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 Hall of Fame is located in Baltimore on the campus of Johns Hopkins, and Brown has a bust there.

According to Hurricanes’ coach Chuck Rogan, the state’s powerhouse is St. Andrews out of the West Palm Beach area. He added Jacksonville-area schools like Ponte Vedra, Bolles, Nease and Episcopal also have high-level programs.

The locals aren’t quite there, yet, but the enthusiasm coaches like Rogan and Buchholz girls coach Ian Millinoff have has proven to be contagious, as some area schools have upwards of 50 athletes participating.

And yes, there is some talent, too.

This is just one example, but Millinoff’s Bobcats are 8-1 (and he’s still bitter about the loss, saying his team should have taken that game). They have qualified for the district playoffs.

If you get a chance, go out and take in a game. The coaches have promised you will be hooked.

* Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest boys coach David Beckerman made a suggestion that no doubt many other coaches would like to see as well. He said he thinks the week should go one day with six semifinal games in three classifications followed by the same schedule the next day with the other three classes. Then, there would be three finals the next day and three more the day after that. That would provide teams with more rest, but financially, it would add another day of hotel/food/other costs.

* News spread pretty quickly at the boys event that Eustis High School coach Corey Rolle had died at age 33. The cause of death has yet to be determined, but Rolle underwent an 11-hour surgery in December to remove a benign tumor from his brain. He also had battled diabetes. Rolle also was an alum of Eustis.

* Winter Park junior guard Austin Rivers is a tough kid. After being knocked hard to the ground a few times by very physical Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson in the 6A semifinals, Rivers’ left elbow looked like it had a left elbow of its own. He didn’t miss a second, though.

* Best chant of the two weeks came from the Winter Park crowd near the end of that same game. They chanted “Call the Doctor! Call the Doctor!” which could have had one of three meanings. First, it could have been a message for Austin Rivers to phone his father, Boston Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers. Or it could have been a call to bring on whoever would win the second semifinal (which tipped off 20 minutes later) between Miami Dr. Krop and Orlando Dr. Phillips. WP ended up defeating Dr. Phillips, 76-57, in the final.

* Weston Sagemont’s athletic 6-foot-6 junior swingman Rod Days said he is receiving interest from South Carolina, Wake Forest, Richmond, Michigan, Arizona State, Maryland and Boston College, among others.

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 his work on Melo had a lot to do with it.

Going with zone and double teams in the first half, Providence wasn’t able to handle a less-mellow-than-usual Melo very well in the first two quarters, allowing him 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks at the break (compared to four points, five rebounds and two blocks for Young).

Young was assigned more man-to-man duty on Melo in the second half and responded well, as Sagemont’s big man didn’t score again after a dunk with 5:22 remaining in the contest. And that was good for the Stallions, who outscored the Lions 23-6 in the fourth quarter.

“He only got one (second-quarter) hook shot on me mano e mano,” Young said. “I wanted the chance to cover him.”

Melo got a couple of steps away from the door leading to the postgame media session before turning around and walking away without comment.

Young’s team went on to win the Class 2A state championship with a dominating 63-46 victory against Tampa Prep on Saturday. Young had 13 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), four rebounds and seven blocks.

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 going to wind up being a major Division I prospect. He’s pretty special. Do you think you guys might want to do an A-to-Z on him?”

We did, and ever since then I’ve made sure to follow Deonte Welch’s prep career very closely.

And it was a good one.

Prior to signing with South Florida (selecting the Bulls over scholarship offers from Arkansas and Illinois), Welch, who will play receiver in college, earned The Gainesville Sun’s small-school offensive football player of the year award.

He was named second-team all-state in Class 2B, despite my extremely vocal objections to the sports writer compiling the teams that Welch was an unquestioned first-teamer. Sadly, he was punished for not having many carries in blowout games and thus, rushing for only 1,324 yards as a senior. Yeah, I guess compassion can be a bad thing sometimes.

Anyway, unless he decides to play a spring sport, Welch’s WHS career concluded with a 77-63 loss to Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest in the FHSAA Class 3A boys basketball state semifinals on Wednesday.

Like he always seemed to do, Welch filled up the stat sheet, recording 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. That point total was second on the team (behind junior guard Jacques Edwards’ 18) for the game, and he led the Red Devils in the other categories.

He wasn’t the flashiest basketball player (quite different from football, where very few could match the excitement he brought), but he was one of the area’s most well-rounded talents.

If you missed him while in high school, keep Welch in mind the next few years when USF football is on the tube. You’ll learn then what Baker knew a few years back.

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 four assists. But take that for what it pretty much is: her averages for right around one half of play each game.

En route to winning the FHSAA Class 2A state championship, the Blue Wave went undefeated against teams from Florida. And, aside from two mid-season losses to out-of-state powerhouses, only Gainesville (68-60 losers on Dec. 3) and Tallahassee FAMU (61-52 on Jan. 22) were able to keep the final margin at less than double figures.

Along the way, Bonds, a University of Florida signee, found herself on the sidelines for numerous second halves (and even some second quarters!) cheering on teammates as they closed out yet another 35-point victory. Shoot, when her team reached Lakeland and faced the rest of the best of 2A, it beat 2008-09 3A champ Miramar Parkway by 19 in the semis and 2008-09 2A champ Community School of Naples by 26 in the final.
While at the final four, I asked PKY coach Willie Powers to give his best arguement for Bonds winning the state’s most prestigious award.

“She does it all,” Powers said. “She plays hard on both ends of the floor and she leads in practice. That is why the rest of the young ladies (on this team) work as hard as they do.

“A lot of these things are stat-driven, and it’s hard to mention stats with JT when half of the games we play, she played just a quarter and a half.

