This weekend may be a three-day holiday for most, but some area high school girls basketball teams will be hard at work. There are two Martin Luther King Jr. Day shootouts on both sides of the bay beginning Friday.
Lakewood hosts a six-team shootout Friday and Saturday. Chamberlain hosts an eight-team shootout Saturday and Monday.
Both events are a mix of area and out-of-town teams. At the Lakewood tournament, perennial state power Miami Norland, along with Bradenton Southeast, are marquee teams. The big game at the Chamberlain shootout should be Tampa Bay Tech vs. Miami Country Day on Saturday night. Both teams won state titles last season, and the Titans handed Country Day its only loss last season.
Plant will get a taste of both shootouts. The Panthers play Lakewood on Saturday, then Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas on Monday at Chamberlain.
Here are the schedules for both shootouts:
Lakewood MLK Holiday Classic
Friday
Seffner Christian vs. Tampa Catholic, 5; Bradenton Southeast vs. Ocala West Port 6:30; Lakewood vs. Miami Norland, 8
Saturday
West Port vs. Seffner Christian, noon; Miami Norland vs. Bradenton Southeast, 1:30; Lakewood vs. Plant, 3
MLK Shootout (at Chamberlain)
Saturday
Chamberlain vs. Davie Nova, 3; Strawberry Crest vs. Florida Prep, 4:30; Armwood vs. St. Francis (Ga.), 6; Tampa Bay Tech vs. Miami Country Day, 7:30
Monday
Braden River vs. Davie Nova, 11 a.m.; Florida High vs. Miami Country Day, 12:30; Tampa Bay Tech vs. St. Francis (Ga.,), 2; Plant vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, 3:30; Chamberlain vs. Armwood, 5