ESPN on the TV, basketball boxscores on my laptop screen, with a little Gap Band playing on my iPad. Does it get any better for Morning Meanderings? Oh, and does anyone know how to clean unbleached flour from the Elf on the Shelf? Don't ask. And as always, you can reach me with your hoop scoop at @JohnnyHomeTeam or by email at johncotey@gmail.com.
PLAYER OF THE NIGHT
Wharton's Auden Tate is 6-foot-4, about 200 pounds, and that size makes him a pretty good wide receiver, and not a bad basketball player either. Case in point: Tuesday, he received football offers from Kentucky and Louisville, then went out and scored a team-high 14 points, including shooting 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, to lead the Wildcats to a win over Alonso. Not a bad day.
TEAM OF THE NIGHT
Nature Coast Tech beat Zephyrhills 64-38 to improve to 6-0 and win its 17th straight regular-season game dating to last season. The last team to knock off the Sharks was Boca Ciega on Dec. 21, 2012. Led by forward and rebounding machine Rohan Blackwood and probably the best player you have never head of, guard Carlos Clemente, the Sharks are making chum of the opposition, allowing just 40 points a game. And how about this for offensive consistency? The Sharks have scored 69, 66, 68, 67, 69 and 64 points in their wins this season.
NOTABLE MILESTONES
Robinson's Cody Brown scored 10 points in a 41-39 loss to Sickles, putting him over the 1,000-point mark. Thanks to Wharton's Scott Sollazzo (@scottsollazzo) for letting me know on Twitter. Brown is averaging 17.8 points so far.
River Ridge junior forward Leah Ford, the Knights leading scorer at 17.4 a game, also went over the 1,000-point mark Tuesday night. Ford got to the milestone in quick fashion by scoring in doubles figures in 53 of her first 60 high school games.
EXCEPTIONAL
We can't follow everyone unless their boxscores are called in to the paper, but @TheGoldCrew informed us that Steinbrenner's Keshawn Ingram is a little hot lately. And is he ever. Ingram scored 38 points Monday in a win over Gaither, and last week dropped a career-high 44 in a loss to Wharton. Over his last three games, Ingram is averaging 33.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds. For the season, Ingram is leading Tampa Bay with 27.7 points per contest.
CRAZY STAT OF THE DAY
Heading into Tuesday's game, Academy at the Lakes' Ethan Haslam was shooting 79 percent this year, but take away the 10-for-18 three-point shooting, which is very good, and the senior shooter has made 28 of his 30 shots from inside the arc, or 93.3 percent. Wow.
TOP 10 STARS OF THE NIGHT
1. Newsome's Hayden Harkins was en fuego from tres-point range Tuesday night, making what is believed to be a school-record seven treys in the Wolves' impressive 66-36 win over Bloomingdale. The 3s accounted for all of Harkins' game-high 21 points, and the senior now has made 21 in six games.
2. Tampa Catholic freshman Mia Blocker -- say it with me -- messed around and got a triple double Tuesday night, scoring 18 on 8-for-13 shooting, pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out 12 assists in a win over Seminole. I'm guessing a few of those assists went to fellow freshman Alise Davis, who scored 24.
3. Alani Alexander scored three points and made just 1 of 10 shots in her last three games. But Tuesday night? The Mitchell junior broke out of her slump in a big way, scoring a career-high 17 points in Mitchell's district victory over Largo.
4. Jesuit's Christian Whidden, one of the top breakout performers of the 2013-2014 season and averaging 18 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting in the Tigers win.
5. Juwan Durham is Tampa Bay's best player -- well, at least that's where we have him ranked -- and he showed why Tuesday, scoring 21 points, with seven rebounds and five blocked shots in a win over Brooks-DeBartolo.
6. Tarpon Springs' Scottie James is another one of those gys bursting on the scene this year. Tuesday night, he dropped 16 on Anclote in a 57-41 win, as the Spongers (6-1) bounced back from their first loss. James, by the way, is averaging 22.3 points and 14 rebounds a contest.
7. Shelton Faison scored a career-high 22 for Strawberry Crest as the Chargers stayed perfect at 6-0 with a 72-45 win over Durant.
8. Anclote's Alexia Reynolds scored 24 of her team's 40 points --- the third time this season she has set her career best -- and made 4 3-pointers for the Sharks.
9. Marco Behori scored a game-high 21 in Seminole's win over East Lake. The Warhawks are now 5-1 with the only loss to highly-regarded St. Petersburg, and I am told on Twitter by @SeminoleBball (and about 10 others that retweeted) that is pretty darned impressive considering they lost eight seniors from last year's playof team. You know what? I agree.
10. Barry Brown had 21 and Daniel Davis added 19 in Gibbs' 71-35 win over Bogie. The Gladiators have been quiet so far, but it's about to get loud in south St. Pete with games against Lakewood and Oldsmar Christian in the next week.
ALMOST TOP 10
Northeast junior Maddie Winningham notched a couple of season highs in Tuesday's 52-31 win: points with 20, and 3-pointers with four.
Marcus Budd helped Clearwater to a win by making four 3-pointers, accounting for all 12 of his points.
Brooks DeBartolo's Brenden Huynh scored 17 in a loss to Tampa Prep, making a trio of 3-pointers and all four of his free throws.
Fivay's Keira Libby and St. Petersburg's Lazasha Baskins scored 20 points in victories.
Dayon Griffin led St. Petersburg to a win, and Carley Plentovich did the same for Calvary Christian with 16 points and three 3-pointers.
River Ridge big man John Childs scored 19 in a win over Dunedin.
WEDNESDAY'S FIVE BEST GAMES
1. Unbeaten Lennard, led by the senior trio of Caelen Watts (18.7 ppg), Gary Hector (16.2) and Aldridge Jones (13) play at East Bay, which is 4-1 and boasts arguably the area's top point guard in Jonathan Jean. These teams split two games last year.
2. Steinbrenner at Plant boys: Who's slowing down Keshawn Ingram?
3. Chamberlain at Wharton boys: Both teams have won four in a row.
4. St. Petersburg at Lakewood girls: The Green Devils are 9-0, while the Spartans are wobbling.
5. Steinbrenner at Plant girls: The Warriors are 10-0, and this kicks off a three-game stretch that includes games against Freedom (Thursday) and red-hot Wiregrass Ranch (Dec. 17).