Plant’s Joe Willis is voted SBLive’s Florida High School Boys Basketball Coach of the Week

Here's a look at Willis’ coaching accomplishment

Congratulations to Plant’s Joe Willis, the winner of SBLive Florida's High School Boys Basketball Coach of Week award as voted by Florida high school sports fans.

Willis, the head coach for Plant, earned 54.57% of the 973 votes in a state-wide poll. Going on the road to win at a neutral site for a district title is tough enough. The Panthers had to travel over to East Lake to win the Class 7A, District 10 against the Eagles. Willis’ Panthers defeated a strong East Lake club 51-43 and will face them again in the region quarterfinals.

Here are all the other coaches that were nominated for Feb. 6-Feb. 11:  

Alex Ordoqui, Miami Palmetto: When you upset the No. 2 team in the state, you know your team is amongst those that should be considered for a state championship. Ordoqui guided Miami Palmetto to a surprising 66-64 win over Columbus for the Class 7A, District 16 championship.

Gersino Lubin, Wekiva: Lubin’s team just fell short of a district championship, but a 23-4 campaign and a postseason berth has the Mustangs looking to make some noise in Class 6A as they face Palm Bay Heritage this week. Wekiva knocked out a solid South Lake team in districts last week.

Fritz Jacques, Lely: The Trojans will get a chance at redemption against Barron Collier, whom they lost to in the Class 5A, District 12 championship. What was Jacques’ feat of last week was pulling off the district semifinal victory over Naples, 71-68. Lely is back in the postseason after going 11-14 this season. 

RJ Jones, Gateway Charter: One of the top teams all season long in Southwest Florida has been Naples First Baptist and Gateway Charter. Jones led the Griffins to a 70-55 Class 3A, District 12 title victory over the Lions and they’ll face First Baptist once again in the playoffs. Gateway Charter is currently 22-5 going into the playoffs.

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.