Prep volleyball: 3A-10 bracket set

(photo by Paul Videla)

Thanks to Tuesday's dramatic 3-2 win over host Bradenton Christian, Tori Biach and the rest of Saint Stephen's volleyball team will take the No. 1 seed into the Class 3A-District 10 tournament, which begins in less than two weeks at Cardinal Mooney.

Rather than facing either second-seeded Mooney or third-seeded BCS, both of which have defeated them this season, the Falcons will play Out-of-Door Academy in the semifinals Tuesday, Oct. 25.

A win over the Thunder, who did not win a district game this season, sends Saint Stephen's into the district final as well as the Region 3 playoffs.

"I don't go in underestamating any team," said Falcons coach Shameka Walker. "According to (ODA's) seed, it does give us a smoother entry. Still, we're going to take that game very seriously...It does smooth out just a little bit, but still, we're going to take ODA very seriously."

The Cougars defeated the Falcons on Monday to finish 4-2 in district play and clinch the second seed. BCS, which was 3-3 in district play but did beat the Falcons during the semifinals of this year's county tournament, is the No. 3 seed.

Mooney and BCS will meet in the tournament's other semifinal.

The championship match will be played 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. The top two finishers qualify for the Region 3 tournament, which gets underway Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Prep football: Canes, Tigers, Noles crack Freeman's top 10

(photo by Grant Jefferies)

Another day, another ranking.

This ones comes courtesy of MaxPreps, which unveiled its Freeman football rankings earlier this week.

Three area teams made the top 10 of their respective classifications: Manatee is third in Class 7A, while Southeast is fourth and Palmetto, coached by Dave Marino, above, is ninth in Class 5A.

MaxPreps also ranked Manatee 16th overall the state, the highest of the 10 area teams.

Southeast is 31st, while Palmetto is 60th.

Listed below are the rankings for the area's other schools.

BAYSHORE - 36th in Class 5A, 209th overall.

BRADEN RIVER - 30th in Class 7A, 159th overall.

BRADENTON CHRISTIAN - 26th in Class 2A, 424th overall.

CARDINAL MOONEY - 32nd in Class 3A, 419th overall.

LAKEWOOD RANCH - 40th in Class 6A, 146th overall.

OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY - 15th in Class 2A, 331st overall.

SAINT STEPHEN'S - 48th in Class 2A, 526th overall.

Want to know how MaxPreps came up with these rankings?

Click here.

Prep football poll: Vote on your favorite game this season

(pagemoorephoto.com)

Football season officially gets underway in less than a month, when teams can start their preseason workouts.

So what game are you most looking forward to this year?

Is it the age-old rivalry between Southeast and Manatee, featuring Southeast's Brian Poole and Manatee's Rhoshaun Goff, pictured above? Or how about Palmetto and Southeast playing a district game?

How about the battle for East Manatee bragging rights - Lakewood Ranch and Braden River?

Check out the poll on the right side of the page and take your pick. I listed 10 games and a vote for other, just in case you don't see a game you like.

And as always, feel free to shoot me an email at jlembo@bradenton.com.

Listed below are the nominess and a little on each game:

DON BOSCO PREP (N.J.) AT MANATEE, 9/16

The Jersey-based Ironmen are ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps and have won 35 straight games.

MANATEE AT OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL (Md.), 9/2

Ranked 15th in the nation by MaxPreps, Good Counsel should challenge a Hurricanes team that plays outside the state for the second straight year.

SOUTHEAST AT MANATEE, 9/30

The perennial classic turns 30 this year. The Noles were up 24-7 at the half last year before the Canes rallied for a 31-24 win, so this year's game has plenty to live up to.

PALMETTO AT SOUTHEAST, 11/4

This neighborhood rivalry got a jolt in 2007, when the Tigers beat Southeast for the first time. It will be even bigger this year - the teams are now Class 5A-District 10 foes, and this marks the final game of district play for each team.

VENICE AT MANATEE, 10/21

The Hurricanes beat the Indians twice last year - once for the district title, and then again in the Class 5A-Region 3 semifinals. District realignments had no effect on this rivalry, as Manatee and Venice moved to Class 7A-District 10.

