Durant was playing some of their best basketball of the year, opening the scoring with crisp ball movement as senior Maggie Lauber found senior Ki’Ajanae Gordon open, followed up by a pass inside to senior Sophia Flair where she finished at the rim to give Durant a quick 2-0 lead. On the ensuing defensive possession, senior Miani Mejia came up with a steal on the defensive end and found sophomore Elani Randall in transition for another score. Sickles got on the board and cut into the Cougars early lead with a three, but Gordon immediately answered with a three of her own for a 7-3 advantage. On their next trip down the court, Randall kept the ball in Durant’s hands with a pair of offensive rebounds that led to a floater from the free throw line from Gordon. Sickles answered with another three to make it 9-6 and Flair forced another Sickles turnover into points as she raced down the court and finished the layup herself as the Cougars went up 11-6. A bucket for Sickles was followed up by a tough layup from Mejia, finishing through the foul and hitting the lone free throw to give Durant a 14-8 lead before the Gryphons’ shooters caught fire for the remainder of the quarter. In a run that would be underestimated if it was called “red-hot,” Sickles hit four three-point shots throughout the remainder of the first to take a 20-14 lead in the second on the heels of a 12-0 run to end the period.

“That’s the run and it’s like boxing,” Mitchell said. “You have to take that flurry, you cover up, protect, protect, protect and when they run out of gas, that’s when you go to work and that’s what we did. We took all their blows and once they ran out we went to work.”

Gordon finally ended the Cougars’ cold stretch with a three to start the second quarter, cutting the Gryphons’ lead to 20-17, but Sickles responded with a pull-up jumper on the other end to make it 22-17. Flair found Gordon for a layup to cut the Cougars’ deficit to one score, but the Gryphons once again caught fire and rattled off an 8-0 run to take a 30-19 lead before Durant punched back. A free throw followed by a corner three followed by a layup, all from Gordon, quickly had Durant back within single digits at 30-25 before Lauber came up with a steal and layup in transition to make it 30-27. Two more buckets from Lauber at the end of the half effectively erased the deficit and put the Cougars back on top 31-30 heading into half time.

In the third quarter Durant took complete control of the matchup, outscoring Sickles 23-4 in the period to take a 54-34 lead where they were able to cruise to a decisive 76-43 victory by way of an absolutely dominant second half.

“After a couple days of practice the girls were able to refocus and get themselves back together,” Mitchell said. “We struggled a little bit in the first half, we were a little out of sync, but we went into the locker room, had a little conversation and they came out ready to play. They put the wheels on and we played much better. We aren’t there yet, but we’re back on the road.”

Gordon led all Durant scorers with 19 points on 60 percent shooting from behind the arc and 56 percent shooting from the field while adding a team-high eight assists. Lauber followed with 18 points on 56 percent shooting as well, adding six assists of her own, and Flair notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds while adding six assists and four steals. Behind the senior trio all in double-digit scoring, Mejia had nine points with eight rebounds, five assists and a team-high six steals.

“I loved that we were able to show what the girls are capable of and I’ll say, this isn’t their best ball,” Mitchell said. “We can play much better than that and it’s what we’ll have to do. I keep pushing them and I keep telling them, ladies, we must continue to improve every single game. You can’t say that we’ve arrived, we haven’t arrived, we’ll never arrive because we can always find something to improve upon and that’s what we’re striving for. We know that we’ll never be perfect but we’ll strive for perfection every game.”

As the second seed in the 7A District 9 tournament behind top-seeded Winter Haven, the Cougars opened tournament play in the district semifinals against Haines City on Wednesday night. On the other side of the bracket, Winter Haven faced fourthseed George Jenkins. The winner of both semifinal matchups will meet in the district championship on Friday, Feb. 3.

While district semifinal games were played on Wednesday, the games concluded after the Plant City Observer had gone to press. Further coverage will be provided.

“Jurassic Park.” - Ashley Saunders

“Brooklyn, Home Alone, The Notebook, Sandlot, My Girl.” - Letanya Sutton

“Sweet Home Alabama.” - Sandra Johnson

“Laura; Double Indemnity; 12 Angry Men; Dirty Dancing; Gilda; Witness for the Prosecution (the old one); It’s a Wonderful Life; all of the Jurassic Park movies.” - Stacy Sydenham

“The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, The Titanic.” - Cynthia Davis Van Camp

“Lawrence of Arabia.” - Earl Truman

“Grease, Dirty Dancing.” - Jo Anne

“Fried Green Tomatoes, Coal Miner’s Daughter.” - Wesley Ezekiel

“Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, The Devil Wears Prada.” - Cori Na

“Where the Crawdads Sing.” - Mary York Davis

“Back to the Future.” - Edwin Alexander

Mejia

“Grease!” - Mary Alexander Rabon

“Citizen Kane. Period.” - Gary Hughes

“Second Hand Lions” - Rita Hewitt

Sumner

“The Wizard of Oz, Ten Command-

PlantCityObserver.com

Arthur ‘Sonny’

Franklin Buchanan, Jr.

Arthur “Sonny” Franklin Buchanan, Jr., 68, of Plant City, born on April 22, 1954, in Orlando, entered into eternal rest on Jan. 24, 2023.

Expressions of condolences at www.HopewellFuneral.com.

