Tuesday, 6:50 p.m. (PREGAME) – Boys High School Basketball, 7 p.m. (TIP)
Central Pointe Christian Academy (Kissimmee) at The Rock (Gainesville)
Join Will Levenson (Play-by-play) & Griffin Foll (Color) for all the action.
Central Pointe at The Rock – Boys Basketball 2020
Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Jan. 31 – Sean Childers (Gainesville)
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, Jan. 31, was Sean Childers of the Gainesville boys’ basketball team.
The senior led five Hurricanes in double figures as Gainesville defeated city rival Buchholz (Gainesville), 63-50, on Senior Night.
It was the 11th straight win in the series for the Hurricanes (12-11), who swept the 2-game series this season.
Childers scored 12 points for GHS, which will travel to P.K. Yonge for a city showdown on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 92.1 FM & 1230 AM in Gainesville, and 900 AM in Ocala.
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 Prep Zone Power Poll powered by Anytime Fitness – 2019-20 Girls Basketball Poll #5
One-loss Raines (Jacksonville) still on top of the All-classification regional rankings
GAINESVILLE – Raines (Jacksonville) will enter the postseason as the top-ranked team in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
The Lady Vikings (24-1), who were off last week, received all nine first-place votes to remain a unanimous selection as the #1 team in the all-classification regional rankings. They will play the winner of Fernandina Beach/Yulee in the 4A-District 3 semifinals on Wednesday.
Father Lopez (Daytona Beach) is still second.
The Lady Green Wave (22-2) defeated Bishop Moore (Orlando), 63-51, on Wednesday. They await the winner of the Oak Hall (Gainesville) vs. St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) in Wednesday’s Class 3A-District 3 semifinals.
In fact, the top five is the same as last week.
Class 7A Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which is 20-5 overall following a 3-0 week which included a win against current No. 7 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), is ranked third, followed by 4A Ribault (Jacksonville) (20-7) and 1A Wildwood (22-2) in the top five.
Middleburg is ranked sixth.
The Class 5A Broncos (16-6) went 3-0 last week, including a 64-53 win against previous #10 Flagler Palm Coast, which dropped two spots to No. 12.
In another match-up of top 20 teams, #6 Hawthorne lost at home to #14 P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), 50-46, on Friday. The Class 1A Hornets (23-2) dropped two spots to 8th, while the Class 3A Lady Blue Wave (16-7) moved up three spots to No. 11.
Class 4A Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (16-9) is ranked seventh, followed by Hawthorne, Class 4A Bolles (Jacksonville) (17-8) and Class 2A University Christian (Jacksonville) (17-4) in the top 10.
No teams dropped out of the rankings heading into their respective district tournaments.
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 and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2019-20 GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, record through 2/1, and total voting points)
1. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (9) (24-1) – 180
2. Father Lopez (Daytona Beach) (3A) (22-2) – 168
3. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (20-5) – 165
4. Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (20-7) – 152
5. Wildwood (1A) (22-2) – 141
6. Middleburg (5A) (16-6) – 131
7. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (16-9) – 112
8. Hawthorne (1A) (23-2) – 110
9. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (17-8) – 109
10. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (17-4) – 91
11. P.K Yonge (Gainesville) (3A) (16-7) – 87
12. Flagler Palm Coast (7A) (16-6) – 86
13. Orange Park (5A) (19-6) – 79
14. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (19-6) – 70
15. St. Augustine (5A) (16-5) – 37
16. Trenton (1A) (19-5) – 32
17. Creekside (St. Johns) (6A) (13-8) – 30
18. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (7A) (13-10) – 28
19. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (13-10) – 23
20. Atlantic (Port Orange) (4A) (16-7) – 21
Also receiving votes: Interlachen (3A) (19-4) – 10; West Port (Ocala) (7A) (15-10) – 7; Eustis (4A) (17-5) – 5; Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (14-10) – 5; Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (14-7) – 4; Lake Weir (Ocala) (5A) (20-4) – 4; South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (18-7) – 2; Trinity Christian (Deltona) (2A) (15-6) – 1.
Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Jan. 31 – Mya McGraw (P.K. Yonge)
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Friday, Jan. 31, was Mya McGraw of the P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) girls’ basketball team.
The junior scored a game-high 15 points as P.K. Yonge defeated Hawthorne on the road, 50-46, in the regular season finale for both teams.
