High School Sports Blog

Blanche Ely basketball coach Melvin Randall named Coach of the Year

Blanche Ely boys’ basketball coach Melvin Randall was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Association’s Florida Coach of the Year Tuesday.

Randall led the Tigers to their second consecutive state championship, third during his tenure and fourth in the program’s history this past season. Ely went 27-1 earned a national ranking and recently participated in ESPN’s National High School Invitational.

Randall is the second Broward coach to earn the award joining former Ely coach Wade Edmond (1996).

Homestead (4-2A), St. Thomas Aquinas (3-3A) win regional wrestling titles

Region 3-3A: St. Thomas Aquinas cruised to the team championship Saturday at Lake Worth Park Vista.

Team top 5: 1. St. Thomas Aquinas 218.5; 2. Palm Beach Gardens 128; 3. Jupiter 106; 4. Cypress Bay 94; 5. Coral Springs 86.5.

Championship finals (Broward only) – 106: Francois (PL) dec. Radli (Jupiter) 4-0; 113: Uhre (STA) tech fall Strent (CB) 16-0; 120: Lira (WES) dec. Gomes (STA) 8-7; 126: Guerriero (STA) maj. dec. Bonadies (Wellington) 12-4; 132: Hall (STA) tech fall Jeanite (PBG) 18-1; 138: Sadek (Coral Glades) dec. Taroli (Port St. Lucie) 7-4; 145: Thome (Seminole Ridge) dec. Perez (STA) 6-5; 152: Iglesias (STA) pin Moore (SR) 0:42; 160: Weiss (STA) dec. Tucker (Nova) 11-6; 170: Jeovenetta (STA) maj. dec. Chevelon (PBG) 11-2; HWT: Seidle (CB) pin Lynn (Boca Raton) 1:00.

Consolation finals (Broward only) – 106: Gibson (CS) pin Mitchell (Wellington) 1:59; 120: MacFarlane (Wellington) pin Whipp (Monarch) 3:54; 126: Carter (Monarch) maj. dec. Sage (CB) 10-0; 138: Abanoza (STA) dec. Santosus (Park Vista) 11-5; Bradley (Jupiter) pin Sinbela (Western) 4:42; 170: Kochlany (Royal Palm Beach) dec. Solomon (Piper) 11-4; 182: Anderson (CS) dec. Vargas (Taravella) 6-2; 195: McNamara (CB) tech fall Armstrong (Park Vista) 17-2; 220: Minnis (Piper) pin Marshall (Nova) 1:45.

 

Region 4-2A: Homestead secured the team championship at Stuart Martin County Saturday.

Team standings: 1. Homestead 172; 2. Boca Raton Olympic Heights 149; 3. Jensen Beach 142; 4. Melbourne Palm Bay 110; 5. Palm Bay Heritage 99; 6. Archbishop McCarthy 70; 7. Blanche Ely 66.5; 8. Bayside 65; 9. Miami Springs 64.5.

Championship finals (Dade/Broward only) – 106: Gillis (AM) dec. Garay (Hallandale) 6-0; 113: Richard (Bayside) dec. Gillis (AM) 6-4; 120: Farley (Palm Bay) dec. Almendarez 5-4 (Mater Academy); 126: Guerra (Mater Academy) dec. Bayonne (Heritage) 7-2; 138: Muccio (Melbourne) pin Medal (MS) 2:44; 145: Vonniederhausern (Palm Bay) tech fall Duran (MS) 15-0; 152: Boyd (Stranahan) tech fall Rossi (Jensen) 14-4; 160: Aroyo (Olympic Heights) pin O'Connor (HOM) 1:28; 182: Simmons (HOM) pin Porter (Palm Bay) 1:13; 220: Richardson (HOM) dec. Castoro (Jensen Beach) 5-3.

Consolation finals (Dade/Broward only): 106: Cleristor (Olympic Heights) dec Delisca (HOM) 8-1; 126: Preciado (MS) maj. dec. Sincoff (OH) 9-1; 138: Sincoff (Olympic Heights) tech fall Bohannon (HOM) 18-7; 145: Broner (HOM) dec. Hagan (Okeechobee) 7-4; 152: Malloy (Heritage) maj. dec. Norman (HOM) 12-2; 182: Knight (Ely) tech fall Bailey (NW) 17-2; 195: Wint (HOM) dec. Abreu 6-4 (Olympic Heights); HWT: Burgess (Central) pin Jean-Baskin (Ely) 1:39.

Late Saturday boys' basketball district results

Late Saturday – District 16-6A final – Norland 57, Northwestern 52 – NOR: McKnight 9, Roberts 2, Henry 4, McCrea 17, Deceus 8, Mike 1, Williams 7, Johnson 9. Half: NOR 25-23. Three-pointers: McKnight, Johnson. Rebounds: McCrea 9. Assists: Johnson 6. Blocks: Williams 4.

