Our Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Wednesday, February 21, is Mya McGraw of the Eastside (Gainesville) girls’ basketball team.
McGraw scored a team-high 15 points as P.K. Yonge advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals with a 51-35 win against visiting University Christian (Jacksonville).
The Lady Blue Wave (19-7) snapped a 5-year drought with their first trip to the state tournament in Lakeland since 2012 when they won the Class 3A state title.
The freshman was 6-of-13 from the floor. She added seven rebounds, one assist and one steal.
P.K. Yonge will face Carrollwood Day (Tampa) (27-3) in the Class 4A state semifinals on Wednesday, February 28, marking the 16th trip overall to the state tournament.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
Event Details: Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Tyler TenBieg (Color) for this Class 4A-Region 1 Semifinal in the first round of the boys’ high school basketball state playoffs. The game will also air on 92.1 FM & 1230 AM in Gainesville and 100.1 FM & 900 AM in Ocala. #ThePrepZone.com
CHROME BROWSER NOTE: Recent versions of the Chrome Browser have discontinued support for several plugins including the Silverlight media player used on this site. The best option to access this ‘live’ broadcast is to switch to a different browser, i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox.
The other option for windows users is to click the “WMP Player” once you access the broadcast on Chrome. This will play the broadcast in your standalone windows media player if that is available on your computer.
Leesburg still a unanimous No. 1 in the all-classification regional rankings heading into FHSAA regional play
GAINESVILLE – Leesburg, which is one of the top teams in the Sunshine State, is still No. 1 in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
The defending Class 6A state champions held on to the top spot following a 3-0 week, including the 6A-District 13 title. The Yellow Jackets, who received all seven first-place votes, will host Satellite (Satellite Beach) tonight in the Region 4-6A quarterfinals.
Leesburg (24-1) is the No. 2 overall FHSAA team in Florida according to MaxPreps.
Palatka remained second, but last year’s 4A state runners-up, Providence (Jacksonville), moved into a tie with the Panthers, who won the District 5-6A title. The Panthers (25-2) are seeking back-to-back appearances in the Class 6A state semifinals.
Both teams won district titles. In fact, nine of the top 10 teams were crowned district champions.
The Stallions (22-5), who won the District 2-4A title, have won 11 in a row.
Creekside (St. Johns) is ranked fourth. The Knights (23-4) defeated previous #15 Bartram Trail (St. Johns), 32-30, in the District 4-8A championship game.
Rounding out the top five is Gainesville High. The Hurricanes (22-5) are peaking at the right time, winning 12 of their last 13, including the District 4-7A title.
District champions Eastside (Gainesville), Nature Coast (Brooksville), Hawthorne and First Coast (Jacksonville) are ranked sixth through ninth, respectively.
The Villages, which lost to Trinity Catholic (Ocala) in the District 5-5A championship game, 62-49, dropped from seventh to 10th. The Buffalo (20-7) were in the 5A state semifinals last season.
Meanwhile, the Celtics (18-8) moved into the rankings at No. 19, along with District 5-7A champion Deltona (19-7) at No. 17.
This is the last ranking until after the FHSAA Boys Basketball Finals, which will be held March 5-10 at the Lakeland Center.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, basketball, baseball & softball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters. It is powered by Strive Fitness.
Event Details: Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports from Sonic Drive-In of Ocala (Maricamp Road location). Guests for this episode include Forest (Ocala) boys’ lacrosse coach Kyle Strausser and members of the Wildcats’ 1st-ever boys lacrosse team. The show will also air on 92.1 FM & 1230 AM in Gainesville, as well as 100.1 FM & 900 AM in Ocala (tape-delay around 8 p.m. following Gator softball). #ThePrepZone.com
CHROME BROWSER NOTE: Recent versions of the Chrome Browser have discontinued support for several plugins including the Silverlight media player used on this site. The best option to access this ‘live’ broadcast is to switch to a different browser, i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox.
The other option for windows users is to click the “WMP Player” once you access the broadcast on Chrome. This will play the broadcast in your standalone windows media player if that is available on your computer.
