Palm Beach County Middle School Basketball Is Back — Week 1 Gives Us Our First Look
Palm Beach County Middle School Basketball: Week 1 Gives Us Our First Look
By The Cage Sports | Rangeman Films Media
Week 1 of Palm Beach County middle school basketball is in the books, and we’re already starting to get a feel for which teams may have something this season.
It’s still early — very early.
Some teams have played three games, others have played two, and a few have only gotten one game in. So nobody should be crowning a county champion based on the first week.
But the standings have given us something to work with.
A handful of teams came out of the gate undefeated, a few traditional programs have already been tested, and there are some early surprises worth following as we head into the next week of basketball.
North: Independence Starts 3–0
Independence has the early lead in the North after opening the season 3–0.
Duncan and Conniston are right behind at 2–1, while Jupiter and H.L. Watkins both sit at 1–2.
For Jupiter, it hasn’t been the start the Jaguars wanted from a wins-and-losses standpoint, but we’re not reading too much into a 1–2 record this early.
Jupiter has some individual talent worth following.
Dayyan Godfrey gives the Jaguars versatility and another player capable of handling the basketball, attacking and creating offense.
Jack Wells, a Best of Palm Beach Middle School All-Star alumnus, is another name to watch. Wells can stretch a defense when he gets comfortable from outside.
Bak has had the toughest start in the division and enters the next stretch at 0–3.
North Standings: Independence 3–0; Duncan 2–1; Conniston 2–1; Jupiter 1–2; H.L. Watkins 1–2; Bak 0–3.
North-Central: Jeaga Opens 2–0
There hasn’t been as much basketball played in the North-Central yet, but Jeaga has taken advantage of its opportunities.
Jeaga is 2–0, making it the early leader among the teams that have played multiple games.
Roosevelt and Somerset Canyons are both 1–0, while JFK and Conservatory School are 0–1. Bear Lakes sits at 0–2.
There simply isn’t enough basketball played here yet to make any big declarations.
Give this division another week.
North-Central Standings: Jeaga 2–0; Roosevelt 1–0; Somerset Canyons 1–0; JFK 0–1; Conservatory School 0–1; Bear Lakes 0–2.
West: Wellington Landings and Western Pines Perfect So Far
Two teams escaped the opening stretch unbeaten in the West.
Wellington Landings and Western Pines are both 2–0.
Lake Shore and Polo Park split their opening games and stand at 1–1.
Osceola Creek and Crestwood are both still searching for their first win at 0–2.
Again, two games aren’t enough to separate contenders from everybody else, but Wellington Landings and Western Pines have done exactly what they needed to do.
Win.
West Standings: Wellington Landings 2–0; Western Pines 2–0; Lake Shore 1–1; Polo Park 1–1; Osceola Creek 0–2; Crestwood 0–2.
East: Palm Springs Makes an Early Statement
Palm Springs is another team off to a perfect 3–0 start.
That’s one of the better starts anywhere in the county.
L.C. Swain sits at 2–1, while Congress and Lake Worth are both 1–1. Okeeheelee is 1–2, and Lantana is looking for its first victory at 0–3.
Palm Springs hasn’t lost yet, and until somebody changes that, they’re a team that deserves attention.
East Standings: Palm Springs 3–0; L.C. Swain 2–1; Congress 1–1; Lake Worth 1–1; Okeeheelee 1–2; Lantana 0–3.
South-Central: West Boynton Is 3–0
Here’s one of the more interesting developments from Week 1.
West Boynton is 3–0.
That unbeaten start includes a win over Emerald Cove, which entered this season after going 14–0 last year under Coach Ti Hayden.
That result alone was enough to put West Boynton on our early team-to-watch list.
Two players stood out in that performance.
Nolan King scored 19 points and Noah Ramos finished with 17, giving West Boynton 36 combined points from the duo.
We’re not making the entire season about one win, but beating an established program and getting to 3–0 is a good way to get noticed.
Emerald Cove hasn’t suddenly disappeared. The Pirates are 2–1, and Tradewinds is also 2–1.
Christa McAuliffe sits at 1–1, Woodlands is 1–2 and Village Academy is 0–2.
South-Central Standings: West
Boynton 3–0; Emerald Cove 2–1; Tradewinds 2–1; Christa McAuliffe 1–1; Woodlands 1–2; Village Academy 0–2.
South: Three Teams Still Unbeaten
The South has three teams sitting at 2–0.
Don Estridge, Omni and Logger’s Run all made it through their first two games without a loss.
Boca Raton, Eagles Landing and Carver are each 0–2.
That makes the South particularly interesting heading into the next part of the schedule. Eventually those undefeated records are going to start running into each other.
South Standings: Don Estridge 2–0;
Omni 2–0; Logger’s Run 2–0; Boca Raton 0–2; Eagles Landing 0–2; Carver 0–2.
Early Boys Teams to Watch
We’re not doing power rankings after one week.
But there is a difference between rankings and simply acknowledging teams that have earned our attention.
Independence, Palm Springs and West Boynton are all 3–0.
Wellington Landings, Western Pines, Jeaga, Don Estridge, Omni and Logger’s Run have also made it through their opening games undefeated.
Of those teams, West Boynton is one we’re specifically putting on our watch list after its win over Emerald Cove.
That’s not a prediction that they’re winning the county.
It means we want to see what happens next.
On the Girls Side: Keep an Eye on Village Academy
We’re also putting Village Academy on our girls team-to-watch list.
We’re not ready to start ranking the girls after the opening week either. There is too much basketball left and too many teams we still need to see.
Village Academy is simply one of the programs we want to follow as the girls season develops.
We’ll have a much clearer picture of that side of the county after another week or two.
Don’t Overreact to Week 1
This is middle school basketball.
A 3–0 team can lose its next two.
A 0–2 team can figure things out and become one of the toughest teams in its division.
Players are developing, coaches are experimenting with rotations and teams are learning how to play together.
That’s why the early records are interesting, but they’re not everything.
Right now, Independence, Palm Springs and West Boynton have earned their 3–0 records.
Emerald Cove has already been tested.
Jupiter has some work to do at 1–2.
And several divisions have multiple undefeated teams waiting to find out who is actually ready to separate from the pack.
Week 1 gave us the introduction. Week 2 should tell us a little more.
The Cage Sports will continue covering Palm Beach County boys and girls middle school basketball throughout the season with standings, scores, game coverage, player spotlights, highlights and teams to watch.
Coaches, parents and players: send us your scores, stats and game clips. We want our weekly coverage to represent the entire county.
If it ain’t Rangeman, it ain’t certified.
Comments