Final: Hollywood Christian 77, Bradenton Christian 52

Bradenton Christian's eighth trip to the state semifinals is over.
The Panthers lost to Hollywood Christian 77-52 during Wednesday's Class 1A girls basketball state semifinal at The Lakeland Center, ending their season with a record of 27-4.
The Panthers' Maria DeKuiper had a game-high 24 points for BCS.
The Eagles play Gainesville Rock noon on Thursday for the Class 1A state title.

After three quarters: Hollywood Christian 58, Bradenton Christian 38

With one quarter remaining, Bradenton Christian trails Hollywood Christian 58-38 in a Class 1A girls basketball state semifinal at The Lakeland Center.
BCS' biggest bright spot is Maria DeKuiper, a junior forward who has scored a game-high 22 points, including nine in the third quarter.
The Eagles have been paced by Rebecca Lyttle, who has 21 points.

Halftime: Hollywood Christian 37, Bradenton Christian 23

Bradenton Christian trails Hollywood Christian 37-23 heading into halftime at the Class 1A girls basketball state semifinal at The Lakeland Center.
BCS' Maria DeKuiper sank a pair of three throws to cut the Eagles' lead to 24-19 with 3:50 remaining in the half. But Hollywood Christian responded by ending the half on a 13-4 run lead by guard Rebecca Lyttle, who scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second quarter.
DeKuiper has 13 for the Panthers.
The winner plays Gainesviile Rock, which defeated Lake Worth Trinity Christian in this morning's semifinal, noon at Thursday for the state title.

After one quarter: Hollywood Christian 15, Bradenton Christian 10

The Panthers trail Hollywood Christian 15-10 after one quarter of the Class 1A state semifinal at The Lakeland Center.
Liz Capps has five points - all from the foul line - and Maria DeKuiper has four for BCS, which scored the final three points of the quarter following the Eagles' 6-0 run.

Update from 1A girls hoops: Winner plays Rock

Bradenton Christian's girls basketball team heads into this morning's Class 1A state semifinal against Hollywood Christian knowing its fate.
The winner of the semifinal between the Panthers and Hollywood Christian will play Gainesville Rock noon Thursday for the Class 1A state title back here at The Lakeland Center.
The Rock Lions (29-2) defeated Lake Worth Trinity Christian 74-60 during this morning's first semifinal.
That game has just ended, and the Panthers and Eagles tip off in 15 minutes.

Update from girls basketball semifinals

Bradenton Christian's girls basketball team is roughly 35 minutes from tip-off here at The Lakeland Center. The Panthers, making their first semifinal appearance in five years, face Hollywood Christian at 11:30 a.m.
The winner plays the winner of this morning's game between Gainesville Rock and Lake Worth Trinity Christian.
The Rock leads 60-49 with 5:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.

BCS' opponent can play some D

Bradenton Christian's girls faces quite a challenge in a Class 1A state semifinal Wednesday morning at The Lakeland Center.
The Panthers play Hollywood Christian, which is 28-4 and didn't encounter a challenge en route to Lakeland. The Eagles outscored their three regional opponents 219-49, and kept three opponents under 10 points this season.
Of Hollywood Christian's four losses, two were by one point (to Community School of Naples and Miami Norland)and two came against teams out of state (St. Mary's, from Ontario, Canada, and Council Rock from Pennsylvania).
The Panthers and Eagles play at 11:30 a.m.

Cotton, Doran clinch medals

Manatee's Stephen Cotton (140 pounds) and Alex Doran (135) have clinched medals during the final day of the state wrestling tournament at The Lakeland Center.
Cotton scored an 11-4 decision over Brandon's Travis Berridge in the consolation quarterfinals and Doran pinned South Miami's Orlando Cardelle in 2:45 in the same round.
The question now is where will they finish. Cotton faces Hialeah American's Jose Balboa and Doran meets Deland's Valentin Sotomayor in the consolation semifinals, with the winner wrestling for third place later in the day.
If they lose, Cotton and Doran will wrestle for fifth place.
The top six wrestlers in each class earn state medals.
Palmetto's Darius Brooks and Southeast's Ludger Denis each fell one round short of a medal when they lost Saturday morning.

