Florida Roundup: News Around Florida Volume 2

Florida Roundup: News Around Florida Volume 2 By Michael Wholey 12/17/20 6:00 PM EST We are into six weeks into the High School Girls Basketball season in Florida. There is a lot going on with teams playing well, players stocks rising, recruiting updates, statistical records, coaching milestones, etc. We will continue to update you of all that is going on in Florida. Here is the Florida Roundup: News Around Florida Volume 2. Basketball News Central Florida Elite announced its decision to join the Adidas Girls 3SSB circuit. The Program is led by its Director Al Honor, who is also the Head Coach of nationally ranked Lake Highland Prep. Central Florida Elite was a member of the Nike EYBL circuit and was most recently independent. The program is loaded with talent including 6’2 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91555" first="Nyla" last="Harris"] (Lake Highland Prep), UCF verbal commit 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91579" first="Savannah" last="Henderson"] (Timber Creek) 6’2 2023 Wing [player_tooltip player_id="91653" first="Chloe" last="Kitts"] (DME Academy), and 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91556" first="Tonie" last="Morgan"] (Florida State University School). Polk County suspended winter prep sports until January 4th effectively immediately at 11 AM on December 15th. This came just days before Polk County was set to host one of the state’s largest events, the SUTS Report Polk County Hoopfest. The event was scheduled to host 93 Varsity, JV, and Freshman Boys and Girls teams December 18-19 at the AdventHealth Fieldhouse. Polk County Athletic Director Dan Talbot said “We had an alarming amount of cases from one event that has now seemed to spread among other schools and other sports programs, not just tied to one sports program.” More than 50 student-athletes have tested positive in recent weeks. On Friday, Talbot listed six winter programs that have had to suspend operations because of players or staff being in close contact with individuals who have tested positive. He said on Tuesday that from Sunday night to Monday morning, seven more teams were quarantined. Pinellas County will not be allowed to travel to any out of county tournaments starting Monday December 20 as well as participation in any in county tournaments will be revied on a case to base basis. This comes just a week before the holidays where many teams are committed to playing in pre and post Christmas events as well as New Years events. [player_tooltip player_id="166161" first="Ava" last="Stoller"] (St. Pete HS) was putting up some big numbers early on in the season including several 30 point games! Prayers out to quick and full recovery and she recently suffered an injury that has ended her basketball season. The Florida basketball community lost one of its own this past week. Demetrius Richardson aka “Coach D” passed away this past week. Coach D was a fixture on the sidelines at both the HS and Travel level. East Coast united announced his passing stating “Coach D had a tremendous impact on anyone he came in contact with. He had the unique ability to make everyone feel like he believed in them. He was a bright, carefree, and loving individual who touched many, both inside and out of the Florida basketball community.” Player Performances [player_tooltip player_id="91486" first="Christen" last="McCann"] recently went for a triple-double for Lincoln Park Academy scoring 26 points aling with 14 assists and 12 steals in the win while her teammate and South Alabama signee [player_tooltip player_id="91517" first="Deborah" last="Reese"] notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="91552" first="Whitney" last="Rush"] has been putting up numbers for East Lake HS! The Missouri S&T signee is averaging 28.1 PPG including a 38 point performance in a 61-57 win over Wiregrass. HB Plant is making a case to be considered one of the top teams in the state. They currently stand at 8-0 after recently defeating Brooks DeBartolo 67-46. In a matchup of two teams both ranked in the top 25 in the state by MaxPreps (Brooks DeBartolo # 24 and Plant # 10) it was a 5 point game halfway through the 4th quarter and Plant finished the final 4 minutes on a 20-4 run. Plant had an impressive shooting performance shooting 51% including 9/13 from 3, along with an impressive 19 team assists. 6’2 Vanderbilt signee [player_tooltip player_id="91489" first="Kendal" last="Cheesman"] led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 27 points and 14 rebounds shooting an impressive 71% from field including 4/5 from 3. Georgia State signee [player_tooltip player_id="145094" first="Nyla" last="Jean"] ran the point and finished with 14 points and 4 assists while 2022 Silvia Farfante finished with 12 points and Sophomore sharp shooter [player_tooltip player_id="91647" first="Morgan" last="Sieper"] knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 9 points. Brooks DeBartolo led by Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="91530" first="Triniti" last="Youngblood"] (15 points), Ayonna Simmons (9 points), [player_tooltip player_id="145103" first="Amarie" last="Godwin"] (8 points) and 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91581" first="Jaela" last="Davis"] also had 8 points. The tough loss for Brooks DeBartolo was just after they had a big win defeating Santa Fe Catholic 52-48 where once again [player_tooltip player_id="91530" first="Triniti" last="Youngblood"] led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and [player_tooltip player_id="145105" first="Brionna" last="McClinton"] added 13 points and [player_tooltip player_id="91581" first="Jaela" last="Davis"] finished with 13 points and 8 steals. 2021 5’6 PG Shardaria Smith knocked down two free throws with less than 1 second to go to stop Colonials fourth quarter comeback sealing the 59-58 victory for Wekiva. It was one of the year’s best games vs two very good programs who likely will go deep into the playoffs. 