LAKEWOOD RANCH AT BRADEN RIVER, 9/2

It's not quite at the same level as Manatee-Southeast, but this backyard battle in East Manatee county was ratcheted up a notch last fall when the Mustangs beat the Pirates for the first time.

WAUCHULA HARDEE AT PALMETTO, 10/21

One of the state's most historic rivalries now has playoff implications - both teams compete in Class 5A-District 10.

OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY AT SAINT STEPHEN'S, 11/4

With Bradenton Christian in its own district, this game will decide small-school area bragging rights, as well as who takes home the Headmaster's Cup.

BAYSHORE AT PALMETTO, 10/7

Another local rivalry that means a little more now that both teams are district foes.

RIVERVIEW AT MANATEE, 9/9

It's no longer a district game. But it will be interesting watching someone other than John Sprague lead the Rams into Hawkins Stadium.

Prep football: 15 teams confirmed for FCA Air Assault

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Southeast's Paul Maechtle is one of seven area coaches slated to lead his team into The Third Annual 7-0n-7 Air Assault presented by the Gulf Coast Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

This year's tournament is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 26 at Braden River.

Bayshore, Braden River, Bradenton Christian, Cardinal Mooney, Out-of-Door Academy, Palmetto and Southeast are scheduled to attend.

Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Plant City, Sarasota, Tampa Gaither, Tampa Robinson, Tampa Wharton and Venice round out the field.

Jason Golden, director of coaches ministries for the Gulf Coast FCA, said he is waiting on the confirmation of one other team.

The event is free and open to the public and is scheduled to run until 2 p.m.

Former Florida Gator Ernie Dubois will be this year's guest speaker, and will address the tournament's players and coaches.

Prep softball: Area players dot FACA all-state teams

(photo by Paul Videla)
Bradenton Christian's Rachel Brown, pictured above, was one of many area softball players named to the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's all-state teams.
Brown made the Class 1A team.
Others area picks were Manatee's Casey Craft (Class 5A) and Lakewood Ranch's Taylor Newton, Sarah Burnett, Jennifer Trotter, Dana Hutchins and Brittany Kilduff (Class 4A).

Prep basketball: BCS' DeKuiper headed to Calvin College

(photo by Paul Videla)
Bradenton Christian's Maria DeKuiper is taking her game to Calvin College, a Division III school in Grand Rapids, Mich, according to a release issued by Calvin's sports information director Jeff Febus.
DeKuiper earned All-Area Player of the Year honors this season after leading the Panthers in points (23.2) and rebounds (8.9) per game. She finished her career with 2,123 points, making her one of two girls in BCS history to score at least 2,000 points.
Calvin competes in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and won the league's regular-season and tournament titles last year with a record of 25-5. Calvin also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament, and is 179-46 under coach John Ross, who has lead Calvin to six national tournaments and two Elite Eight appearances.

Prep basketball: BCS' Magley makes Class 1A all-state team

(photo by grant jefferies)

Bradenton Christian senior Daniel Magley earned third-team honors on the Class 1A all-state boys basketball team, which was unveiled Monday. The team was put together by the Orlando Sentinel and sourcehoops.com with input from newspapers around the state.

The 6-foot-2 Magley averaged 19.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists in helping the Panthers, who got off to a 4-8 start, to the Region 2 final.

Magley leaves BCS as the program's all-time leader in assists (446), and is second all-time in points (1,647).

One all-state team will be released per day for the remainder of the week.

Prep football: Plenty of locals make all-state team

(logo from floridahsfootball.com)

Better late than never, right?

On Friday, Floriodahsfootball.com released the all-state football teams for the 2010 season.

Listed below are the locals who made the list.