Late Saturday – District 15-4A final - Ransom Everglades 56, Doral Academy 19

– RE (24-2): Mourning 7, Singer 14, Campano 2, Rivlin 1, Stern 4, Ertel 3, Roach 10, Marx 11, Bonner 1, Rose 3. DOR: Fernandez 2, Ruiz 7, Fernandez 5, Pierre 2, Steel 1, Marcondes 2. Three-pointers: Marx 3, Rose. Rebounds: Mourning 15. Assists: Ertel 6. Blocks: Mourning 6. Steals: Singer, Ertel 4.

Late Saturday – District 16-4A final - Gulliver Prep 71, Key West 53 -

GUL: Beattie 8, Ralat 20, Carreras 15, Lafuente 17, Thomas 9, Paniz 2. Half: G 38-29. Rebounds: Ralat 9. Steals: Ralat 4. Assists: Ralat, Lafuente, Thomas 3. Blocks: Ralat 2. G 21-6.

Late Saturday – District 14-2A final – Champagnat Catholic 66, Hebrew Academy 37

Late Friday – District 14-8A final – Miami High 62, Miami Springs 51

GMAC boys' soccer starts Monday

The GMAC boys’ soccer tournament will be played Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week.

The tournament starts Monday with all four quarterfinals being played simultaneously at Kendall Soccer Park at 3:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals - North Miami vs. American; Reagan vs. Sunset; Varela vs. Columbus; Ferguson vs. Mourning.

The semifinals will be played Tuesday at Milander Park in Hialeah – Varela-Columbus winner vs. Ferguson-Mourning winner, 5; North Miami-American winner vs. Sunset-Reagan winner, 7 p.m.

The final is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Milander Park.

Ferguson won last year’s championship in a shootout against Reagan.

Former Dade stars excelling nationally

A few notes on some former athletes from Dade doing well on the national scene.

FOOTBALL

            Former Columbus receiver Erik Lora’s record-setting season at Eastern Illinois University was recognized nationally this week. Lora set the FCS single-season record for receptions in a season with 136 catches for 1,664 yards. Lora led the FCS in both categories as his 1,664 yards receiving was the fourth best single season total in FCS history.

Lora was the only Ohio Valley Conference player chosen to the team finishing fourth in the balloting for this year's Walter Payton Award after earning OVC Offensive Player of the Year honors. He opened the season with seven straight 100-yard receiving games which ties for the best FCS total since 2000. 

WATER POLO

            Former Ransom Everglades water polo standout Michael Rosenthal added his name to USC’s national championship tradition this past week. Rosenthal had three goals in the Trojans’ 11-10 national title win against UCLA that clinched their fifth consecutive national championship. Rosenthal, a senior, finished with 31 goals.

VOLLEYBALL

Former Westminster Christian standout Rebecca Acevedo, a sophomore at Palm Beach Atlantic University was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II All-America team. Acevedo, an All-Dade first team selection in high school, was selected as honorable mention after posting 1,405 assists, 177 digs, 58 kills, 49 service aces and 40 total blocks this season.s

High Schools chat: Noon to 1 pm today

Happy Election Day everybody,

Just letting you I'll be on again from noon to 1 pm. Wanna talk about last night's tiebreakers, playoff matchups or whatever else, hit me up.

 

Live chat: noon to 1 pm

Anyone wanna chat? Hurricane Sandy. Playoff scenarios? I'm here.

Live chat - Noon to 1 p.m.

Hi guys,

I'll be back from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday to talk high school sports. Feel free to leave me any questions or comments between now and then if you wish.

High Schools live chat Noon to 1 pm 10-9-12

Hi guys,

I'll be chatting live again today from noon to 1 p.m. Feel free to drop by with questions. See you then.

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Ransom Everglades basketball star Sam Singer commits to Cal

            Sam Singer has put up impressive scoring numbers on the basketball court the past two seasons at Ransom Everglades.

            His efforts have made him one of the highest-recruited shooting guards in the country.

            Singer chose his college destination Tuesday when he committed to the University of California. Singer, a 6-5 shooting guard, is ranked No. 45 nationally among prospects at his position by ESPN.

            Singer was one of the top scorers in the nation his junior season leading Miami-Dade County among Class 4A-1A schools with a 34.1 points per game average. That ranked second overall in the county to Carol City grad and University of Miami freshman Deandre Burnett (36.2).

            Singer, also a solid distributor on the court, averaged 7.7 assists per game last year and 6.2 as a sophomore. That season, he also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 21.4 points per game.

            Singer said he has over 30 schools interested including offers from Stanford, Richmond, Harvard and Davidson. Singer entered this school year with a 3.4 GPA.

            But after two visits to Cal, Singer said he loved the combination of the school’s solid academics and athletics.

Singer hopes to lead Ransom further in the playoffs this season after the Raiders were eliminated in the district semifinals last year.

            “The Pac-12 is one of the best conferences in the country to play in and I feel like California is a great school and a great fit for me,” Singer said. “Only one thing left to do my senior year. We didn’t do so well last year, but we’re all working hard to finish better this time.”