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St. Francis at The Rock – Boys Basketball 2018

Thursday, 6:45 p.m. pregame (7 p.m. tip) – High School Basketball (Boys)
St. Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville) at The Rock (Gainesville)
‘Live’ and ‘archived’ VIDEO available online at www.ThePrepZone.com
Join Jake Winderman (Play-by-play) and Evan Denninghoff (Color) for this Alachua County showdown.

Bronson at Oak Hall – Basketball DH 2018


High School Basketball (Girls)
Bronson at Oak Hall (Gainesville)
Join Daniel Gillman (Play-by-play) for Senior Night for the Lady Eagles, followed by the boys game.

Eastside (Gainesville) boys’ hoops extend winning streak, eye postseason berth

Eastside boys basketball 2017-18By Olivia Granaiola
@oliviagranaiola

The Eastside boys’ basketball team rolled all over Williston in a 55-13 win on Tuesday night, improving the Rams to 17-4 overall and extending their winning streak to five games.

Senior center Keanis Smart came off the bench and led all scoring with nine points. But, Smart was hardly a hero.

Ten other Rams made it on the board throughout the night, showcasing the group’s team-first mentality and depth. And with only five more games left in the regular season, the rowdy Rams are well on their way to a post-season berth.

On January 19th, Eastside pulled an upset and handed city rival Gainesville High School its biggest loss of the season, outscoring the Hurricanes 73-53.  Making the feat even more impressive was the fact that the Rams were without two starters – junior Anthony Wright (ACL) and junior James Pope, who has since returned from injury.

Coach Pop Williams says the win over GHS gave his entire team an extra confidence boost, but he was especially proud of his seniors who had never come out on top against the ‘Canes.

Since then, the Rams have built on their momentum.

However, the win streak was in jeopardy when Eastside hosted district rival P.K. Yonge on January 27. In fact, Eastside entered the game losers of three in a row to their other city rival.

The Blue Wave came back from a double-digit deficit and took the lead a few times in the fourth quarter.

But, the Rams have a knack for finishing games, and despite struggling from the free throw line in the third quarter and making just 1-of-8 from the line, they shot 10-of-13 in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.

 

Senior Jimmy Johnson, who leads the team in scoring at almost 12 points per game, was 7-of-8 from the line in the final quarter.

Senior Jimmy Johnson
Senior Jimmy Johnson

Coach Williams says his team has “consistent scoring, but need to clean up if they want to go far in the postseason.”

When asked about the postseason though, Williams says his team “can’t look ahead and can’t take their record to heart.”

The 17-4 record ranks the Rams 6th in the state in Class 6A and 50th overall according to MaxPreps.

Next up, Eastside will kick off February with a home game against Dunnellon in the Class 6A-District 6 finale. When these two teams met earlier in the season, the Rams took a narrow win, with a final score of 42-40.

A win would put the Rams in a tie for first place in the district with North Marion, who they split against this season.  If the two teams tie, a coin toss will decide which team will earn the No. 1 seed for the upcoming district tournament to be held at North Marion in two weeks.

The winner of the district tournament will host a first-round state playoff game on Thursday, Feb. 22, while the loser will be on the road.

Belleview Girls Basketball – 2018

goat-drawing.cdrDate: Wed 01/31/2018, 7-8 p.m.
Title: The Prep Zone”

Event Details: Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports from Sonic Drive-In of Summerfield. Guests for this episode include Belleview girls’ basketball coach Gary Greer and members of the Lady Rattlers’ basketball team. 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

Here is the archive of the show:

The Prep Zone Power Poll powered by Strive Fitness – 2017-2018 Girls’ Basketball Poll #5

Strive Fitness - George Koziara352-339-1230
Strive Fitness – George Koziara
352-339-1230

Nease (Ponte Vedra) a unanimous No. 1 in all-classification regional rankings

GAINESVILLE — The top-ranked team in The Prep Zone Power Poll for girls’ basketball continues to stay the same.

For the third consecutive week, Nease (Ponte Vedra) remained No. 1 in the all-classification regional rankings.

Fresh off the St. Johns County Athletic Conference championship, capping a 3-0 week, the Class 7A Lady Panthers (20-3) were a unanimous selection for No. 1. They received all seven first-place votes.

Nease defeated #3 Fleming Island (Orange Park), 56-52, in the championship game to hold on to the top spot. The Class 8A Golden Eagles (22-4) were able to stay at No. 3 thanks to the close loss to the Panthers and a 61-50 win against previous No. 20 Middleburg.Nease Panthers

Spruce Creek (Port Orange) remained second. The Class 9A Hawks (18-4) also went 3-0, including a 51-35 win against current No. 19 Mainland (Daytona Beach).

Moving up two spots to fourth is Ponte Vedra. The Class 6A Sharks (18-3) had wins against St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine), Fletcher (Neptune Beach), and Terry Parker (Jacksonville).

Fernandina Beach also moved up two spots to fifth thanks to a 70-60 win against Sandalwood (Jacksonville), which was tied for third and drops three spots to sixth. The Pirates (20-4) are up to fifth in the Class 5A state rankings, according to MaxPreps.