No wrestling state champs this year

Manatee County won't crown a state wrestling champion this season.
Manatee's Alex Doran (135 pounds) and Stephen Cotton (140), and Southeast's Ludger Dennis (130), all dropped their quarterfinal matches during today's state tournament at The Lakeland Center.
In Class 3A, Doran was pinned by Winter Spring's Eric O'Niel in 3:24, while Cotton lost to O'Niel's teammate, Matthew Nereim, in 37 seconds.
In Class 1A, Denis lost 7-5 in overtime to Miami Florida Christian's Nick Alvarez.
All three can still earn a medal - awarded to the top six finishers in each weight class - by way of the consolation bracket. The second round of consolation action begins after the conclusion of the quarterfinals.
Also alive for medals in Class 2A are Palmetto's Donnell Reed (152) and Darius Brooks (285), who became the first Palmetto wrestlers to win state tournament matches.
After the second round of consolations are done, wrestling resumes 9 a.m. Saturday.

Updates from state wrestling tournament

Three area wrestlers are in contention for a state title heading into the second session at the state wrestling meet at The Lakeland Center.
Manatee's Alex Doran (135 pounds)and Stephen Cotton (140), and Southeast's Ludger Dennis (130) are in the quarterfinals after winning their first-round matches.
Manatee's Ronny Whitte (103), Travis Fulk (125) and Bryan Woods (152), Palmetto's Donnell Reed (152) and Darius White (285), Lakewood Ranch's Michael Myers (160) and Southeast's Edison Dohms (125) and Bobby Wooten (171) lost in the first round, and will compete in the consolation round.
Wrestling resumes around 3 p.m. today.

Palmetto going to OT

Palmetto's Class 4A state soccer semifinal with Jacksonville Stanton is scoreless after regulation at Pepin Stadium.
The teams will play two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes, and then go to penalty kicks if neccessarry.
The winner plays New Port Richey Mitchell 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the state title.

Palmetto, Stanton scoreless at the half

Palmetto and Jacksonville Stanton have played to a scoreless tie in the first half of the Class 4A state semifinal at Pepin Stadium at the University of Tampa.

Palmetto-Stanton underway

Palmetto's boys soccer class 4A state semifinal against Jacksonville Stanton is finally underway at Pepin Stadium at the University of Tampa.
The game got off to a late start because the first semifinal between New Port Richey Mitchell and Pembroke Pines Charter went to penalty kicks.
Mitchell won 1-0 (3-1 PKs) and plays the winner of the Palmetto-Stanton game 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Change of venue for BCS boys hoops

Bradenton Christian’s boys basketball Class 1A-Region 2 quarterfinal game Thursday against Lakeland Victory Christian will be played at Lakeland Kathleen.
To get there, take Interstate 75 north to Interstate 4 east toward Orlando. Take exit 28 (W MEMORIAL BLVD/FL-546 E) and turn left on North Chestnut Road. Then take another left on Crutchfield Road, and Kathleen High (2600 Crutchfield Road) will be on the left.
The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

State wrestling pairings announced

Listed below are the local state wrestling matchups for the first round, which gets underway 10 a.m. Friday at The Lakeland Center. Each wrestler's record is in parentheses.

