Thursday, October 23, 2014

Volleyball: District championship pairings

photo by Paul Videla
Jacqui Armer and Manatee's volleyball team are looking for a second consecutive district title tonight against Palm Harbor University in a Class 8A-District 8 final.
Here are the local pairings for tonight's finals. All teams have qualified for the regional tournament, which gets underway Tuesday (Classes 8A, 6A, 4A, 2A) and Wednesday (7A, 5A, 3A).
Tonight's matches begin at 7 p.m.

CLASS 8A-DISTRICT 8
Palm Harbor University at Manatee
CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 10
Sarasota at Lakewood Ranch
CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 10
Southeast at Gulfport Boca Ciega
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 10 at BRADENTON CHRISTIAN
Out-of-Door Academy vs. Cardinal Mooney

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Volleyball: District pairings

photo by Tim  Wolfrum
Lakewood  Ranch's volleyball team has reason to celebrate - the  Mustangs are the top seed in next week's Class 7A-District 10 tournament.
Here are the pairings for the tournaments involving area teams. The top two finishers in each district advance to the regional  playoffs, which begin Tuesday, Oct.  28 (Classes 2A,  4A,  6A and 8A) and   Wednesday, Oct.  29 (1A, 3A, 5A, 7A).
Each team's seeds are in parentheses.

CLASS 8A-DISTRICT 8
SEMIFINALS - TUESDAY
(4)  St. Petersburg at (1) Manatee, 7 p.m.
(3) Riverview at (2) Palm Harbor University,  7 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP - THURSDAY
7 p.m.at highest remaining seed

CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 10
PLAY-IN GAME - MONDAY
(5) Palmetto at (4) North Port, 7 p.m.
SEMIFINALS - TUESDAY
Palmetto/North Port at (1) Lakewood Ranch, 7 p.m.
(3) Braden River at (2) Sarasota, 7 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP - THURSDAY
7 p.m.  at highest remaining seed

CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 10
PLAY-IN GAME - MONDAY
(5)   St.  Petersburg Gibbs at (4) St. Petersburg Lakewood, 7 p.m.
SEMIFINALS - TUESDAY
Gibbs/Lakewood at (1) Gulfport Boca Ciega,  7  p.m.
(3) Southeast at (2) Bayshore, 7 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP  - THURSDAY
7 p.m. at highest remaining seed

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 10 at BRADENTON CHRISTIAN
PLAY-IN GAME - MONDAY
(5) Imagine School of North Port vs. (4) Saint Stephen's, 7 p.m.
SEMIFINALS - TUESDAY
Imagine School/Saint Stephen's  vs.  (1) Cardinal Mooney, 5  p.m.
(3) Bradenton Christian vs. (2) Out-of-Door  Academy, 7 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP - THURSDAY
7 p.m.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Golf: District tournaments

Philip Knowles and Bradenton Christian's boys golf team head to Bent Tree Country Club on Monday for the Class 1A-District 17 golf tournament
Proof the fall season is winding down: The playoffs are upon us beginning with the district golf meets, scheduled for next week at various sites.
The top three teams  in each district advance to regional play and the top three individuals not on regional-qualifying teams advance, as well.
Here is the information involving local  schools.

DISTRICT: Class  3A-District 14
LOCALS: Braden River,  Lakewood Ranch, Manatee
BOYS: 8 a.m.  Monday, Misti Creek Country Club, Sarasota
GIRLS: Noon, Tuesday, Mission Valley  Country Club, Nokomis

DISTRICT: Class  2A-District 19
LOCALS: Bayshore,  Palmetto, Southeast
BOYS and GIRLS: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Golf Hammock Golf and Country Club, Sebring

DISTRICT: Class 1A-District 17
LOCALS: Bradenton Christian, Cardinal  Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy,   Saint Stephen's
BOYS:  10 a.m. Monday, Bent Tree Country Club, Sarasota
GIRLS: 11 a.m.    Monday, Tatum Ridge Golf  Links,  Sarasota

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Football: Sloan Drummonds is Manatee's quarterback

A balanced Manatee attack will ease the workload of running back Johnnie Lang
As Manatee approaches the most critical stretch of its schedule, head coach John Booth has decided to put senior Sloan Drummonds under center.
A transfer from Sebastian River, Drummonds has had an eventful year at Manatee, leaving the team after the Kickoff  Classic before  deciding to return.  But his performance Saturday at Southeast, where he threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns while running for another in his Manatee debut, convinced Booth that Drummonds is the best option heading Thursday's Class 8A-Distrit 7 opener at Riverview.
"Sloan did a great job for us in creating some balance in what we were trying to do," Booth said following practice Wednesday.
Drummonds was slowed by an injury over the summer and was replaced by sophomore A.J.  Colagiovanni. But as the season progressed,  Manatee become  more  reliant on running back Johnnie Lang, who leads the area with 765 rushing yards while averaging close  to 30 carries per game lining up mostly in the wildcat.
"We looked at it and said, 'There's no  way we'll be able to run Johnnie like that for the course of the season,'" said Booth, whose brother,  James,  is Manatee's  offensive coordinator. "And we were going to get into some teams that were going to load the box, go cover zero and force Johnnie to throw. So  we're going to have to be able to find  some balance,  and  Sloan  did that for us against Southeast."
Lang will still be used out of the wildcat, however.
"That's  just been so successful for us," Booth said, "so it would be silly to not use that."
Colagiovanni completed 21 of 43 attempts for 307 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown. And Booth praised the sophomore for how he has handled the personnel   shift.
"A.J.'s been, I can't even stress, he's been fantastic," Booth said. "He's been very supportive,  he understands, and we tried to be very honest with him, as well. And he's responded well.  And he's been very supportive of Sloan and he's just a team guy, and he's  looking forward to being whatever role he could  do  for the team this year and improving and building to hopefully where he can get out there and play in the future."
The Hurricanes are 4-1 overall and host Palmetto next week before playing St. Petersburg on Oct.  17 in a key district game in Bradenton. Following a bye week Oct. 24, Manatee closes district play Oct. 31 at Palm Harbor University and wraps the regular season Nov. 7 at Venice.