“She does everything her coaches ask with intensity, and she works very hard on defense. She doesn’t get nearly the credit she deserves for her defense.”

Powers then added “if it is about stats, she won’t win.”

Yeah, that probably is true. But I can’t help but think back to the 1999-2000 season when a local kid who also signed with Florida averaged 15 points a game, led his team to a state title and won Mr. Basketball. So, Orien Greene proved you don’t always need big numbers.

“She sacrifices stats for her team,” Powers said. “And that’s what we are. We are a team.

“And she never complains.”

Well, she might when she reads this.

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 by her team-best 4.1 assist average.

 Her high school career ended Friday morning in The Lakeland Center with a 50-37 loss to defending champion Community School of Naples in the FHSAA Class 2A state semifinals. She finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.

 Along the way, she and older brother Jamal (now a Miami football player) helped earn the name Reid a spot alongside Perry, McGrew, Land and Gresham to the list of those most associated with LHS sports.

 ”She’s come a long way from the first time she stepped on the court in rec league in the fourth or fifth grade,” Blankenship said. “She’s a typical type of player for us, an athletic forward/guard who can play a lot of positions. But this is not the end of her career, just her high school career.

 ”She’s going to go to Santa Fe and continue to grow as a player and human being.”

 A favorite with the younger kids of Mayo, Reid said she has enjoyed helping build Lafayette into one of the area’s top small-school programs.

 ”Playing big-time teams like Buchholz and P.K. Yonge has been great,” Reid said. “We would beat them one year, and they’d beat us the next.

 ”When we would go on the road, people would look at us bad (because they hadn’t heard of us), but we’d go out as a team and play everyone tough. I always knew we were a great team and don’t care what other people think of us. My goal was to help the team win.

 ”It was a great senior year, and I’m looking forward to moving on and growing more.”

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, as The Rock claimed its first state championship in any sport by defeating Hollywood Christian, 51-48, in TheLakeland Center on Thursday afternoon.

“(Thursday) I was off,” said Winter, who missed a couple of regular-season games with a shoulder injury. “My heart was into it and I put it all out there, trying my best defensively because my shotwasn’t falling.

“(In the final) I wanted to contribute more, and I think I delivered.”

Yes, you did.

Winter’s biggest moment came late in the first half with her team clinging to a 26-23 lead. There, she sank a big three-pointer. It was big because those would be the final points The Rock would score until three minutes remained in the third quarter with the Lions down, 36-29.

Take away her bucket. Would the eventual Eagles’ lead have been too insurmountable then?

We’ll never know, and perhaps The Rock is happy no one had to find out. Either way, the Lions are thrilled they had Winter on that warm day inLakeland.

And according to senior forward Greta Bartkute, Winter does stuff that often go unnoticed by everyone but coaches and fellow teammates.

“(In our semifinal) Rebecca, even though she didn’t score, she did the small things,” Bartkute said.

When pressed for details on those small things, Bartkute added, “defensive close outs, good passing, moving without the ball.”

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 pounds with a 4.6 40 time, Jernigan may be listed among the nation’s best when next season arrives. He has a ridiculously quick first step, and Gainesville High School quarterback Ryan McGriff said of his team’s only regular-season loss: “We ran into the wall that is Timmy Jernigan.” So far, Jernigan says he has more than 30 scholarship offers with the Gators leading.

James Wilder, Tampa Plant RB/LB — The 6-3, 225-pound son of a former NFL standout of the same name, Wilder is a physical specimen who recently was named Rivals.com’s “Junior of the Year.” All of the big boys have offered. Florida, Miami, USC, Georgia, Clemson, Tennessee, Florida State and North Carolina have been mentioned as very early leaders.

Teddy Bridgewater, Miami Northwestern QB/ATH — This would be a huge get for UF, which, for all of its recruiting strength, hasn’t really been able to muscle into Northwestern High School. Very athletic, the 6-3, 180-pound Bridgewater could be a quarterback or receiver in college. He counts the Gators, Miami, Tennessee and Florida International among his offers.

Daunte “Pop” Saunders, DeLand DB — Florida’s first 2011 commit is a talented athlete who stands 6-1, 180. He was recruited to UF by now-departed Charlie Strong, so Saunders will be talking with someone new during the summer and throughout his senior season.

Cortez Davis, Daytona Beach Mainland S & Marlin Lane, Mainland RB — At 6-5, 210 pounds, Davis, a Clemson commit, stands out in the secondary. Florida State, LSU, West Virginia, Texas Tech and Miami also have offered. Teammate Lane also has committed to the Tigers, but Alabama, California, Tennessee and Michigan are among those who also have offered.

Lonnie Gosha, Union County DL — At 6-3, 245 pounds, Gosha has the frame to grow into a 280-pounder. He already has received offers from Florida and Florida State, and the Gators and Seminoles are among the early leaders.

Nick O’Leary, Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer TE — The 6-4, 225-pound grandson of golfing great Jack Nicklaus already claims offers from schools like Florida, Miami, FSU, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina, Boston College and South Florida. He has the frame to add weight, a necessity at the next level.

Javares McRoy, Lakeland WR — The 5-9, 165-pound speedster has committed to Texas Tech, but don’t think others have given up. Florida, Cal, FSU, Tennessee and UNC are among the schools who have offered. And remember, UF has established a nice pipeline to coach Bill Castle’s program.

Nick Waisome, Groveland South Lake CB — At 5-10, 162 pounds, Waisome is a little light, but man is he talented. Florida, FSU, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina State, Central Florida and South Carolina have offered. So has Duke and Stanford, leading one to believe grades won’t be an issue in any way.