2024 Carmen Richardson was impressive for Colonial going for 21 points including 4/9 from 3 while 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="166212" first="Sophya" last="Barreiro"] finished with 11 points. Palm Beach Lakes moved to 3-0 with a win over Spanish River. FIU signee [player_tooltip player_id="91498" first="Zaida" last="Gonzalez"] went off, dropping 35 points while her backcourt mate unsigned Senior [player_tooltip player_id="91541" first="Deborrah" last="Seitu-Redmon"] had 28 in the 78-66 win! Gulf Coast went 3-0 on the week including a big win over rival Barron Collier. 2022 Point Guard [player_tooltip player_id="91571" first="Katie" last="Ambrose"] was solid in all 3 games running the show and is up for NDN Athlete of the Week sponsored by Babcock Ranch. The Lady Sharks defeated Barron Collier by 25 with Reese Tremitier having an impressive performance inside and 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="166163" first="Madelyn" last="Leslie"] and 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="151166" first="Jordyn" last="Robinson"] playing great defense and knocking it down from deep! 2021 Ellonda Francois and 2023 Tyrah Townsend had huge defensive efforts. The Krop Lady Lightning defeated Mater Lakes Academy 60-55 after trailing 34-16 at the half. The massive second half comeback was led by 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="91510" first="Lindsey" last="Weingard"] who finished with 28 points (tying the school record with 8 3-pointers) adding 5 steals and 5 assists. Fellow Senior backcourt mate [player_tooltip player_id="91521" first="Lauryn" last="Hornstein"] had 14 points and 5 assists while Emmy Mills had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and 2022 5’7 guard Neyida Michel was a monster on the boards with 11 rebounds. Krop stands at 3-1 in the early stages of the season. Cardinal Newman defeated 52-48 Palmer Trinity. In the win, 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="145087" first="Checorey" last="Bouie"] had an impressive double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, 2023 5’6 Guard Angelina Kohlwaies had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, and 5’6 Freshman Alysha Fenelus finished with 12 points. The Miami Senior High School Lady Stings defeated Killian 53- 29 in their first game of the season. 2022 Danajah Peterson had an impressive 20 points and 22 rebounds while 2021 Kiara Cruz had 11 points and 2022 Janay Quinn finished with 9 points. Recruiting Updates 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91585" first="Stefanie" last="Ingram"] (Lake Highland Prep / Hoop Dreams Elite) has committed to UCF. The 5’7 Junior guard had an impressive spring/summer for Hoop Dreams Elite playing both the point guard and shooting guard position. She is a strong two-way player that can handle the rock, take contact at the rim, and knock it down from outside. <img class="size-medium wp-image-238490 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/Ingram-VC-300x167.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="167" />   <img class=" wp-image-238491 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/EoeWUIIXEAIJDWF-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="152" height="203" />2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91586" first="Aly" last="Avrach"] (Spanish River / East Coast United) recently verbally committed to Palm Beach Atlantic. The 5’7 Junior is a skilled guard who can score the basketball! She has a high basketball IQ, great court vision and smooth stroke from outside. Jeff Turner, aka Jeff The Gym Rat, does an excellent job keeping the state updated on each years recruiting classes. As of this past week, the Class of 2021 has 76 players that have either verbally committed or signed to play collegiate basketball next year. It has been a crazy year for recruiting, including the recent decision by the NCAA to grant a blanket waiver to make all transfers immediately eligible. It is a challenging time for players in the class of 2021 and 2022 to navigate the recruiting process as many colleges are not sure how many roster spots they have open. Player Statistical Milestones <img class="wp-image-238487 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/EpUszr_XYAEo1kG-228x300.jpeg" alt="" width="104" height="137" />Georgia State signee [player_tooltip player_id="91490" first="Mikyla" last="Tolivert"] joined the 2K club on December 15 for Palm Bay. She is not just a scorer either as she is currently ranked # 17 in assists nationally by Maxpreps while her teammate [player_tooltip player_id="91638" first="Emma" last="Risch"] is # 1 in the nation in 3-pointers!   It has been quite the last few weeks for 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91571" first="Katie" last="Ambrose"]. In addition to being up for Athlete of the Week after leading her squad to a 3-0 week, she also joined the 1,000 point <img class=" wp-image-238489 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/Eowz7J4XUAAQih8-300x222.jpeg" alt="" width="206" height="153" />and 500 assist club as a Junior!         [player_tooltip player_id="91552" first="Whitney" last="Rush"] has been dropping buckets. As mentioned above she is averaging 28 PPG for East Lake HS including joining the 1,000 point club this past week.   Coaching News <img class=" wp-image-238485 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/EobwGivW8AA5Ygw-300x172.jpeg" alt="" width="206" height="118" />Congrats also to Coach Radhika Miller. The Windermere Prep Head Coach earned her 200th career victory in there 37-32 win over Trinity Prep. Coach Miller has led her 3A squad to a 6-2 start.     Charlsea Clark for Bishop Kenny notched her 100th career win on December 8. The Crusaders are off to a hot start and are one of the top teams in the state. They stand at 8-3 and <img class=" wp-image-238486 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/12/EoxTUnWW4AUl9Da-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="116" height="155" /> have an excellent chance to make a deep run all the way to the FHSAA state playoff in Lakeland.       We will look to continue to cover news all across the state. Our audience supplies us with some of our best information. Keep us updated on on Florida news be emailing me at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM’ing me through Twitter or Instagram <a href="http://www.Twitter.com/WholeyPrepHoops">@WholeyPrepHoops</a>.