High School Sports Blog

Dillard girls' basketball coach Marcia Pinder named National Coach of the Year

Fresh off leading the Dillard girls' basketball team to its third consecutive state title, legendary Panthers coach Marcia Pinder has been named the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA National High School Coach of the Year.

Pinder, the winningest coach in state history with a record of 804-175, will be invited to coach in the WBCA High School All-America Game on March 31 in Denver as part of the award. The game will be played at 6:30 p.m. as part of the events on NCAA Women's Final Four weekend.

Pinder has led Dillard to a Broward County-best seven state titles during her 35-year career. The number of championships is one shy of the state's all-time record held by Jacksonville Ribault. The "three-peat" achieved last week in Lakeland is Dillard's first.

Adidas Holiday Slam basketball starts Tuesday

Holiday basketball continues for Miami-Dade and Broward county teams this week.

The 2011 Adidas Holiday Slam kicks off Tuesday with games all day at Florida Christian School. The 16-team field features some top teams from South Florida including Coral Springs Christian, American, University School, Palmetto, Southridge, Archbishop McCarthy, Champagnat Catholic, Westminster Christian, Gulliver and the host Patriots.

The teams will be divided into a pair of 8-team brackets - one labeled the Derrick Rose bracket and the other the Dwight Howard bracket. The semifinals will be played Wednesday and the finals of each bracket will be played Thursday. The high school tournament will be followed by a two-day, four-team Division-III college tournament to be played Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday's schedule - Rose bracket: University vs. American, 9:30 a.m.; Treasure Coast vs. Palmetto, 11 a.m.; Champagnat vs. Lake Worth Christian, 6:30; Wellington vs. Florida Christian, 8; Howard bracket: Orlando Faith Christian vs. Westminster Christian, 12:30; Gulliver vs. Coral Springs Christian, 2; Southridge vs. Center Point, 3:30; Archbishop McCarthy vs. Tampa Sickles, 5.

Coral Park awarded GMAC boys' soccer title after Edison vacates bracket

 

            The Greater Miami Athletic Conference announced Thursday that the championship match of the Title-GMAC boys’ soccer tournament between Edison and Coral Park won’t be played.

            Edison vacated its slot in the tournament after reporting to the GMAC early Thursday that it had used an ineligible player during Tuesday’s quarterfinal match against North Miami Beach. The game was originally scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Ted Hendricks Stadium.

As a result, the Red Raiders forfeited their victories against NMB and Varela in the earlier rounds of the tournament and Coral Park (11-3-5) was awarded the GMAC championship – its first since 1982 in boys’ soccer.

            “I don’t want to elaborate too much, but it was a simple oversight that could happen to any school,” Edison athletic director Taj Echoles said. “In the interest of fairness, we chose to self-report the mistake.”

            The forfeiture will not affect Edison’s playoff status.

            The Red Raiders (16-3-2) have a first-round bye in next week’s District 15-3A playoff tournament that will be played at North Miami Stadium. Coral Park is the top seed in the District 14-6A playoffs that will be played at Memorial Field in Flamingo Park.

           

Longtime Dade official and coach Ralph Lewis passes away

I opened my email this morning to learn the sad news that Ralph Lewis, a longtime official in multiple sports and coach in Miami-Dade County, passed away late last night after an 18-month battle with leukemia.

Lewis, 54, officiated numerous high school and college events around the state for over two decades, as well as coached and worked at Killian and Palmetto High Schools.

This past May, we had the privilege of honoring him at our All-Dade Awards breakfast with our annual Walter Krietsch/Leo Suarez Courage Award for his years of dedicated service to high school student-athletes in South Florida.

Speaking on a personal note, Lewis was a generous, caring and professional individual, who was always willing to help others and was a pleasure to be around and work with.

The kind of guy that officiated a high school football game on a Friday night, then hit the road right after to go to Dade City and officiate a state cross-country championship at the crack of dawn the next morning...and do it with a positive attitude. He was a classy individual that will be missed.

On behalf of the Miami Herald's high school sports staff, I'd like to extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Dorothy Lewis and his extended family.

Funeral arrangements and details haven't been made available yet, but we will have that information soon either on this blog or in the newspaper.

- Andre C. Fernandez

Florida Dairy Farmers Soccer Awards announced

The Florida Dairy Farmers Association announced its Boys' and Girls' Soccer Players of the Year.

Archbishop McCarthy's Chrissy Gratz finished second behind Melbourne's Kristin Grubka in the girls' voting.

