January 6th, 4:30pm – Game 2 – Dr. Phillips vs. Winter Haven
Boynton Beach vs. Eastside
January 6th, 3:00pm – Game 1- Boynton Beach vs. Eastside
Rob Moramarco Girls Basketball Challenge – 2012
Rob Moramarco Girls Basketball Challenge at Bud Seymour Gymnasium, Buchholz HS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6
- 3:00 Eastside (Record: 7-7) vs. Boynton Beach (Record: 11-2)
- 4:30 Dr. Phillips (Record: 14-3) vs. Winter Haven (Record: 7-6)
- 6:00 Choctaw (Record: 15-1) vs. Gainesville (Record: 15-1)
- 7:30 Buchholz (Record: 16-1) vs. Pine Forest (Record 11-2)
- 9:00 Rickards (Record: 10-5) vs. Archbishop McCarthy (Record: 15-0)
- 10:30 Palm Beach Lakes (Record: 7-6) vs. Freedom (Record 11-5)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7
- 12:00 Boynton Beach (15-5A) vs. Choctaw (1-5A)
- 1:30 Archbishop McCarthy (15-6A) vs. Eastside (6-5A)
- 3:30 Winter Haven (9-6A) vs. Rickards (2-5A)
- 5:00 Pine Forest (1-6A) vs. Palm Beach Lakes (13-7A)
- 7:00 Buchholz (1-7A) vs. Dr. Phillips (4-8A)
- 8:30 Freedom (Tampa) vs. Gainesville (5-6A)
USA TODAY / ESPN FAB 50 nationally ranked Dr. Phillips out of Orlando has been dominating in-state opponents. Its closest game so far this season against Florida schools has been 18 points to Nova High School (12-1) of Davie, Florida in the finals of their own Christmas tournament, the Florida Prospects Invitational in Orlando. They will face tradition rich Winter Haven and host Buchholz (16-1) this weekend. Dr. Phillip’s 3 losses all came at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona to nationally ranked programs. They are led by Taryn Griffey, who is the daughter of Ken Griffey, Jr. Dr. Phillips has not played an easy schedule in-state either having defeated most teams by a running clock: Dwyer (15-2), South Broward (n/a), Haines City (14-2), Port Orange Atlantic (11-4) and will face Hollywood Christian, Coral Springs Charter, and cross-town rival Edgewater after this weekend.
Buchholz, Gainesville, and Archbishop McCarthy all won their respective divisions at the 2011 Queen of Palms Basketball Classic in Fort Myers, Florida.
Buchholz won the Emerald Division of the 64-team, 8-division tournament, with a convincing 63-39 win over the Haines City Lady Hornets(14-2). Buchholz also defeated St. Petersburg and Viera (13-3) for a second time this season 66-62.
Gainesville (15-1) faced a tough road, but defeated Fort Pierce Central (9-3), Sarasota (13-2), and host Dunbar (12-1) for the Sapphire Division Championship. Daja McPhee was Most Valuable Player and Marissa Lee was part of the All-Tournament team.
Archbishop McCarthy (15-0) steamrolled Tampa-Freedom (11-5), Bartow (13-4) before having a dog-fight with Winter Haven (7-6) in the Diamond Division Championship.
Winter Haven, who has been to 9 of the past 11 FHSAA Final Fours, graduated 6 seniors from last year’s squad, but is very young and very quick. The Lady Blue Devils are led buy Destynee Arnold, who is one of the more explosive scoring guards in the state!
Pine Forest and Choctaw have both suffered a loss to Pensacola this season. PFHS is led by Jayla King and Choctaw is led by Brittany Brown, who has been the teams scoring leader since her freshman season. Both are considered Division 1 prospects.
Nationally known sports photographer, Ron Irby, will be taking photos of all teams and in-game action shots. Irby has done photography for every major sporting event (Professional, NCAA, and high school).
Tickets are $7.00 per day and fans are welcome to stay for all games that day.
TOP PLAYERS FOR THIS WEEKEND’S CHALLENGE:
Eastside: Tiara Lundy (2013), Jurnee Pettigrew (2013)
Boynton Beach: Taylor Shade (Florida International), Te’kerria Brown (2013), Shakoa Edwards (2014)
Dr. Phillips: Taryn Griffey (2014), Hannah Schaible (2013), Sydnei McCaskil (2013)
Winter Haven: Destynee Arnold (2012)
Choctawatchee: Brittany Brown (2013)
Gainesville: Daja Mcphee (2013), Marissa Lee (2013), Kayla Lovett (2013)
Buchholz: Jessica Thomas (2013), Mariah Harris (2012)
Pine Forest: Jayla King (2013)
Rickards: Tyeshia Gunnie (2012)
Archbishop McCarthy: Destiny Jones (James Madison), Daryelle Avant (George Mason)
Palm Beach Lakes: Shanovia Dove (2013)
Freedom: Shade Williams (2012), Neena Pacholke (2013)
The event is hosted by Rob Moramarco, Chairman and C.E.O of Basketball Brothers, Inc. (www.basketballbrothers.com). He is a resident of Gainesville and is a Geometry/Geometry Honors teacher at Eastside High School, his alma mater. He was recently an honoree at the Spirt of Gainesville Awards for Community Service and Sportsmanship. Moramarco has been hosting events for over 20 years and is considered one of the main contacts for women’s basketball in the State of Florida. His “Moramarco Report Newsletter” is read by over 3,000 people nationally and his Moramarco Girl’s Basketball Report is subscribed to by all levels of college coaches mostly on the Eastern half of the country.