Class 3A
103 pounds - Ronny Whitt, Manatee (36-12) vs. Robbie Potts, Orlando Olympia (40-12)
125 - Travis Fulk, Manatee (40-13) vs. Matthew Noffo, Miami Columbus (54-3)
135 - Alex Doran, Manatee (24-4) vs. Jesse Ramirez, Homestead South Dade (44-10)
140 - Stephen Cotton, Manatee (46-4) vs. Sam Grossman, Parkland Douglas (47-8)
152 - Bryan Woods, Manatee (40-12) vs. Kerry Bradwell, Palm Beach Gardens (30-1)
Class 2A
152 - Donnell Reed, Palmetto (25-9) vs. Shawn Landgraff, Spring Hill Springstead (41-6)
160 - Mike Myers, Lakewood Ranch (36-11) vs. Erin O'Dell, Oviedo (43-4)
285 - Darius Brooks, Palmetto (25-2) vs. John Dreggors, Spring Hill Springstead (41-7)
Class 1A
125 - Edison Dohms, Southeast (42-7) vs. Scott Cronin, Brooksville Nature Coast (45-5)
130 - Ludger Denis, Southeast (44-3) vs. Sal Infante, Palm Coast Matanzas (39-10)
171 - Bobby Wooten, Southeast (25-15) vs. Chris Taylor, Ponte Vedra Nease (32-2)

Local wrestlers headed to Lakeland

Here is the list of area wrestlers who have qualified for the state wrestling tournament, which begins Friday at The Lakeland Center.
First-round wrestling begins 10 a.m. Friday and concludes Saturday night.

Class 3A
Manatee
Ronny Whitt (103 pounds)
Travis Fulk (125)
Alex Doran (135)
Stephen Cotton (140)
Bryan Woods (152)
Class 2A
Lakewood Ranch
Mike Myers (160)
Palmetto
Donnell Reed (152)
Darius Brooks (285)
Class 1A
Southeast
Edison Dohms (125)
Ludger Denis (130)
Bobby Wooten (171)

Palmetto to place Jacksonville Stanton in state semis

Palmetto's boys soccer team has an opponent for Wednesday's Class 4A state semifinal.
Jacksonville Stanton defeated Gulf Breeze 1-0 Saturday in the Region 1 championship game and will face the Tigers at Pepin Stadium at the University of Tampa.
It was the first time this season Stanton won a regional game in overtime, having defeated Ponte Vedra and Ponte Vedra Nease on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Similar to Palmetto, Stanton (17-8-2) is in the state semifinal for the second straight year. The Blue Devils lost 4-0 to Ponte Vedra Beach Nease during last year's semifinal.
The Tigers are 20-2-2.

Hurricanes land five on all-state team

Five Manatee football players were selected to the Class 5A all-state team, which was announced Friday.
Quarterback Brion Carnes, running back Mike Blakely, wide receiver Ace Sanders and offensive lineman were Ryan Brown were named to the first team, and receiver Quenton Bundrage was picked for the second team.
Carnes, who has signed with Nebraska, threw for 2,509 yards and 25 touchdowns and rushed for 422 yards and 12 touchdowns. A four-year starter, he was the first freshman quarterback to start at Manatee under coach Joe Kinnan.
Another four-year starter, Sanders, snared 65 catches for 942 yards and nine touchdowns. He rushed for two, as well.
The senior has signed with South Carolina.
A junior, the versatile Blakely finished with 1,401 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, and rushed for more than 600 yards in five postseason games. Blakely also had 35 catches, played some quarterback and ran a kickoff back for a touchdown, giving him 19 scores on the season.
Brown, a senior, was Manatee’s center and was a solid long-snapper, which benefitted a Hurricane team that ran mostly out of the shotgun.
Bundrage, another junior, had a breakthrough year, finishing with 46 catches and pacing all Manatee receivers with 11 touchdowns. He also had 800 receiving yards and led all receivers with six catches in the Class 5A state championship game.
The Canes went 13-2 this season, reaching a state final for the first time since 1993.

Tarpley, Washington and Riley-Hawkins make all-state team

Three area players were named to the Class 4A all-state football team, which was announced Thursday.
Palmetto punter Brandon Tarpley made the first team, while Lakewood Ranch wide receiver Octavious Washington and linebacker Kyle Riley-Hawkins were named honorable mention.
Tarpley averaged 46 yards per punt for the Tigers. He is also the starting goalie on the soccer team, which hosts Fort Myers at 7 p.m. tonight in a Class 4A-Region 3 title game.
Washington had 40 catches for 671 yards and seven touchdowns, and Riley-Hawkins had 131 tackles for the Mustangs. Both players helped Lakewood Ranch reach the playoffs after going 1-9 in 2008.
A wrestler, Riley-Hawkins competes in today’s Class 2A-Region 3 meet at Punta Gorda Charlotte.

Ranch's regional final 5 p.m. Saturday

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com
Because of inclement weather, tonight’s Class 4A-Region 3 girls soccer final between host Lakewood Ranch and Naples Barron Collier has been postponed.
The teams will play 5 p.m. Saturday at Lakewood Ranch, said Guy Virgilio, the Mustangs head coach.
The winner qualifies for the Class 4A state finals, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at University of Tampa’s Pepin Stadium.
The Mustangs are 18-0-2. The Cougars are 21-1.

Ranch's regional soccer final postponed

Because of inclement weather, tonight's Class 4A-Region 3 girls soccer final between host Lakewood Ranch and Naples Barron Collier has been postponed, said Mustangs coach Guy Virgilio.
Virgilio said the teams are in the process of trying to reschedule the game for tomorrow afternoon.
Stay tuned to bradenton.com for more details.

Carnes, Sanders make it official

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com

BRADENTON - Brion Carnes had a change of heart.
Ace Sanders did not.
But what both Manatee seniors did do Wednesday morning was sign national Letters of Intent in the high school's media center, with Carnes picking Nebraska and Sanders inking with South Carolina.
A quarterback, Carnes verbally committed to Western Kentucky during an official visit over the weekend.
"I felt like I made that decision because a couple of people were telling me that would be a good place for me instead of thinking for myself," he said. "This process is about me. This is where I'm going to be the next four years. And I really thought about it and I'm happy with my decision. I love Coach (Willie) Taggart (WKU's head coach and a Manatee graduate) to death - he's from my hometown and he's an alumni of Manatee, and he knows my family.
"But this is for me."
Carnes cousin, Tommie Frazier, was a standout quarterback at Manatee who won two national championships while playing for the Cornhuskers.
Carnes verbally committed to USF, but opened his options after the Bulls fired head coach Jim Leavitt on Jan. 8. While visiting WKU, Carnes was told by new USF head coach Skip Holtz the scholarship offer had been withdrawn.
It was a little less dramatic for Sanders, who committed to the Gamecocks last week and saw the decision through Wednesday, signing his letter while wearing a South Carolina t-shirt and hat.
"People are friendly up there," Sanders said. "Everybody loves football, kind of like with Manatee - everybody loves Manatee football."
Sanders was told by Gamecocks' head coach Steve Spurrier to expect to play right away as a freshman.

Hurricanes to play Don Bosco Prep

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com
BRADENTON — The Manatee Hurricanes are headed to New Jersey.
Assistant coach Chris Conboy the team has reached an agreement to play Don Bosco Prep, the top-ranked prep football team in the country based out of Ramsey, N.J., Friday Sept. 24 in Ramsey.
The Don Bosco game is “99.9 percent” a go, said Conboy, adding the contract could be signed either later this week or early next week.
“I don’t like saying 100 percent until the contract is signed,” he said.
Manatee will arrive in New Jersey on Thursday, play the game Friday and head back to Bradenton on Saturday afternoon. Ramsey is located 31 miles from New York City, and Conboy said trips to spots such as the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero are part of the itinerary.
“When we played in the state championship game (at the Citrus Bowl), a lot of our kids ran out of the tunnel and were in awe,” Conboy said. “Some of our kids have never taken a trip, have never flown on a plane, and won’t fly on a plane until their first recruiting trip. This is an horizon-broadening thing for them.”
For the rest of this story, check out Tuesday's edition of The Herald.