Florida Roundup: News Around Florida Volume 7

<strong>Florida Roundup: News Around Florida Volume 7</strong> By Michael Wholey 2/4/21 1:00 PM EST The 2020-21 high school basketball season is winding down as we enter district and regional tournaments.  It has been a crazy season that is coming to a close.  We continue to take a look around the state at player and team performances, accolades, statistical milestones and awards and nominations for the talented players and teams in Florida. &nbsp; <strong>Wallhoff breaks National Record for Career Made 3-Pointers </strong> Senior Guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91499" first="Emma" last="Wallhoff"]</strong> (Westminster Academy) knocked down 7 3-pointers in a game this week, giving her 561 made 3-pointers for her high school career.  The 561 total made 3s makes <strong>Wallhoff</strong> the new record holder for made 3-pointers in a career nationally surpassing the previous record of 560. <strong> </strong> <strong>Verbal Commitments / Signings </strong> The late signing period started this week and several Seniors made decision to commit or sign to play collegiate basketball next season: <strong>Brianna McClinton</strong> (Brooks DeBartolo) – University of Charleston West Virginia <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91538" first="Jayla" last="Woods"]</strong> (Lake Mary HS) – Covenant <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="219960" first="Mya" last="Lamar"]</strong> (Tampa Bay Tech / Tampa Thunder) 6’2 Center  - SMU <strong>Kennedy Horton</strong> (Terry Parker HS / Lady Nightmares) – Albany State <strong> </strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91507" first="Cheyenne" last="Stubbs"] Joins 2K Club</strong> <img class=" wp-image-252687 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Cheyenne-Stubbs-Braden-River-202x300.jpg" alt="" width="86" height="128" />Senior guard<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="91507" first="Cheyenne" last="Stubbs"]</strong> (Braden River) recently joined the exclusive club surpassing 2,000 career points.  With most high school players playing around 100 career games, the impressive feat means Stubbs averaged close to 20 points per game over her 4 year career at Braden River and Sarasota HS. <strong> </strong> &nbsp; <strong>New Member of the 1K Club</strong> Congrats to the newest members of the 1,000 point club: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="247124" first="Vanessa" last="Diaz"]</strong> (Gateway) <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91508" first="Emani" last="Burks"]</strong> (Palm Bay) <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91503" first="Ary" last="Dizon"]</strong> (Carrollwood Day) <strong> </strong> <strong>40+ Point Club </strong> <img class=" wp-image-252264 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Madi-Aguillera-Gulliver-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="122" height="163" />This week class of 2023 guard<strong> Madi Aguilera</strong> (Gulliver Prep) had a career game in a district tournament loss to Keys Gate.  With her team shorthanded, the 5’4 guard went off for 41 points, doing everything she could to keep Gulliver season alive and move onto the district championship but unfortunately it was not enough as Keys Gate came away with the win vs the shorthanded Gulliver Prep squad due to COVID. <strong> </strong> &nbsp; <strong>30+ Point Club </strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91586" first="Aly" last="Avrach"] </strong>dropped 34 points in Spanish River district semi-final win over John I Leonard in the district semi-final matchup.  <strong> </strong> &nbsp; <strong>Lindsay Weingard</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91521" first="Lauryn" last="Hornstein"]</strong> went for a combined 62 points, with each scoring an impressive 31 points in Krop’s win over Hialeah Gardens.  The duo has been scorching the nets all season and one of the state’s most deadly offensive backcourts! &nbsp; <img class="wp-image-252690 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Sydney-Shaw-American-Heritage-Plant-244x300.jpg" alt="" width="134" height="165" />2022 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91557" first="Sydney" last="Shaw"]</strong> (American Heritage Plantation) has been playing some of her best basketball as of late.  She had an impressive state line this week in American Heritage district semi-final win going for 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals leading American Heritage to victory. <strong> </strong> &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong>Player Performances </strong> With the game tied at 57-57, Oakleaf guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91660" first="Fantasia" last="James"]</strong> knocked down the game winner over several defenders in traffic to give Oakleaf the 59-57 win! https://youtu.be/A8MSkp6PnTU &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91552" first="Whitney" last="Rush"]</strong> has been one of the state’s most prolific scorers all season for East Lake High School averaging 25+ points per game.  She recently had her first career triple double (15 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds) this past week! <strong> </strong> <strong>Games </strong> <strong>Clearwater 62 – Lakewood 48 </strong> In the highly anticipated PCAC Championship game, Clearwater defeated Lakewood 62-48 to take home the championship.  The teams had previously met twice, each winning 1 game a piece (Lakewood won 55-41 December 11 while Clearwater won 57-45 December 29).  Clearwater controlled the game pretty much from the start.  2023 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="166169" first="Olivia" last="Fuller"]</strong> paced the Tornadoes early scoring 13 points in the first half while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="166172" first="Ace" last="Sturdivant"]</strong> picked up the slack in the second half dropping 13 in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters ultimately ending up as the games leading scorer with 22 points while <strong>Fuller</strong> finished with 18 and Freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="214172" first="Beckham" last="Hockley"]</strong> had 14 points.  In the loss, 5’9 Senior guard <strong>Ta’Nauviyon Williams</strong> led Lakewood with 16 points. Check out some of the games’s highlights from darookiemedia: https://youtu.be/8Lr7kljl5vE &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong>Montverde Academy 76 - Winter Haven 66 </strong> Montverde continues their winning ways defeating Winter Haven HS 76-66.  Montverde Academy jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first half.  Winter Haven did everything they could to close the game, decreasing Montverde lead to 6 at one point in the 4^th quarter but could not get it any closer than that.  Montverde continued their balanced scoring attack to keep their impressive winning season rolling along with five players reaching double figures.  Furman signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145093" first="Niveya" last="Henley"]</strong> led all scorers with 17 points, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="219933" first="Mjracle" last="Sheppard"]</strong> had 16, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="145091" first="Mariana" last="Valenzuela"]</strong> 14, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="249380" first="Maria" last="Myklebust"]</strong> 12, <strong>and [player_tooltip player_id="219953" first="Fernanda" last="Ovalle"]</strong> 10.  <strong>Henley’s</strong> offensive floor game was impressive shooting 63% from field and a perfect 6/6 from the free throw line.  <strong>Valenzuela</strong> (14 points and 12 rebounds) and <strong>Sheppard</strong> (16 points and 10 rebounds) both finished with double doubles while <strong>Henley</strong> just missed by 1 rebound finishing with 9 rebounds.  Army signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91537" first="Trinity" last="Hardy"]</strong> did everything she could to keep Winter Haven in the game, attacking the basketball aggressively and fearlessly, shooting 20 free throw attempts in the game. &nbsp; <strong>Charlotte 51 – Fort Myers 44</strong> In a 6A District semi-final, two of the states’ top team got matched up pairing Charlotte (17-2) against Fort Myers (21-5).  Typically, matchups like this are reserved for regional semi-finals and finals but with both having great seasons, this matchup meant only one of these talented teams could advance their season.  The game was incredibly closet throughout the first 3 quarters.  It was tied 16-16 after the 1^st quarter and Charlotte led 27-25 at halftime. 2023 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91644" first="D’Yanis" last="Jimenez"]</strong> paced Charlotte dropping 10 points in the first half.  Slowly Charlotte pulled away as Fort Myers was not able to stop the scoring tandem of Jimenez (14 points and 12 rebounds) and Junior 5’4 Point <strong>Guard [player_tooltip player_id="151272" first="Aryana" last="Hicks"]</strong> who led all scorers and finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds.