We Speak High School Basketball
No Star, No Problem: Plant’s Balanced Attack Keeps Winning
Ask around Tampa for the hardest team to game-plan for, and Plant keeps coming up — not because of one star, but because there isn’t one.
The Panthers went 23-7 last season on balance. At the City of Tampa Championship in December, Plant opened by routing Hillsborough 76-44 with four double-figure scorers: Brayden Galuski with 19, Makoa Morrison with 16, Abram Clements with 13 and Jonah Daniel with 12. The Panthers fell in the semifinal to Tampa Catholic 71-50, then took third place by beating Durant 74-50 behind 25 from Clements, 14 from Daniel and 8 assists from Morrison.
Across the City of Tampa Classic, Galuski averaged 16.1 points per game while Morrison averaged 6.1 assists — a scorer and a table-setter sharing the load the way Plant likes it. The holiday slate around it was no vacation either: the Sun Bash against Berkeley Prep and the first-year City of Champions Classic at Seffner Christian.
Coaches call teams like Plant “guard-your-man” problems: help off anybody and somebody else hurts you. The Panthers’ brand travels into the new season intact — five threats, one system, no star required.
We Speak High School Basketball
Remember These Names: E’zariyah Clark and Amira White Headline Florida’s 2030 Class in Tampa
They haven’t played a minute of high school basketball yet. In Tampa, people are already learning their names.
E’zariyah Clark arrives at Tampa Bay Tech as a 5-11 forward and combo guard in the class of 2030, playing club ball for HER Elite. Prep Girls Hoops’ evaluation reads like a varsity scouting report: a midrange game, range out to the deep ball, and rim protection built on length and timing — a freshman who “should be a key contributor for TBT alongside a talented group of guards.”
Across town, Amira White gives Plant a 6-0 power forward from the same 2030 class, playing for MBJ Elite. Prep Girls Hoops calls her “a major addition for Plant as the program looks to reestablish itself among the top teams in Tampa and across the state,” pointing to a back-to-the-basket game with an outside shot to match.
Florida’s 2030 class, as Prep Girls Hoops frames it, is a group whose size and length make them names to watch from day one. Two of the biggest are starting their careers in Tampa gyms this winter. Remember where you heard them first.
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