Preps: Sickles, Plant retain No.1 spots

Sickles high’s boys and Plant high’s girls retained their top spots in the first Hillsborough County Soccer Coaches poll of the new year after both posted a pair of wins as the high school season resumed last week.

Still undefeated, Plant City’s boys moved up to the No.2 spot, while Jesuit dropped three places to No.6 after its loss to Steinbrenner on Friday night. The Warriors’ win wasn’t enough to jump them over the Tigers, though, as they moved up two spots to No.8.

No.3 Tampa Prep’s loss to Berkeley Prep on Saturday afternoon did not appear to be taken into consideration by the voters this week, as the result did not appear in either school’s listed record for the poll.

Gaither, which Sickles defeated 2-1 last Tuesday before beating Freedom 3-0 on Friday night, and Newsome, who will be the No.2 seed to Plant City in the Class 5A-District 8 tournament, round out the top five on the boys side.

Still absent from the boys top 10, though, is Plant, which defeated Alonso on Friday night to earn the No.1 seed in Class 6A-District 8.

Berkeley Prep’s impressive pair of wins against North Broward Prep and Tampa Prep allowed the Buccaneers to retain the No.2 spot in the girls poll, with Bloomingdale also holding steady at No.3. Newsome and Steinbrenner switched places from the final poll of 2009, the Warriors looking to complete an undefeated regular season when they face Strawberry Crest on Friday night.

The complete polls are listed below:

BOYS

1. Sickles (14-1-2)
2. Plant City (10-0-2)
3. Tampa Prep (8-2-1)
4. Gaither (12-3-1)
5. Newsome (10-3-2)
6. Jesuit (10-3-3)
7. East Bay (9-2-1)
8. Steinbrenner (9-1-1)
9. Wharton (6-3-2)
10. Berkeley Prep (7-6-0)

GIRLS

1. Plant (18-1-1)
2. Berkeley Prep (12-4-2)
3. Bloomingdale (12-4-2)
4. Newsome (12-3-3)
5. Steinbrenner (13-0-2)
6. East Bay (11-3-2)
7. Wharton (9-6-3)
8. Freedom (9-3-3)
9. Tampa Prep (9-5-4)
10. Hillsborough (11-2-1)