Rounding out the top 10 are Sandalwood, P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), Wildwood, Gainesville and Oakleaf (Orange Park).

Lafayette (Mayo) is back in the rankings following a 53-49 win at previous No. 5 P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) and a hard-fought 50-42 loss to previous #9 Wildwood, 50-42, at the Pack Challenge at West Port (Ocala).

Class 7A Mainland (Daytona Beach) moves into the top 20 at No. 19 following a 64-58 win at current #15 Atlantic (Port Orange).

The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 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 and it is powered by Strive Fitness.

THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2017-2018 GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL #5
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record through 1/27, and total voting points)
1. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (7) (20-3) – 140
2. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (9A) (18-4) – 133
3. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (8A) (22-4) – 123
4. Ponte Vedra (6A) (18-3) – 117
5. Fernandina Beach (5A) (20-4) – 114
6. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (9A) (17-2) – 99
7. P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) (4A) (16-5) – 92
8. Wildwood (1A) (18-6) – 91
9. Gainesville (7A) (18-7) – 90
10. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (19-4) – 71
11. Trenton (1A) (19-2) – 68
12. Father Lopez (Daytona Beach) (7A) (19-3) – 60
13. Newberry (5A) (16-4) – 59
14. Flagler Palm Coast (9A) (13-5) – 44
15T. Weeki Wachee (6A) (20-2) – 36
15T. Atlantic (Port Orange) (7A) (17-5) – 36
17. Raines (Jacksonville) (5A) (14-5) – 28
18. Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (15-6) – 19
19. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (7A) (15-6) – 16
20. First Coast (Jacksonville) (8A) (14-6) – 12
Also receiving votes: Middleburg (7A) (16-7) – 11; Vanguard (Ocala) (7A) (14-8) – 6; Forest (Ocala) (7A) (15-5) – 3; Ribault (Jacksonville) (6A) (12-13) – 1; East Ridge (Clermont) (8A) (15-6) – 1.

The Rock Boys Basketball – 2018

goat-drawing.cdrDate: Mon 01/29/2018, 7-8 p.m.
Title: “The Prep Zone”
Guest: The Rock Boys’ Basketball

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 The Rock (Gainesville) AD & boys’ basketball coach Justin Harden and members of the Lions’ basketball team. 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

Click Here to Listen

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The Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week – Zack Martin (Santa Fe)

The Trophy ShopThe Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week for the week of January 15 is ZACK MARTIN* of the Santa Fe (Alachua) boys’ soccer team.

 

Photo credit:  Gainesville Sun
Photo credit:
Gainesville Sun

*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).

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. 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.

Sonic Drive-In-Player-of-the-Game for Jan. 27 – Jimmy Johnson (Eastside)

Sonic-logoOur Sonic Drive-In-Player-of-the-Game for Saturday, January 27 is Jimmy Johnson of the Eastside (Gainesville) boys’ basketball team.

Johnson tied for a game-high 12 points as Eastside won its fourth game in a row with a 46-41 win against city rival P.K. Yonge.

The senior didn’t score until the second quarter, when he chipped in five, and he didn’t score in the third quarter, but it was his clutch free throw shooting down the stretch that helped the Rams (16-4) snap a three-game losing streak to the Blue Wave (10-10).Jimmy Johnson Eastside Sonic POG

Twice in the final quarter, Johnson was fouled shooting behind the arc.  He ended up making 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth to help the Rams survive.

This was on the heels of a third quarter in which Eastside shot just 1-of-8 from the line, which helped P.K. Yonge get back in the game and ultimately take the lead in the fourth quarter.  However, the Rams would finish 10-of-13 in the final quarter to keep their winning streak in tact.

Senior Malik Robertson started hot, scoring eight of his 12 in the opening quarter, but Johnson led the team in scoring in the final eight minutes.  Junior Israel Wilcox led P.K. Yonge with 11.

Eastside will host Williston on Tuesday, while P.K. Yonge will travel crosstown to face St. Francis Catholic Academy.

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.

The ‘Pack Challenge’ at West Port, January 26-27 (Girls BKB)

2018 Pack ChallengeAt West Port (Ocala)

Friday, January 26
West Orange (Winter Garden) 59, Wildwood 46
Douglas (Parkland) 59, Palm Harbor University 38
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) 62, West Port (Ocala) 32

Saturday, January 27, 2018
West Orange (Winter Garden) 69, Palm Harbor University 31
Wekiva 71, Douglas (Parkland) 60
Wildwood 50, Lafayette (Mayo) 42
Boca Raton 70, Melbourne 57
Lake Highland Prep (Orlando) 54, West Port (Ocala) 38

St. Francis at Oak Hall – Boys Soccer 2018

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Friday, 5:40 p.m. – High School Soccer (Boys)
St. Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville) at Oak Hall School (Gainesville)

Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Cornerstone Academy girls/boys soccer coach Jon Doles (Color) for Senior Night as the Eagles host the rival Wolves.

Special thanks to:

Jose I Moreno, Esq.
240 NW 76th Drive, Suite D
Gainesville, Florida 32607
Telephone: (352) 332-4422
Fax: (352) 332-4462
e-mail: jimorenolaw@gmail.com