Bright House Shootout lets schools avoid playing a team twice in one season.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published December 19, 2003
It no longer is the Time Warner tournament - It's Bright House - and for the first time, it will crown no champion - it's a shootout.
Tonight at Clearwater, the annual-but-revamped and renamed Bright House Shootout tips off, and with it the holiday basketball season.
Unlike the typical tournament format featured in the past and in other holiday tournaments such as the Hooters tournament, the Bright House Shootout features four games today and another four Saturday, pitting teams from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
The host Tornadoes, unbeaten at 4-0, play King tonight and Wharton on Saturday, both games starting at 7:30.
The Clearwater-King game will be televised by Bright House (Ch. 47) on tape delay as will the 6 p.m. game between Ridgewood and Alonso.
None of Saturday's games will be aired.
Because teams were not interested in potentially playing intracounty schools they will face later this season, the two-day shootout format drew universal acceptance from coaches, said Clearwater coach Jack Coit, giving each team two games against opponents they aren't scheduled to play again.
But having more of an impact was the new FHSAA rule reducing the number of games a team can play from 28 to 25. Teams would have had to keep a game open in their schedule in case they made a tournament final, something fewer coaches want to risk doing.
"If the FHSAA didn't reduce the games, we would have done the tournament (like we always have)," Coit said.
Regardless, Coit still expects it to draw just as many fans. King had one of Hillsborough County's best records last season (and Clearwater had Pinellas County's best record), and today's game pits two unbeaten teams as Wharton comes in at 5-0.
The tournament also features strong teams such as Ridgewood, perhaps Pasco County's best team, and every team has proved to be competitive this season.
"I think people want to see other teams play," Coit said. "Look at our last game, Clearwater and Wharton. I mean, that's a pretty good matchup. If we were doing the tournament, it could be the same."