Class 3A
FAMU (Tallahassee) 72, Trinity Christian (Deltona) 53 St. Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville) 53, North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) 32
Class 2A
Crossroad Academy (Quincy) 78, Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) 56 Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 71, Aucilla Christian (Monticello) 28 North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) 78, St. John Lutheran (Ocala) 36
Keystone Prep (Odessa) 76, Halifax Academy (Daytona Beach) 25
Class 1A Madison County 71, Hilliard 26 Hawthorne 78, Hamilton County (Jasper) 70 (OT) Bell 66, Frostproof 28 Wildwood 64, Dixie County (Cross City) 45
This is the second Miracle Sports high school softball state poll conducted by Miracle Sports for the 2018 season. The Miracle Sports state softball poll is produced weekly utilizing former and current high school and college coaches from across the state. Area teams are in bold.
CLASS 9A
1. Palm Harbor University 3-1
2. Jupiter 2-0
3. Parkland Stoneman Douglas 1-0
4. Miami Palmetto 1-0
5. Palm Beach Gardens 2-0
6. Lithia Newsome 3-0
7. Winter Garden West Orange 1-1 8. Jacksonville Mandarin 2-0
9. Kissimmee Osceola 1-0 10. DeLand 2-0
Honorable mention: Apopka 1-0; Orlando Timber Creek 1-1; Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast 1-1; Tampa Alonso 2-0; Lutz Steinbrenner 2-0.
CLASS 8A 1. Orange Park Oakleaf 2-0
2. Bradenton Lakewood Ranch 1-0
3. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas 0-0
4. Winter Park Lake Howell 3-0
5. Plant City 2-0
6. Wellington 1-0
7. Bartow 2-0
8. Orlando East River 2-0
9. Oviedo Hagerty 3-1
10. St. Cloud 1-0
Honorable mention: Tallahassee Chiles 2-0; Tampa Sickles 2-0; Cooper City 0-0; Lutz Steinbrenner 2-0; Tarpon Springs East Lake 2-0.
CLASS 7A
1. Fort Myers 1-0
2. Bradenton Braden River 3-0
3. Niceville 1-0
4. Viera 1-0 5. Lake City Columbia 1-0 6. Gainesville 3-0
7. New Port Richey Mitchell 2-0
8. Land O’Lakes Sunlake 2-0
9. Eagle Lake Lake Region 1-0 10. Deltona 3-0
Honorable mention: St. Johns Bartram Trail 1-0; Estero 1-0; Tampa Chamberlain 2-0; Stuart South Fork 3-0; Pace 2-0; Cantonment Tate 1-1.
CLASS 6A
1. Plantation American Heritage 1-0
2. Land O’Lakes 2-0 3. Spring Hill Springstead 2-0
4. North Fort Myers 3-0
5. Pensacola West Florida 2-0
6. Rockledge 2-0
7. Panama City Beach Arnold 3-0
8. New Port Richey River Ridge 1-0
9. Gulf Breeze 1-0
10. Sebring 3-0
Honorable mention: Orange Park Ridgeview 0-0; Green Cove Springs Clay 1-1; Crystal River 1-0; Dunnellon 2-1; Belleview 0-1.
CLASS 5A
1. Coral Springs Charter 2-0 2. Eustis 2-0
3. Miami Gulliver Prep 0-0 4. Keystone Heights 2-0 5. Callahan West Nassau 1-0 6. Brooksville Hernando 2-0
7. Key West 2-0
8. Marianna 3-0
9. Titusville Astronaut 3-0 10. Port Orange Atlantic 2-0
Honorable mention: Fernandina Beach 3-0; Brooksville Nature Coast 2-0; Cocoa Space Coast 2-0; Alachua Santa Fe 0-1; Bradenton Bayshore 0-0.