American Heritage coach Phil Zayas, who led his team to the Class 3A state title, finished third in the Coach of the Year voting behind John Planamenta of Palm Harbor University.

Melbourne also swept the boys' awards as Ryan Price won the Player of the Year and coach Jerry McCabe won Coach of the Year.

Dade County Private School Basketball All-Star game tonight

Still can't get enough basketball in March?

Some of the top players in Dade County will be at the 23^rd Annual 4A–1A Basketball All Star Game tonight (Friday) at Miami Christian School.

Admission is $6. The girls' game will be played at 6 p.m., followed by the boys' game at 7:30 p.m.

The event will also feature a slam-dunk contest for the boys, as well as a three-point shootouts for the boys and girls. Coaches and Player of the Year Awards will be given during the event as well.

The boys will be coached by Calusa Prep's Tim Fowler and Miami Christian's Ozzie Pineda. The girls' game will be coached by Palmer Trinity's James Valle and La Salle's Raymond Lopez.

 

 

Dade gets the best of Broward - again!

DAVIE – It was billed as the match of the night. Kendrick Sanders, 3A state champion from South Dade, who is rated No. 1 in the nation in the 145-pound class, against 1A state champion Frank Pettineo, who finished the regular season unbeaten. It certainly lived up to its billing!

Sanders won an impressive 8-0 decision over Pettineo in the 11th Annual Miami-Dade/Broward Wrestling Challenge at Nova. Miami-Dade registered a 79-21 win over Broward.

The win was just another for Sanders, who finished his high school career with three state titles.

While the match was close at 3-0 in the third period, Sanders remained in control, scoring five more points down the stretch to close out the win.

Sanders, who won the MVP for the Miami-Dade County team, came up with a second win on the night when he beat Miguel Rodriguez of Ely, 8-0. It was another match in which he rook control from the start.

“It was a great career,” said Sanders. “I will always look back on these years and know that they were very special.”

Miami-Dade opened the evening when Dr. Krop’s Tal Cohen scored a 6-2 decision over Andy Ball of St. Thomas.

Broward got on the board when Domingo Simmons defeated Mauricio Villenueva of South Dade, 9-5.

South Dade state champion Willie Wiggins went deep into the second period when he pinned Jefson Nelson of Boyd Anderson to give Miami-Dade a commanding lead. State champion Wilson Metelus also showed why he is one of the best when he defeated Durvan Thompson of Boyd Anderson, 17-2 for 41-14 lead.

The Miami-Dade team continued to put the pressure on all evening with big wins up and down the lineup.

Simmons was awarded the MVP for the Broward squad.

Miami-Dade leads the series 11-0.

MIAMI-DADE 79, BROWARD 21

103 – Tal Cohen (Dr. Krop) d. Andy Ball (St. Thomas), 6-2; 112 – Javier Carbajal (S. Dade) d. Alex Chircosta (Douglas), 4-1, Kevin Guzman (Miami) d. Sean Donelly (St. Thomas), 5-4; 119 – Domingo Simmons (Gibbons) d. Mauricio Villenueva (S. Dade), 9-5, Matt Barrera (M. Springs) p. Zach Lebovich, 3:19; 125 – Paul Marcello (Gibbons) d. Jonathon Olivera (Southwest), 12-8, Alex Abramat (Cypress Bay) tf. 19-4; 130 – Gunnar Magliocca (St. Thomas) d. Alian Espinosa (Pace), 2-1 (OT), George Gulesian (Columbus) d. Chris Andrade (Gibbons), 11-4; 135 – Jake Rio (Columbus) p. Gerald Torres (Everglades), 1:25, Wilson Metelus (S. Dade), tf. Durvan Thompson (Boyd Anderson), 17-2; 140 – Marcial Rodriguez (Mater) d. Michael Sabbag (Everglades), 14-9, Robert Ruiz (HML) d. Jovan Condrey (Gibbons), 10-6; 145 – Kendrick Sanders (S. Dade) d. Frank Pettineo (Gibbons), 8-0; 152 – Tony Castro (HML) d. Ronnie Talledo (Taravella), 3-2; 160 – Victor Boyd (Stranahan) md. Julien Gomez (Coral Park), 12-4, Josh Comer (Homestead) md. J.C. Velasco (Coral Springs), 12-3, Luke Weiss (St. Thomas) d. Oxsun Ramirez (Southwest), 5-2; 171 – Antonio Starr (HML) d. Jared Nuby (S. Broward), 6-2; 189 – Jonathon Fernandez (Sunset), d. Mike DiPierro (Cooper City), 12-7, Kieffer Scott (Pace) d. Ryan Conley (Western), 10-4; 215 – Willie Wiggins (S. Dade), p. Jefson Nelson (Boyd Anderson), 3:45, David Castillo (American) p. Ariel Klein (Cooper City), 4:35; 285 – Bernard Barnes (Carol City) p. Aaron Thompson (Fort Lauderdale), 1:34, Nick Stevens (Coral Springs) md. Larry Wilson (Miami High), 15-3

