Girls Basketball:

This year’s girls basketball team has already started warming up. Senior Alexys Mathangani has been playing since her freshman year and said she now has a lot more pressure to be a leader and make a difference on the court. 

“One challenge is playing to our potential,” Mathangani said. “I hope we can work together to go really far this season.” 

Varsity’s next home game is Dec. 14 against Steinbrenner High school at Plant, and junior varsity’s next game is Dec. 15 against Plant City High School and Durant High School at Plant. 

Cheer:

This upcoming semester, the cheerleading team will be having multiple competitions. Senior Caitlyn Dellegatto has been cheering at Plant since her freshman year and is now captain with Sofia Engel and Julia Mann. 

“This year we have gray uniforms for the competition team,” Dellegatto said. “We also have a lot of freshman that are really talented on our team.” 

They will be hosting a competition at Plant Jan. 16 for the first time in four years and hope to return to the Western Conference competition and advance to states. This year they have been practicing Monday through Wednesday and before school at 7 a.m. as well. Their coaches are Louise Yergey and Jenise Gorman. 

Boys Basketball:

Boys basketball has already had their tryouts during the beginning of November and are currently starting their practices, getting ready for this upcoming season. Senior Zachary Brown has been playing on the team since his freshman year. 

“Last year we fell just short of a district championship, so this year we are looking to see if we can win what we came so close to last year,” Brown said. “We play in a tough district so it’s going to be a challenge, but one we are willing to take.” 

This year Plant will be hosting the district tournament Feb. 11-15. So far, they have won two out of five games. Their coach Joe Willis has been at Plant since last year and has been coaching the team since. 

Boys and Girls Soccer:

Both boys and girls soccer teams have already begun their season in November. Varsity boys soccer won their first game against Durant High School with a 7-0 final score. 

Junior Rayna Weitzman has been on the girls soccer team since her freshman year and said she is very excited to play with her team. 

“Since I am now an upper classman, this year will definitely be different,” Weitzman said. “We have a new coach this year who does things very different from last year’s coach.” 

Junior Sagi Amoyal said both boys and girls teams are hoping to beat their rival school, Palm Harbor High School, this year but also hope to make it to States. 

Wrestling:

The boys of the wrestling team are getting ready for their district tournament Jan. 7, the first tournament hosted by Plant. Junior Ian McGary moved to Tampa for his sophomore year from Virginia and has been wrestling for three years total. 

“Wrestling is the perfect sport,” McGary said. “There are no advantages, no shortcuts, no tricks and no way to be successful without immense amounts of work and dedication.” 

They have been having morning conditioning which Mc Gary said has improved their performance. Jeremy Carter is their coach and Joshua McGary and Sally Shuster are the assistant coaches.