CLASS 4A
1. West Palm Beach Oxbridge Academy 2-0
2. Westminster Christian 2-0
3. Tampa Academy of the Holy Names 2-0
4. Tampa Catholic 3-0 5. Jacksonville Trinity Christian 0-1
6. Bishop Verot 0-0 7. Jacksonville Providence 1-0
8. Chaminade-Madonna 0-1 9. Jacksonville Episcopal 1-0
10. Tallahassee Florida High 1-1
Honorable mention: Montverde Academy 1-1; Panama City North Bay Haven 1-0; Clearwater Calvary Christian 1-0; West Palm Beach King’s Academy 3-0; Interlachen 2-0.
CLASS 3A
1. Fort Pierce John Carroll 1-0
2. Lakeland Christian 1-1
3. Moore Haven 1-0
4. Tallahassee Maclay 0-0
5. Niceville Rocky Bayou Christian 2-0
6. St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut 1-1
7. Tallahassee North Florida Christian 0-0
8. St. Petersburg Northside Christian 2-0 9. Orange Park St. Johns Country Day 1-0
10. Belle Island Cornerstone Charter 1-1
Honorable mention: Bradenton Christian 1-0; Marathon 0-0; Tampa Carrollwood Day 1-1; Largo Indian Rocks Christian 1-0.
CLASS 2A 1. Monticello Aucilla Christian 0-0
2. Land O’Lakes Academy of the Lakes 2-0
3. St. Petersburg Canterbury 1-1 4. Mount Dora Christian 2-0
5. Lake Worth Christian 1-0 6. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian 2-0
7. Sarasota Christian 1-0 8. Jacksonville Christ’s Church Academy 2-0 9. Deltona Trinity Christian Academy 2-0
10. Vero Beach Master’s Academy 1-0
Honorable mention: Belle Glade Glades Day 0-1; Jacksonville Eagle’s View 2-1; Homestead Colonial Christian 0-0; Geneva 1-1; Naples Seacrest Country Day 1-1.
CLASS 1A 1. Lake Butler Union County 1-0 2. Trenton 3-0 3. Chiefland 2-0
4. Sneads 3-0 5. Madison County 2-0
6. Wewahitchka 1-1
7. Eastpoint Franklin County 0-0 8. Pierson Taylor 1-0 9. Fort White 2-0 10. Williston 1-1
Honorable mention: Port St. Joe 1-0; Bratt Northview 1-0; Bell 1-0; Hilliard 1-0; Chipley 0-1; Milton Central 1-1.
Event Details: Join Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports from Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville. Guests for this episode include Union County girls’ weightlifting coaches Brian Griffis and Kepa Sarduy and the four individual state champions who helped lead Union County to their first girls’ state weightlifting title in school history. The show will also air on 92.1 FM & 1230 AM in Gainesville, as well as 100.1 FM & 900 AM in Ocala. #ThePrepZone.com
CHROME BROWSER NOTE: Recent versions of the Chrome Browser have discontinued support for several plugins including the Silverlight media player used on this site. The best option to access this ‘live’ broadcast is to switch to a different browser, i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox.
The other option for windows users is to click the “WMP Player” once you access the broadcast on Chrome. This will play the broadcast in your standalone windows media player if that is available on your computer.
The Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week for the week of February 5 is LELE YOUNG* of the Gainesville girls’ basketball team.
Photo credit: Gainesville Sun
*The senior guard helped lead GHS (21-7) to its eighth consecutive district title. Young scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed five rebounds and added four steals in a 72-58 win against Columbia (Lake City) in the Class 7A-District 4 semifinals. She was also 7-of-8 from the free throw line. It marked the 15th game this season that Young had scored 21 or more points in a game. In the championship game, she scored 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds and added three steals in a 55-40 win against Forest (Ocala).
Nominate an Athlete of the Week each week no later than Sunday at 6 p.m. Email your nominations to mike@ThePrepZone.com
Previous 2017-18 winners:
Jan. 29 – Kursten Bakken (Union County girls’ weightlifting)
Bakken set a new Florida record as the Tigers won their first-ever FHSAA championship in girls weightlifting. The senior was one of four individual state champions for Union County. She bettered her fifth-place showing at state last year as a junior by setting a new state record in the bench press in the unlimited class at 300 pounds. She lifted a combined 525 pounds in the bench press and clean-and-jerk, breaking a Florida high school record that had stood since 2009.