Basketball Brothers is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. It’s Queen of Palms Basketball Classic generated over a half-million dollars in economic impact for it’s 3-day event in 2010. 2011 numbers are still being computed. The Rob Moramarco Girl’s Basketball Challenge is in its 2nd year. Basketball Brothers hosts a Martin Luther King Holiday Classic next weekend in Winter Haven, Florida. It is the 10th year of the event.
For more information, please contact Rob Moramarco at 407-921-5773.
‘Showtime’ in the Kingdom
By Mike Ridaught
It’s up there.
I wouldn’t put it #1 on my list but it’s definitely up there – probably #2.
Kasey Hill of Montverde Academy put an exclamation point on this week’s Kingdom of the Sun with one of the best dunks I’ve ever seen in person in high school basketball.
Unfortunately, the basket didn’t count because Hill was called for a charge. But it didn’t matter. It was still nasty.
I’ve been fortunate to have broadcast a lot of games and I’ve seen some great players over the course of my 20 years of broadcasting. But the dunk by Hill in the championship game against Ely (Pompano Beach) was something I will remember for the rest of my life.
It was that good. Just ask anyone who saw it in person on Friday night. It was show time for Hill and on a big stage in Florida.
Hill, ESPN.com’s 16th-ranked junior prospect who just committed to Florida on New Year’s Eve, showcased his talents by scoring 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the top overall team in Florida and the #7 nationally-ranked Eagles (11-1) defeated the #2 overall team in Florida (according to Source Hoops), 67-53, to win the 38th annual Kingdom of the Sun at Vanguard (Ocala), Dec. 26-30.
Florida signee Michael Frazier led the way with 19 points for Montverde, while Ely (12-2) was led by former Eastside (Gainesville) guard Benji Bell with 23 points.
Hill earned MVP honors, while Frazier and teammate Landry Nnoko (Clemson) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Also on the team was Chris Walker of Holmes County (Bonifay), whose reverse dunk was the second best of the tournament – and in my top five all-time. Walker, the #2 junior in the country, dominated at times, including a Kingdom record-tying nine blocked shots against Nease (Ponte Vedra Beach).
North Carolina signee Joell James set a Kingdom record by grabbing 23 rebounds against Williston, while sophomore guard Joel Berry of Lake Highland Prep (Orlando) showed why he is one of the top sophomores in the country. The silky smooth Berry had 33 points against defending 4A state champion Leesburg and 31 against #3 (8A) Olympia (Orlando).
Plus, there was a game-winning lay-up at the buzzer by Basha (Chandler, Arizona) junior Jaron Hopkins (Auburn, among 15 other offers) and the left-wing three-pointer at the buzzer that gave the host team Vanguard (Ocala) a 58-55 win over rival North Marion (Citra) in which sophomore Princeton McQuay got mobbed by his team after the shot.
Plenty of D-I talent, plenty of great plays and as Vanguard coach Phillip Small noted, ‘a lot of great coaches’ – like former Magic player and Lake Highland Prep (Orlando) coach Jeff Turner and first-year Montverde coach Kevin Boyle, who has an all Division-I starting five and a legitimate national championship contender.
Tournament director Jim Haley’s depth of talent in this year’s field may have been his best ever. If not, I bet it’s up there.
“This is the most size we’ve had in tournament history,” Haley noted.
Three of the top five teams in Florida were at the Kingdom and four of the top 10, as well as the #1 overall team in Arizona and several other state-ranked teams.
It all adds up to 26 games and five great days at the Kingdom of the Sun. It was nice to end it with such an awesome memory thanks to Hill, who along with Frazier, form the best backcourt in the country according to several recruiting services.
Oh, and the best dunk I’ve ever seen in person?
Former FSU football/basketball player Andre Cooper of Fletcher (Neptune Beach) made a dunk during a state playoff game that actually brought the fans on the floor to celebrate. Cooper jumped from the foul line, a la Michael Jordan, and made a thunderous dunk.
But Hill’s jam was up there.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: Montverde Academy
TOURNAMENT MVP: Kasey Hill, Montverde Academy
MR. HUSTLE: Patricio Garino, Montverde Academy
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Michael Frazier, Montverde Academy
Landry Nnoko, Montverde Academy
Benji Bell, Ely (Pompano Beach)
Clide Geffrard, Ely (Pompano Beach)
Chris Walker, Holmes County (Bonifay)
Princeton McQuay, Vanguard (Ocala)
Torren Jones, Basha (Chandler, Ariz.)
Marc-Eddy Norelia, Olympia (Orlando)
Joel Berry, Orlando Lake Highland Prep
Joell James, Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer
Montverde vs. Blanche Ely
December 30th, 7:30pm – Montverde vs. Blanche Ely – Kingdom of the Sun (Championship Game)
Dwyer vs Trinity Catholic
December 30th, 6:00pm – Dwyer vs Trinity Catholic – Kingdom of the Sun (3rd Place Game)
Lake Highland Prep vs Olympia
December 30th, 1:30pm – Lake Highland Prep vs Olympia – Kingdom of the Sun (5th Place Game)
Basha vs Vanguard
December 30th, 12:00pm – Basha vs Vanguard – Kingdom of the Sun (Consolation Championship)
Blanche Ely vs Trinity Catholic
December 29th, 7:00pm – Blanche Ely vs Trinity Catholic – Kingdom of the Sun (Day 4, Game 5)
Lake Highland Prep vs Leesburg
December 29th, 3:00pm – Lake Highland Prep vs Leesburg – Kingdom of the Sun (Day 4, Game 3)