Not long ago, a winning season at Osceola would have qualified as a surprise. The Warriors went two straight seasons without a victory, in 2007-08 and 2008-09, and went nearly two decades without a winning record.
This summer, they beat one of the best teams in the area on its home floor.
Osceola knocked off host Gibbs 77-69 on June 24 to win the Gibbs Summer League, building a 46-23 lead and holding off a late rally. The win meant something. The Gladiators won the Class 4A state championship two seasons ago and returned to the state final the following season. They don’t lose often at home.
The title capped a summer in which Osceola went 20-4 across leagues and camps. The Warriors were 8-1 in the Gibbs league, 5-0 at a team camp at Florida State, 5-1 at Eckerd and 2-2 against live-period competition in Gainesville.
“It was huge,” Scull said. “For only having a couple of practices at the beginning of June and then adding our new players, it showed we can play with some of the best teams in the county when we play together and unselfishly. We’re pretty solid at every position. I was happy for the boys — they deserved it.”
The biggest addition was Eli Ahlers. The guard played for Scull at Northside Christian and transferred to Osceola over the offseason to rejoin his former coach. He averaged just 8.4 points a game last season, but he brings something the Warriors lacked: state-level experience, having helped Northside reach the Class 2A state semifinals. He announced himself in a hurry, scoring 45 points against rival Seminole in a summer league game.
Ahlers had help. Scull pointed to returning guard Jackson Bird and Brolin Roth, last season’s leading scorer, along with Tyson Jean-Batiste and Tyson Jenezon as players who stood out.
The groundwork was already in place. Osceola has posted just three winning seasons in the past 20 years, all in the last four. The Warriors went 14-12 in Scull’s first season but closed strong, winning nine of their final 12 games.
Now, entering his second season and with Ahlers in the backcourt, Scull expects more. For a program that once spent years chasing a single win, figuring out how to beat the area’s best is a good problem to have.
Quick hits
Clearwater’s Felce is low professional at Women’s PGA major
Nicole Felce’s goal was simply to play the weekend. She did that and more.
The 21-year-old assistant pro at Countryside Country Club finished as the low PGA of America and LPGA Professional at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which wrapped up June 28 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Felce, who grew up in Palm Harbor, became the first teaching and club professional to claim the honor since 2019 and one of only three professionals to make the cut at the championship since the PGA of America partnered with the LPGA in 2015.
In just her second major, Felce shot 75, 70, 81 and 73 to finish at 11-over. She recovered from a third-round 81 with a 1-over 73 on June 28, hitting 11 of 14 fairways and needing only 27 putts.
“Making the weekend was my goal this week,” she said. “To have played alongside the world’s best was really special and really humbling.”
Felce, who turned pro at 18, said the week’s highlight was inspiring young golfers, including her own students. She returns to work this week before turning to LPGA Q-School in the fall.
Coaching changes at two Pinellas girls basketball programs
Two Pinellas County girls basketball programs are turning over their coaching staffs heading into next season.
At Gibbs, Kiana Robinson is stepping down to pursue coaching opportunities at the college level. Robinson guided the Gladiators to the 4A, District 11 championship game last season and on to a regional playoff appearance. At Boca Ciega, Rita Walker has been hired to lead the Pirates. Walker takes over for Cheryl Greene.
Keswick girls basketball league saves its toughest test for last
The Keswick Christian girls basketball summer league wrapped up its sixth and final week July 6 — and closed with two of the most stressful minutes of the summer.
The week featured the second annual 2-Minute Tournament, a late-game simulation borrowed from Cedarville University’s women’s program. The setup is simple and merciless: the team on offense starts down one, 55-54, with 2:00 on the clock and every player already carrying four fouls.
That leaves no room for error on either end. Score quickly, then get a stop — all without committing the foul that sends a key player to the bench. It’s two minutes of everything that decides real games, with everything that doesn’t get stripped away.