McGraw scored six of her team’s eight points in the third quarter as the Blue Wave were able to maintain their lead at 33-29 heading into the final quarter despite struggling in the third..
“I’m happy that we pulled out the win,” said McGraw, who broke her foot and was out for three months. “We haven’t had a full team this entire season until now, multiple players have been out with injuries, but a win is a win, ugly or good.”
P.K. Yonge (16-7) will play the winner of Monday’s Trinity Catholic vs. Interlachen quarterfinal in Wednesday’s 3A-District 3 semifinals, while Hawthorne (23-2) will face either Newberry or Chiefland in the 1A-District 7 semifinals on Thursday.
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.
Buchholz at Gainesville – Boys Basketball 2020
Friday, January 31 – Join Tyler TenBieg (Play-by-play) & Mike Ridaught (Color/Videographer) for this city showdown from The Purple Palace. It’s also a Class 6A-District 2 game.
PK Yonge at Hawthorne – Girls Basketball 2020
Friday, January 31 – Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) & Mike Ridaught (Color/Videographer) for this Alachua County showdown between these two 2019 Final Four teams.
Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Jan. 30 – Aziel Gainey (Eastside)
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Thursday, Jan. 30, was Aziel Gainey of the Eastside (Gainesville) boys’ basketball team.
Gainey finished with 12 points as the Rams defeated visiting Santa Fe (Alachua), 62-48, in a Class 4A-District 5 game.
The junior gave the Rams a big lift in the third quarter as Eastside turned a 6-point lead at the break into a 15-point lead at the end of the third quarter. “Ike” had three 3s in the quarter and finished with four made shots behind the arc.
It was the fourth win in a row for Eastside (14-7), which will host Williston on Friday night.
Santa Fe (Alachua), which had a 5-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 13-9. The Raiders will host Columbia (Lake City) on Friday.
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.
Santa Fe at Eastside – Boys Basketball 2020
Thursday, Jan. 30 – Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play) & Will Levenson (Color) for this Alachua County showdown. It’s also a Class 4A-District 5 game.
Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Jan. 28 – Jarvy Gainey (Eastside)
The Sonic Drive-In Player-of-the-Game for Tuesday, Jan. 28, was Jarvy Gainey of the Eastside (Gainesville) boys’ basketball team.
A junior, Gainey scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half as host Eastside led wire-to-wire and and easily defeated city rival P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), 71-56, on Tuesday night.
Senior KJ Bradley, who ended up with 20 points, led the way for the Rams with nine points in the first quarter, including a three pointer, and Eastside led P.K. Yonge 14-6 after the opening period.
P.K. Yonge cut the Eastside lead to 24-17 halfway through the second period, but Bradley scored seven straight points, including another three pointer, and the Rams went on a 12-3 run to extend their lead over the Blue Wave to 36-20 at the halftime break.
The Blue Wave picked up the scoring some in the second half, but so did Gainey. He scored nine points, including his only trey of the contest in the third period, and while the Blue Wave scored 22 points alone in the third period, they could only cut their deficit to 13 at 55-42 heading to the final period.
P.K. Yonge did get to within seven points on one occasion in the fourth quarter, but Gainey scored eight more points, including knocking down four free throws in a row in the last two minutes to extend the Rams final margin back to double digits.
The Blue Wave were led by three players in double figures. Junior Adrian Bloodworth had a team-high 14 points, while freshman Greg Maxwell added 12, and junior Deontae Mavin chipped in with 10.
The loss evened the season series between the two city rivals as P.K Yonge defeated Eastside, 54-44, on December 10.
Eastside has won three in a row and improved to 13-7. The Rams are back in action on Thursday night at home against Santa Fe (Alachua) in a game you can watch with live streaming video on the Eastside Athletics Facebook page and The Prep Zone.
P.K. Yonge falls to 11-10 and returns home to face Hawthorne on Thursday night. Eastside knocked off Hawthorne last Saturday night, 43-38, ending a seven-game losing streak against the Hornets.
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.
PK Yonge Girls Soccer – 2020
Wednesday, Jan. 29 – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show
Join Mike Ridaught & Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville. Their guests include P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) girls soccer coach Rebecca Schackow and members of the Lady Blue Wave soccer team, which is the No. 1 seed in this week’s Class 3A-District 4 tournament.