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- FACA Volleyball Classic Roster
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- Record-Breaking Hawks Trio
- Plant QB Murray's On The Run
- TC's Mulkey, Aguila, Expected To Play; Jones Out
- For Hawks O, Silence Is Golden
- Michigan Latest To Offer Chamberlain's Williams
- Crusaders Must Avoid Shootout
- Spurrier Blows Whistle On Kiffin And Giles
- Newsome's Graham to miss at least a month
- Friday Could Be Turner's Last
- Beef 'O' Brady's Week 13 Poll
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The rosters have been set for Saturday’s Under Armour Hillsborough County High School All-Star Football Game, an East vs. West showdown of Hillsborough County senior football players.
The game is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium. Newsome’s Kenneth Hiscock is the head coach of the East team, while Leto’s Hugh Dehnert is the head coach for the West.
The game is reserved for senior football players only. Players were nominated and selected by Hillsborough County’s head coaches. Players on teams still alive in the playoffs were not eligible for selection.
The West won last year’s game, 21-13. The East last won in 2005.
You can view the complete rosters HERE.
The USA Today national poll hasn’t been released yet, so the Armwood Hawks still have a chance to stay in the same position in at least one major national poll.
That wasn’t the case for the Hawks in three other national polls released Monday.
Armwood (12-0) rose two spots in both the ESPN RISE Fab 50 and PrepNation.com National Prep Poll, jumping to No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in those national high school rankings. However, Armwood fell on spot to No. 4 in the latest RivalsHigh 100.
Armwood was No. 3 in the last USA Today Super 25, and it’s likely the Hawks will stay in that position (both Texas’ Trinity High and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, each won this week) when the new polls is released tonight. If that ends up being the case, it will mark the first time this season Armwood has been recognized as a consensus Top 5 program in the nation.
Plant (11-1) is the only other Hillsborough County program ranked in any of the four polls. The Panthers rose five spots to No. 41 in the RivalsHigh 100 and rose three spots to No. 21 in the ESPN RISE Fab 50 following their victory Friday against Bradenton Southeast.
Armwood travels to Plant on Friday for a Class 4A region final.
Tampa Catholic’s Nancy Kroll reached the 100-game mark this weekend in a holiday tournament.
Kroll collected her 100th career victory when the Crusaders defeated last year’s 3A runner-up Dunbar and also Ocala’s Forest High to place third in the Gene Gorman Turkey Shootout in Port Charlotte. Tampa Catholic eventually lost to champion Jefferson. Crusaders junior Sarah Brennan was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Jefferson defeated Nature Coast 46-34 for the tournament title. Junior guard Jade Givens, who led the Dragons with 12 points in the championship game, took MVP honors.
Tickets to Friday night’s Class 4A regional final between Armwood and Plant will go on sale Tuesday at both schools.
Host Plant will sell tickets to their students during lunch period beginning Tuesday. The public will have access to tickets on Thursday and Friday during lunch hours. The school will set up a table in front of the gymnasium, with access off of Dale Mabry Hwy. Cars will exit onto Himes Ave. Tickets are $7 each with a five-ticket maximum.
Armwood will begin selling its allotment of 2,000 tickets today. Students will be able to buy tickets during lunch period and the general public can buy them in the main office from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a 10-ticket maximum at Armwood.
For information, contact Plant High School at (813) 272-3033 or Armwood High School at (813) 744-8040.
Middleton senior defensive lineman Andreal Coleman has committed to Georgia Southern, coach Harry Hubbard said.
Coleman, a 6-foot-3, 265 pound tackle, finished the season with 33 tackles. He missed the first four games of season with a leg injury.
“Coleman is a great player, no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Hubbard said. “He knows how to use (his strength) quite well.”
He chose the Eagles over offers from Troy and Cincinnati.
Plant junior Erika Arcuri has committed to Florida International, coach Melissa Sigmon said.
“She has the ability to be as successful as she wants to be at FIU,” Sigmon said. “It’s a good opportunity for her. She can stay close to home and her parents can visit her.”
Arcuri batted .486 with 34 hits, 22 runs and 14 RBIs as a sophomore.
How important is home-field advantage?