HOPEWELLFUNERAL.COM

Mavis ‘Frances’

Gunter

Mavis “Frances” Gunter, 78, of Lakeland, Fla., born in Frostproof, on Feb. 26, 1944, entered into eternal rest on Jan. 25, 2023. Expressions of condolence at www.HopewellFuneral.com.

HOPEWELLFUNERAL.COM

Mary E. Sanders

Mary E. Sanders, 100, of Plant City, Florida, born in Moultrie, Ga. on Dec. 24, 1922, entered into eternal rest on Jan. 26, 2023.

Expressions of condolence at www.HopewellFuneral.com.

HOPEWELLFUNERAL.COM

William ‘Bill’ E. Simons

William “Bill” E. Simons, Jr., 92, of Plant City, born on Jan. 4, 1931, in Bartow, entered into eternal rest on Jan. 22, 2023.

Expressions of condolences at www.HopewellFuneral.com.

HOPEWELLFUNERAL.COM

Brenda Ann Cuthbertson

Brenda Ann Cuthbertson died of complications from frontotemporal dementia in New Port Richey on Jan. 24, 2023.

Expressions of condolences at www.HopewellFuneral. com.

HOPEWELLFUNERAL.COM

Andres Bautista

Hernandez

Andres Bautista Hernandez, 44, passed away on Jan. 27, 2023.

Friends and family will be received Feb. 3, 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Haught Funeral Home, 708 W. Dr. MLK Jr. Blvd Plant City, FL 33563. Funeral Services will follow at 1 p.m. Online condolences can be made at www.haught. care.

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ALL OBITUARIES ARE SUBMITTED AND EDITED BY FAMILIES OR FUNERAL HOMES

Best Bet

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

MOVIE ON THE LAWN

6 p.m. at 302 W. McLendon St. The Bruton Memorial Library will host their Movie on the Lawn event, where the whole family can attend and enjoy a screening of The Princess Bride. Attendees are invited to bring comfortable chairs, blankets and snacks. If you have questions or are in need of more information, please contact the library at 813-757-9215.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3

BEGINNING RUMBA CHOREOGRAPHED BALLROOM

DANCE LESSONS

10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 4401 Promenade Blvd. Head down to the Strawberry Square Dance Center for Beginning Rumba Choreographed Ballroom Dance Lessons. No experience is required and each lesson will cost $7 per person, per lesson. For more information or to register, text Cindy at 864-723-6965.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4

BLUEGRASS JAM!

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 101 E. J. Arden Mays Blvd. This is an open invitation for local Bluegrass musicians and fans to come to the Krazy Kup loft and jam, clap hands, stomp feet and enjoy! Krazy Kup holds their Bluegrass JAM on the fist Saturday of every month.

BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES

2 p.m. at 303 N. Lemon St. Plant City residents will have an opportunity to see the Budweiser Clydesdales at the Strawberry Festival Grounds while helping a good cause. Parking and attendance is free, with Corvette Raffle tiets and beverages will be for sale, raising money for Unity in the Community.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

PIANO CONCERT

6 p.m. at 1318 E. Calhoun St. Eastside Baptist Church of Plant City will host a piano concert, with a performance from Dr. Teofil“Teo” Kulyk. The event is free for all to attend and will begin at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary at Eastside Baptist.

HEART SMART

11 a.m. at 302 W. McLendon St. Show your heart some love and join the Bruton Memorial Library as they host this special event to raise awareness for heart health in collaboration with the University of Florida / IFAS, the American Heart Association and City Furniture. For more information, please contact the library at 813-757-9215.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

FREE ASSISTANCE FOR MILITARY VETERANS

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Federal, state and local opportunities are constantly changing. If you’ve served any time in the military, retired or non-retention, and would like to review your benefis please take advantage of free assistance at the Bing House Museum, 205 Allen St., every Wednesday. Walk-ins welcomed or call 813-704-5800 to set a specific tim.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

MOVIE TRIVIA NIGHT

7 to 8:30 p.m. at 101 E J. Arden Mays Blvd. Bring your friends and family to grab a cup of coffee and head up to the loft to show off our movie knowledge, or just to cheer on your loved ones, with a chance to win a prize at this month’s Movie Trivia Night. As always, the event is family-friendly and free.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11

OPEN MIC NIGHT

7 to 8:30 p.m. at 101 E. J. Arden Mays Blvd.

Open Mic Night is back at Krazy Kup. Join them for a fun night where you get to be the star of the show. Come out, strut your stuff and shw everyone what you’ve got.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13

1914 HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY MEETING AND WORKSHOP

5 p.m. at 302 W. Reynolds St. The City of Plant City will be holding a Community Meeting and Workshop to discuss the future of the 1914 High School. While the format of the workshop has not yet been announced, Plant City is providing the opportunity for all community members to attend and ensure that they have an opportunity for their voices to be heard. The workshop will be held at the Plant City Commission Chambers at City Hall.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18

STRAWBERRY CLASSIC CRUISE-IN

3 to 6:30 p.m. at 102 N. Palmer St. The Plant City Strawberry Classic Cruise-In is back on Saturday, Feb. 18, rain or shine. Cars and trucks of all makes, models and years can register for free starting at 3 p.m. Live music by DJ John Paul Gasca.