State title remains elusive for Shaneyfelt

There is usually a mixture of exhilaration and trepidation surrounding the Clearwater girls basketball team at this time.

By BOB PUTNAM
Published February 24, 2007

LAKELAND - There is usually a mixture of exhilaration and trepidation surrounding the Clearwater girls basketball team at this time.

Exhilaration because the Tornadoes and their dedicated fans hoped this would finally be the special season in which Tom Shaneyfelt won his first state title.

Trepidation because this is Shaneyfelt's 14th season coaching the program and the wait sometimes feels as if it is being calculated in dog years.

There have been so many expectations for Shaneyfelt, so many seasons in which Clearwater was on the verge of cutting down the nets. The Tornadoes have been to the final four eight times in the past 12 seasons, the most of any program in the state during that span.

Once again, there will be no state title after the Tornadoes lost to Winter Haven 53-42 in the Class 5A final at The Lakeland Center.

Speculating whether Shaneyfelt will end Clearwater's drought each February is routine. Shaneyfelt knows the drill. He expects it by now. He knows that the questions about why the Tornadoes' terrific rides often yield unsatisfactory finishes will not disappear until a championship banner hangs in the gym.

That is life for Shaneyfelt and Clearwater.

But if Shaneyfelt was antsy about playing the powerful Blue Devils to win that elusive state title, he disguised it. He joked days before the game that his team might not practice, that they might go bowling.

They did - sort of. The Tornadoes rolled basketballs and knocked down targets in the gym after Thursday's game.

It was designed to keep things carefree, to take the pressure off the girls.

Winter Haven, though, was too tough. The Blue Devils got off to a fast start and never let up in winning their second state title in the past three seasons.

This was probably not the last shot for Shaneyfelt, but it was a precious shot for him. Shaneyfelt has 509 wins, and he is proud of the legacy he has built at Clearwater.

Still, 14 seasons later, there remains one glaring omission on his glossy resume.

[Last modified February 23, 2007, 23:34:03]