For some teams, like Armwood with 41-consecutive home victories, it’s everything. But the Hawks have to take their act on the road this Friday to play Plant at one of the county’s oldest, and loudest football settings, Dad’s Stadium.
With its metal roof hanging over the home section of bleachers, which is right on top of the sideline, sound carries onto the field and can make it difficult for opposing teams. Armwood coaches admitted the Hawks had problems dealing with the noise in their regular-season 9-2 victory against Plant on Sept. 5.
Until that loss, Plant had won 19-consecutive home games. Right now the streak stands at five. With Armwood just as dominant on the road as they are at home, the Panthers will need help from that 12th man to extend.
Wharton senior baseball player Ryan Gawrych has verbally committed to USF, Wildcats coach Scott Hoffman said Monday.
Gawrych, an outfielder, made his committment this weekend and will sign with the Bulls when the regular signing period begins in April.
A four-year starter at Wharton, Gawrych hit .348 with 20 runs scored and eight stolen bases as a junior.
“He’s a tremendously hard-working player. His work ethic is second to none,” Hoffman said. “He’s also got great speed - he’s a 6.5 (second) 60 (yard dash) guy. And, he’s a great student athlete. I wish I had 20 of him.”
Plant High baseball standout Mychal Givens has made his college decision. Givens is headed to Oklahoma State, joining a pretty impressive list of Panthers to sign with the Cowboys in recent years.
Givens signed with the Cowboys at the end of the early signing period, Plant baseball coach Dennis Braun said. Givens is the fourth baseball player during Braun’s tenure at Plant to sign with the Cowboys, joining Corey Brown, Dylan Brown and Jared Womack.
Givens, a shortstop/right-handed pitcher, is regarded as one of the nation’s top high school prospects. This summer, he played in two major national all-star games - the Under Armour All-America Game and the Aflac All-American Classis - and received the 2008 Jackie Robinson Award, given annually to the nation’s top rising senior baseball player. In the two summers prior to that, Givens played with Team USA’s youth and junior national teams.
As a junior with the Panthers, Givens hit .421 with 17 RBI. He also went 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA, striking out 48 in 43 innings pitched.
Gaither’s Jarvis Giles got a wakeup call Sunday morning from new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin called around 7 a.m., but Giles missed the call. The senior tailback called back later and spoke with Kiffin about possibly coming to Tennessee. Tennessee hasn’t officially named Kiffin as the successor to Phil Fulmer (its expected to announced today) but that didn’t stop Kiffin from getting a jump of re-recruiting some of the Vols commits.
Giles had verbally committed to the Volunteers over this summer, but decommitted when it was announced Fulmer would not be returning.
Since then, Giles has been taking visits, most recently to Nebraska. He visited with the Cornhuskers over the weekend. He also paid a visit to South Carolina.
“It’s a three-way tie between Nebraska, South Carolina and Tennessee,” Giles said.
Giles isn’t sure whether he will take anymore visits. Next up for Giles is the Jan. 4 Under Armour All-American Game on ESPN.
The Sickles boys basketball team lost to Chicago De La Salle, 67-47, in the Helitech National Classic championship at the third annual Trusted Choice Tournament of Champions on Saturday in Peoria, Ill.
Playing without 6-foot-10 center John Henson, Sickles (3-2) went 1-1 in pool play, defeating Richland High from Texas, 69-66, and losing to Cahokia from Illinois, 69-66.
Junior point guard Jordan Davis averaged 14 points and 8 assists to earn all-tourney honors.
Sickles coach Renaldo Garcia rested Henson, who is recovering from an ankle sprain.
“Playing without John, it made our kids step up to another level,” Garcia said.
Garcia said tournament directors and fans weren’t too pleased with his decision to rest Henson, who has signed with North Carolina.
“When we pulled up in the van, kids were waiting with North Carolina jerseys on,” he said.
For several area runners, the high school cross country season was extended Saturday when they took part in either the Foot Locker South Regional in Charlotte, N.C., or Nike Cross Southeast Championships in Cary, N.C.
At the Nike meet, Jesuit’s boys, who were second in last week’s Class 2A state finals, finished 11th out of 22 teams. The Tigers were led by senior Connor Revord, who took 16th in a 5-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 48 seconds. Melbourne’s Brian Atkinson, the state champ in 4A, was the individual winner in 15:11. Jesuit’s HNo. 2 man was Jordan Schilit, 34th in 16:06. Only the top two teams advanced to the Nike Cross Nationals.
