How Polk County's rich basketball history united during thrilling Alumni tournament

WINTER HAVEN — Lake Wales, Kathleen, Bartow and Haines City — you couldn't talk about Polk County high school basketball from at least the late '80s through into the late 2000s without mentioning at least three of those four teams—and often all four.

So perhaps it was fitting that in an event that celebrates stars from the past, those were the last four teams standing at the inaugural Polk Hoops Alumni Tournament at Polk State College. Lake Wales, led by players from its 2012 state championship squad, won the event.

It might be hard for young fans without a grasp of history to realize how exciting Polk County basketball at those schools was back in that period. While Bartow is just two seasons removed from back-to-back state titles, recent history hasn't been so kind to three of those four programs.

Since reaching the regional finals in Don Grant's final season as head coach in 2019, Lake Wales has gone 29-63 in boys basketball. In those same four years, Haines City is 33-60 and has made the playoffs just four times since 2004. Kathleen is 53-44 in those four years but has had losing records in four of the six years, including the past two seasons.

Yet on Saturday, Lake Wales, Kathleen and Haines City, along with Bartow, showed their rich history and showed how great Polk County basketball can be when all four are competing at a high level.

Lake Wales went 4-0 on Saturday and were led by MVP Kevin Capers and Alante Fenner. The duo, along with Russell Wilson, Marcel White and Oshey Washington, were among the top players on one or both of the Billy Dee Washington's squads that went to the state finals in 2011 and 2012 and led Lake Wales on Saturday. The Highlanders, who also went to five state tournaments from 1993 to 2005, went 61-7 in Washington's back-to-back final four seasons.

More: Here are the top Polk County football players who will be playing for a new school in 2023

More: Competitive equity key as FHSAA task force looks beyond enrollment to classify schools

More: 'Them boys up there are different': Auburndale's Nate Gabriel soaks in wrestling nationals

All-star events aren't know for stellar team defense, a trademark of Washington's squad, but the Highlanders on Saturday showed enough flashes from their state championship days to win the day.

It was a grand mix of recent graduates and players who were more than two decades removed form their high school days.

Haines City's James Taylor, a 2000 graduate who was one of the top players in the county, commented prior to the event to not judge him on his 40-year-old game. Taylor, who went on to star at Lynn, showed flashes that made him one of the top players of his era.

He and Robert "Chuck" Williams Jr. were from the 2000 squad and were joined by Brandon Streeter and Tommy Stallworth from the 2002 state championship squad. Antonio Berry, also from the '02 team, was dressed and on the bench but opted to let the younger guys play. And indeed, recent grads like Dominique Williams and a pair of Ridge Community players, Mike Wright and Dazeran “Duke Skywalker” Jones, were top players for Haines City.

Robert Williams, a center, might have been one of the top players, too. A Division-I standout at Florida Atlantic, Williams was just starting to make an impact on the boards and was one of the few players posting up. However, early in his first game, he came down awkwardly and sustained a knee injury and had to be carted off.

Haines City's first game was against Lake Wales and it recalled a past era in the '90s and early 2000 when Haines City-Lake Wales games were events. There was Haines City's dramatic win in 1995 on Jimmie Baker's last-second 3-pointer when fans poured on to the floor.

The '99-'00 Haines City squad might have been Deron Collins' best team at Haines City. The Hornets' only losses that year were to Lake Wales, which won state. We'll save the debate as to which state champion Lake Wales teams, '00 or '12, was best for another day.

Haines City lost in the district championship game to Kathleen in 1996 but Kathleen was eliminated in the playoffs, and it was Haines City that went to the final four. Kathleen, however, came back and won two state titles over the next five seasons then went in to back-to-back state championship games under Drew Taylor in the late 2000s.

Miguel Paul and Idell Bell, standout's from Taylor's final four squads, were among Kathleen's top players along with Brad Tumer. Trent Newton, a standout linebacker for Kathleen and a hard-nosed hoops players, still looks like he could be out there\ playing linebacker. Kathleen's best teams were a mix of basketball-only standouts and football athletes like Newton.

Paul's three-pointer gave Kathleen its first lead over Haines City, 31-30, in the final minute and the Red Devils eliminated the Hornets.

Chris Perry was a dominant force nearly all day for Bartow, showing the form when he led Bartow to the state championship in 2013. Davenport head coach Weedlens Beauvil and Tevin Gant also stood out for Bartow along with Jamal Lawson.

And don't think these guys were just there to have fun. The competitive juices were as strong as ever in the Bartow-Kathleen match-up. Polk County basketball is at its most fun when both squads are at the top of their game, and Saturday showed that those old rivalries never die.

Although Winter Haven hasn't won a state title since 1973, it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the other four schools. The Blue Devils were 0-2 on Saturday but have been to seven state tournaments since 1995. The Blue Devils, who are among the favorites to win a state title this year, went 0-2 on Saturday, but it was good to see players from the early 2000 final four teams like Josh Scott, who was a standout track performer in college, A.J. Jones, a former county player of the year, Darnell Grant and Quenton Cosby back on the court together. Newly hired Lake Wales basketball coach Junior Geidi also was in uniform for Winter Haven.

Auburndale's Turner brothers, P.J. and Josh, were in uniform together.  Polk State head coach Brandon Giles got off to a fast start for Auburndale with a pair of 3-pointers. But he came down hard after blocking a shot and injured his ankle and was done for the day,

Victory Christian coach Kendrick Stewart looked at home on the basketball court with Lakeland. Quinton Everett also was back on the court for Lakeland, and Chris Burgess showed off his shooting that made him a standout at George Jenkins.

And there were of course many other standouts not mentioned — maybe your photo is in the gallery that is posted online, which would be better. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.

For lovers of Polk County basketball, it was a great trip down memory lane, and there are a lot of lovers of Polk County basketball. Organizers Corey Barnes, Corey Tumer and Washington put on such a great event that they underestimated fan interest.

The original plan was to keep fans in the balcony seats at Polk State and open up the floor to play two games side by side after the first four games were completed. However, there were so many fans that the lower bleachers on one side were opened to accommodate the crowd, which made for a long day of more than 12 hours of basketball action.

The plan is to have this be an annual event, and players who didn't play this year, like Haines City's Berry and Kevin "Ghost" Williams are already talking about wanting to play next year.

Can't wait.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Alumni tournament brings back former Polk County boys basketball stars