Jan. 22 – Devin King-Porter (Buchholz girls’ soccer)
The sophomore midfielder helped lead the Lady Bobcats to the Class 5A-District 1 title. King-Porter led all scorers with three goals in an 8-0 win against Sandalwood (Jacksonville) in the district semifinals. She followed that up with a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win against Forest (Ocala) in the district championship.
Jan. 15 – Zack Martin (Santa Fe boys’ soccer)
Martin had eight goals during the week to help lead Santa Fe to a 3-0 record, with all three wins coming in Class 2A-District 5 competition. He began the week with a hat trick in an 8-0 win at Interlachen. Two days later, the senior forward scored two goals for Santa Fe in a 3-0 win against second-place Crescent City, which gave the Raiders the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament. Martin finished the week with a hat trick in an 8-0 win at P.K. Yonge (Gainesville).
Jan. 8 – Ayanna Rollins (Oak Hall girls’ basketball)
The senior forward helped lead Oak Hall to a couple of wins during the week. Rollins led the Eagles with 30 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in a 65-33 win against Florida School for the Deaf (St. Augustine). She followed that up with a monster effort two nights later in a 39-31 win at Eastside (Gainesville). Rollins scored 24 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and had six steals.
Jan. 1 – No award due to holiday and cancelled school
Dec. 25 – Jimmy Johnson (Eastside boys’ basketball)
Johnson helped lead the Rams to a third-place finish at the Hitchcock’s Challenge in Alachua. The senior guard scored in double figures in every game as Eastside went 3-1 in the tournament. He scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-3 behind the arc, in a 70-36 win against Columbia (Lake City) in the 3rd-place game.
Dec. 18 – Christian Miller-Cardwell (Gainesville boys’ basketball)
Miller-Cardwell led Gainesville to the Kiwanis Christmas Tournament title at Bradford High School (Starke), Dec. 21-23, by scoring 70 points in three games. The tournament MVP led the Hurricanes (8-2) with 22 points in a 75-55 win against host Bradford in the championship game. He scored a game-high 26 points in a 69-58 win against 8A No. 2 Creekside (St. Johns). The senior also scored a game-high 22 points in a 62-44 win against Madison County.
Dec. 11 – Sierra Millinor (Eastside girls’ soccer)
Millinor helped lead the Lady Rams to a pair of Class 3A-District 5 wins. The junior forward scored five goals in a 7-3 win against Crystal River. Two days later against Vanguard (Ocala), she scored three goals and assisted on another in a 5-1 win.
Dec. 4 – Lee Ducharme (P.K. Yonge girls’ soccer)
The senior forward scored seven goals, giving her 300 on her career, as the Blue Wave remained undefeated with a dominating 8-1 win at Santa Fe (Alachua). The win snapped a 5-game losing streak to the Lady Raiders. Two days later, the West Florida commit scored five goals in an 8-0 win against Interlachen. The 12 goals gave Ducharme 32 goals in eight games.
Nov. 27 – Anthony Allen (Newberry boys’ soccer)
Allen helped the Panthers bounce back from its first defeat of the season, a 6-0 loss at Crescent City on Monday, by scoring five goals in their next two games to lead Newberry to a 2-1 week. The senior scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-0 win at Interlachen on Thursday, followed by the first hat trick of his career in a 5-0 win at Oak Hall on Friday. He also added an assist in the win against the Eagles.
Nov. 20 – No award due to Thanksgiving holiday
Nov. 13 – Zion Barber (Bradford football)
The senior helped lead the Tornadoes to their first state semifinal appearance since 2004 with a 24-14 win against Dunnellon in the Class 4A Region 2 Final. Barber had a rushing touchdown on a 4th-and-goal, threw two TD passes, kicked three extra points and made a 20-yard field goal as Bradford (10-1) won its 10th straight game.