At the Foot Locker meet, where the top 10 individuals qualified for nationals, Hillsborough County had several participants. In the girls seeded race, Wharton’s Alyssa Franks was the county’s top finisher in 124th place in 19:54. Tennessee’s Kathy Kroger was the winner in 17:03 and four-time Class 4A Florida champion Ashley Brasovan was fourth (17:20) despite taking a fall in the race.
In the boys seeded race at Foot Locker, Sickles senior Derek Wehunt was the county’s top performer, taking 60th in 15:59. Wharton’s John Grellner (104th) ran 16:15, Dan Wehunt (130th) of Sickles went 16:26, Berkeley Prep’s Tyler Greathouse (140th) ran 16:31, Durant’s Johnn Mitchell (161st) finished in 16:42, Sickles Marc Dejute (218th) and Julian Gines (219th) ran 17:28 and 17:31, respectively, and Armwood’s Gilbert Vasquez (230th) came in at 17:46. No Floridians cracked the top 10. The individual winner was Bill Matthews of Birmingham, Alabama, who scorched the challenging—and muddy—course in 14:48.
The Southeast Basketball Academy will be holding its 5th Annual Thanksgiving Classic Tournament (today) Friday and Saturday at Tampa Prep.
The classic will feature six games on each day. Games start at 1pm.
Friday - November 28
1:00pm - Lennard HS vs. Tampa Prep
2:30pm - Durant HS vs. Bayshore Christian
4:00pm - Brooksville Central vs. Orlando Christian Prep
5:30pm - Ridgewood HS vs. Oldsmar Christian
7:00pm - Hahnville HS (La.) vs. St. Pete Catholic
8:30pm - Brandon HS vs. St. Pete HS
Saturday - November 29
1:00pm - St Pete Catholic vs. Brooksville Central
2:30pm - Bayshore Christian vs. Lennard HS
4:00pm - Orlando Christian Prep vs. Ridgewood HS
5:30pm - St. Pete HS vs. Hahnville HS (La.)
7:00pm - Oldsmar Christian vs. Brandon HS
8:30pm - Tampa Prep vs. Durant HS
Last week’s playoff results
Tribune: Bill Ward 11-0, Adam Adkins 9-2, Katherine Smith 9-2, Nick Williams 8-2.
WFLA: Dan Lucas 11-0, Shannon Liston 11-0.
Overall standings
Tribune: Adam Adkins 139-49, Bill Ward 139-49, Katherine Smith 138-50, Nick Williams 134-54.
WFLA (did not pick Week 1 of regular season): Dan Lucas 130-43, Shannon Liston 123-50.
This week staff picks:
Class 5A region semifinal
Wharton (9-2) at Chamberlain (10-1): All take Chamberlain.
Class 4A region semifinals
Plant (10-1) at Bradenton Southeast (9-2): All take Plant.
Tampa Bay Tech (10-1) at Armwood (11-0): All take Armwood.
Class 2A region final
Mulberry (8-4) at Tampa Catholic (8-3): All take Tampa Catholic.
Plant wide receiver Allen Sampson returned to the practice field in a limited role on Wednesday, exactly a week after suffering an ankle sprain. The junior wideout dressed, but did not play in Plant’s playoff game last Friday, but Coach Robert Weiner expects him to play on Friday against Bradenton Southeast.
The Panthers could use Sampson’s speed to help counter Southeast’s speed on defense.
“He’s just electric,” Weiner said. “Allen is the instant momentum for us. Whenever a game might be in the doldrums or even going against us, Allen will make a play that automatically turns the game back in our favor.
“And Allen puts so much pressure on a defense. Other guys around him are better because they have to pay so much attention to Allen, and of course Orson [Charles] too.”
Starting safety Hunter Baldwin did not practice Wednesday. Baldwin was resting an inflamed Achilles tendon, an injury he sustained in the Nov. 7 game against Jefferson. Baldwin said to be on the safe side, he’s going to rest it for a couple of days to get ready for the Southeast game.
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