March 16th, 2010 06:04pm
by John Patton
It’s tough to argue that the area’s fastest-growing sport is lacrosse, as now five schools in Gainesville (Buchholz, GHS, Eastside, P.K. Yonge and Oak Hall) are fielding teams just a few years after the FHSAA began recognizing it.
Lacrosse is a sport with its deepest roots in the northeast. Like Wilt Chamberlain was in his second sport of volleyball, NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown also was an exceptional lacrosse player while at Syracuse. The Lacrosse Museum and National …
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March 14th, 2010 04:49pm
by John Patton
If you get a moment, say a prayer or, if you don’t believe in a higher power, please keep Andrea Powers in your thoughts and well-wishes.
A couple of weeks ago, the sophomore guard for P.K. Yonge was celebrating winning the FHSAA Class 2A state championship with her teammates and her coach (who doubles as her dad), but now she is battling for her life.
According to Rob Moramarco, Powers was driving to school last week when she was involved in a …
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March 9th, 2010 04:50pm
by John Patton
* Local team kicking itself the hardest: Eastside. The Rams led Orlando Oak Ridge the entire way in the FHSAA Class 4A, Region 2 semifinal, only to shoot poorly from the foul line late and lose, 54-53. Oak Ridge went on to win two more and reached the state final, where it lost 59-57 to Fort Myers. Yeah, Eastside was as good as anyone in 4A.
* Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest boys coach David Beckerman made a suggestion that no doubt …
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March 5th, 2010 03:19pm
by John Patton
Perhaps the most anticipated matchup at the FHSAA boys basketball state championships this week at The Lakeland Center was Friday morning’s post meeting between Weston Sagemont’s 7-foot Fab Melo, a Syracuse signee, and Jacksonville Providence’s 6-9 Florida signee Patric Young.
With a strong first half, Melo won the statistical battle.
He finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Young finished with eight points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.
However, Young’s team won the Class 2A state semifinal, 52-37. And …
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March 4th, 2010 05:04pm
by John Patton
Two-and-a-half years ago, I got a call from Williston football coach Jamie Baker.
Jamie is not one of those guys who goes overboard pushing every aspect of his team as if we should ignore everyone else (trust me, those people exist). But he had someone he wanted to talk about that day.
Now, this probably isn’t a word-for-word exact quote, but what he said was something along the lines of, “We have this sophomore running back who I think is …
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March 4th, 2010 02:47pm
by John Patton
Jaterra Bonds is the ultimate team player.
She doesn’t care about statistics. Doesn’t worry about publicity.
So, what I’m about to do might make her a little angry.
I’m going to tell you why she should be heavily considered by voters (full disclosure: I am one) for the Florida Dairy Famers’ Miss Basketball award.
You know the phrase “the numbers don’t lie”? Well, here they do.
The 5-foot-8 senior guard for P.K. Yonge averaged just 16.6 points, five rebounds and …
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February 27th, 2010 08:03pm
by John Patton
For quite a few years, she’s been coach Jimmy Blankenship’s Sunshine on a cloudy day. And now Blankenship is going to have to see how his Lafayette girls basketball team is going to handle life after Sunshine Reid.
The second-leading scorer in school history with more than 2,000 career points, Reid brought flash and sizzle to the Hornets.
Capable of putting up 35 on any given night, the 5-foot-7 future Santa Fe College guard can score from anywhere and is unselfish, proven …
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February 26th, 2010 11:54am
by John Patton
In a lineup where the names stand out, her’s may stand out the most.
The Rock guard Rebecca Winter is an American high school sophomore in a star-studded cast of Lithuanians.
She had a rough time of it in the Lions’ 74-60 FHSAA Class 1A state semifinal victory against Lake Worth Trinity Prep, going scoreless and turning the ball over eight times. However, redemption came a day later when she scored eight points, had three steals, two assists and just two turnovers, …
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February 26th, 2010 11:48am
by John Patton
`The fourth-largest city in Lithuania is called Siauliai, and boy is The Rock girls basketball coach Fabian Chapov glad two of its teenage citizens found their way to Gainesville.
Lions’ senior forward Greta Bartkute and junior point guard Kornelija Valiuskyte grew up there and were teammates on a local team coached by Jurate Bertaliene, who Valiuskyte called “the best female coach I have ever had” with Chapov being the best of the men.
Together, Valiuskyte and Bartkute got to know eventual Lions’ …
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February 4th, 2010 02:26pm
by John Patton
So, National Signing Day has come and gone. It may be too early to look ahead at 2011 … OK, it is way too early, but if there is anything I have learned in this business, it is that fans love football recruiting.
Here’s a quick look at some of the state’s top prospects of 2011. Note that the state’s No. 1 prospect probably will be one of the first three players listed here.
Timmy Jernigan, Columbia DT — At 6-foot-3, 275 …
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