Nov. 6 – Isabel Ivey (Buchholz girls’ swimming)
Ivey helped lead Buchholz to its third straight state title. She set a state record in the 100 breast stroke (1:00.99), and she beat Stanford commit Morgan Tankersley of Plant (Tampa) to win the 200 freestyle (1:44.68), in winning two individual state titles. The junior was also a part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team which set a school record, and a state record, with a time of 1:31.66, less than a second from the national mark, and she helped lead the Lady Bobcats to a state record in the 400-freestyle relay.
Oct. 30 – Austin Montini (Oak Hall boys’ cross country)
The freshman helped lead the Eagles to a third-place finish at the high school cross country regional championships. Montini finished third with a time of 16:48.86 to lead the Eagles to a third-place finish. The Oak Hall boys were ranked sixth but finished third.
Oct. 23 – Brandis Smith (St. Francis Catholic Academy volleyball)
Smith helped lead the Wolves (8-9) to an upset of previously unbeaten North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) in the FHSAA Class 3A Regional Semifinals. The senior had 50 kills, 7 blocks, and 12 digs for the defending state champions. St. Francis Catholic Academy d. North Florida Christian 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14.
Oct. 16 – Heather Pedrick (Santa Fe volleyball)
The junior setter helped lead the top-seeded Lady Raiders to the Class 6A-District 6 title. Pedrick had 14 kills, eight digs, 14 assists and six service points to lead the Raiders to a sweep of North Marion (Citra) in the district semifinals. In the championship against No. 2 seed Belleview, she led the way with 17 kills, 20 digs and five blocks as Santa Fe swept the Rattlers.
Oct. 9 – Amelia Williams (Buchholz girls’ golf)
Williams helped the Lady Bobcats capture their fifth straight Jill Darr Invitational title. The sophomore was the low medalist with a 3-under 69. She had a bogey-free round. The Jill Darr Invitational, named after the late Jill Darr Rowell, represents the Alachua County championship.
Oct. 2 – Charles Strong (Union County football)
The FSU commit rushed for 262 yards and scored three touchdowns as Union County (6-1) defeated previously unbeaten Hawthorne, 31-25, in overtime. Strong, who has 1,139 yards and 13 TDs on the season, scored the game-winner from 10 yards out in OT. He also had a 23-yard scoring run and a 12-yard TD run.
Sept. 25 – Demari Turner (St. Francis Catholic football)
Turner came up with the big plays, catching four passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, to help lead the Wolves to a 36-0 win against rival Oak Hall and snap the Eagles’ two-game win streak in the series. The senior wide receiver had scoring catches of 63 and 89 yards as St. Francis Catholic knocked off the previously-unbeaten Eagles and snapped their overall winning streak at 13 games. He also had a 2-point conversion and helped the defense pitch its first shutout of the season.
Sept. 18 – Anthony Richardson (Eastside football)
The sophomore quarterback led the Rams to a 2-0 week, which is twice as many wins as Eastside had (1) all season in 2016. Richardson had 646 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing and passing. In the Rams’ 33-28 home win over Newberry on Monday, he accounted for all five of their touchdowns, finishing with 348 yards and two scores through the air and 65 yards and three scores on the ground. On Friday, at Lake Weir (Ocala), Richardson ran for 102 yards on 11 carries with two TDs, and 131 yards passing with three scores.
Sept. 11 – No award due to Hurricane Irma
Sept. 4 – Gerard Williams III (Williston football)
Williams set a school record with 307 yards on 27 carries, with three touchdowns, in the Red Devils’ 28-14 win at Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto). During Williston’s first five possessions, the senior had 13 carries for 115 yards. However, on Williston’s final three drives, he had 192 yards on 14 carries, with 2 TDs.
Our Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Wednesday, February 21, is Mya McGraw of the Eastside (Gainesville) girls’ basketball team.
Date: Thu 02/22/2018
Area teams in bold
This is the second Miracle Sports high school softball state poll conducted by Miracle Sports for the 2018 season. The Miracle Sports state softball poll is produced weekly utilizing former and current high school and college coaches from across the state. Area teams are in bold.