34th Annual Seahorse Wrestling Tournament approaching

The SeaHorse Wrestling Club is proud to announce that the premier pre-season wrestling tournament, the 34TH ANNUAL SEAHORSE OPEN, will be held Nov. 28 and 29, and has moved from Nova to the City of CORAL SPRINGS GYM (2501 Coral Springs Drive) in Coral Springs. With the move to a facility that can accommodate 10 mats, over 900 wrestlers are expected to compete in this 2-day event.

The competition will be outstanding as wrestlers from some of the best teams and clubs in Florida, complete in the state's longest running and best pre-season wrestling event. This event serves as a tune up for the upcoming season and gives coaches an opportunity to give their wrestlers some quality mat time, no matter what the level of ability.

If you have any questions, e-mail at seahorsewrestler@aol.com or call Ron Schulz, Event Director, 954-290-5262, or Competition Director Allen Held at 954-854-1124.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28- Weigh-in and registration, 8:00-9:30 am Cadets (15-16). Two divisions-Varsity level, JV level, High School weight classes, Schoolboys (age 13-14), High school weights plus 75, 85, 95 Kids (12 and under) by age and USA wrestling weights.

ALL WRESTLERS WILL WEIGH IN WITH A SINGLET ON. We will cover the decimal. $20 entry fee for schoolboys, and cadets, $15 for 12 and under KIDS and 2008-09 USA Wrestling card. Cards will be available at the meet.

Match times for Kids, Schoolboys, and Cadet JV—1-1-1, Cadets-varsity—2-1-1 Awards for 1st-4th places individual and top two teams in Kids/Schoolboys and Cadets.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 --Juniors-2 divisions-State level, Varsity level and OPEN division, MASTERS division (over 35).

Weigh-in & registration Nov 28 4-6 PM or Nov 29- 8:00-9:30 am-JR-high school weights Open-NCAA wts. ALL WRESTLERS WILL WEIGH-IN IN A SINGLET. We will cover the decimal.

$20 for JUNIORS and OPEN. Must have a 2008-09 USA card. Available at the meet with proof of age.

Juniors-State 2-2-2, cons--2-1-1 Juniors-Varsity all matches-2-1-1, Open-- 2-2-2-all match
High School rules to be used EXCEPT OPEN and MASTERS.

NO SEEDING-RANDOM DRAW
Awards for first four places individual and top two teams in Juniors and Open

Wrestling to begin at 10:00 am to completion.
Admission $5 per day for adults and $2 for 12 and under.

SAVE THE LONG WAIT IN LINE, BUY YOUR CARD ONLINE AT floridausawrestling.org

St. Thomas to host wrestling camp

St. Thomas Aquinas and head wrestling coach Mark Fee will host the Dr. Funk Wrestling Camp this July 21-25, an all-ages wrestling clinic featruing technique sessions, drills, critiquing and an end-of-the-camp tournament.

Instructors include current and former NCAA wrestlers from programs such as Appalachian State, Michigan State and Purdue (among others), and campers will be able to compete in at least 15 matches during the week. Also, a reward goes to the wrestler who is the hungriest -- literally. According to the flyer, a free lunch is provided to anyone who takes down a staff member.

Cost is $175, or $160 if you register by July 1. For more information, contact Fee by e-mail at mountaineer360@aol.com or by phone at 954-608-9533.

--Patrick Dorsey (e-mail)

Cooper City freshman-to-be: An ESPY winner?

This year, for the first time, ESPN is giving out a youth achievement award at the ESPYs Breakfast next month (the winner also earns a trip to the awards show, which airs July 20). Among the five finalists: Max Frost, a Cooper City High School freshman-to-be who earned his spot by winning an essay contest on ESPN.com.

Here's the link to the list of finalists. Frost's video is the one on the far right. Frost plays basketball at the Jewish Community Center in Davie (where the video was filmed) and soccer at Cooper City Optimist. He will join the Cowboys this fall.

You can vote for Max by following the link. One vote per day will be counted; Frost currently is in second place. Voting ends June 15.

--Patrick Dorsey (e-mail)