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.