Class 5A

MANATEE

First team

Quenton Bundrage, sr., WR

Quinton Pompey, sr., DL

Second team

Cord Sandberg, so., QB

Drakkar Wilson, sr., DL

Darius White, jr., LB

Third team

Mike Blakely, sr., RB

Nick Galati, sr., OL

Clinton Heaven, jr., DB

Nick Tankersley, sr., P

Honorable mention

Prince Matt, sr., OL

Class 3A

SOUTHEAST

First team

Desmond Blue, sr., LB

Second team

Boe Brand, sr., WR

Cameron Cox, sr., OL

Tevin Williams, sr., LB

Brian Poole, jr., DB

Class 2B

CARDINAL MOONEY

Honorable mention

Alex Nugent, sr., utility

Class 1B

BRADENTON CHRISTIAN

First team

Austin Dumas, sr., K

SAINT STEPHEN'S

First team

Adam Vining, jr., WR

Prep softball: Regional semifinals today

(logo from FHSAA.org)
Three area softball teams remain in the state championship hunt and are in action today in the regional semfinals.
The pairings can be found below:

CLASS 4A-REGION 3
Braden River at Lakewood Ranch, 7 p.m.
UP NEXT: The winner faces either Naples or Naples Barron Collier in Tuesday's regional final.

CLASS 1A-REGION 2
Winter Haven All Saints' Academy at Bradenton Christian, 4 p.m.
UP NEXT: The winner faces either Orlando Central Florida Christian Academy or Ormond Beach Calvary Christian Academy in Tuesday's regional final.

The state semifinals and finals will be played at the National Training Center in Clermont. Class 4A plays Monday, May 9 and Tuesday, May 10, and Class 1A plays Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12.

Prep softball: Regional action underway

(logo from FHSAA.org)

Lakewood Ranch and Braden River are each a step away from a rematch while Bradenton Christian will face a surprising opponent Friday as regional softball action gets underway this week.

The Mustangs upset the rival Pirates to claim the Class 4A-District 10 championship last Friday and host Tampa Jefferson 7 p.m. tonight in a Region 3 quarterfinal. The Pirates, who entered the district final ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4A on the Miracle Sports softball poll, head to Dover Strawberry Crest.

Winners advance to Friday's semifinals, which means the East Manatee county foes could meet up again for the second time in a week.

Bradenton Christian, meanwhile, won't have to beat Hernando Christian Academy twice to advance in the Region 2 tournament. HCA, which was 25-0 and ranked third in Class 1A before losing to the Panthers in last week's Class 1A-District 8 final, fell 2-1 to Winter Haven All Saints' Academy in Tuesday's Region 2 opener.

The Panthers, who received a first-round bye because District 7 had no runner-up, host the Saints on Friday in a regional semifinal. On Tuesday, All Saints was powered by sophomore Lissette Garay, who struck out 16 and scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Garay also pitches for Puerto Rico's U16 national fast-pitch team.

Prep baseball: Manatee will host Gulf Coast

Manatee, the top seed in the Class 5A-District 10 baseball tournament, finally knows its semifinal opponent.

The Hurricanes host Naples Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. tonight at G.T. Bray after the Sharks, the tournament's No. 4 seed, defeated No. 5 Port Charlotte on Monday in a game delayed roughly two hours by rain.

Gulf Coast beat the Pirates 6-0. Manatee, meanwhile, earned a bye.

Manatee defeated Gulf Coast twice this season, winning by scores of 7-4 and 7-5. Tonight's winner meets either Venice or Punta Gorda Charlotte in Thursday's final, and also clinches a berth in the regional playoffs, which get underway next week.

In other district baseball action tonight:

CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 10

Quarterfinals - St. Petersburg Lakewood at Palmetto, 7 p.m.; Bayshore at Lakewood Ranch, 7 p.m.; St. Petersburg Dixie Hollins at Braden River, 7 p.m.

CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 11 AT SOUTHEAST

Semifinals - Booker/Arcadia DeSoto vs. Cardinal Mooney, 4:30 p.m.; Wauchula Hardee vs. Southeast, 7:30 p.m.

CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11 AT OUT-OF-DOOR ACADEMY

Semifinals - Saint Stephen's vs. Out-of-Door Academy, 7 p.m.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 10 AT SARASOTA CHRISTIAN

Semifinals - Sarasota Christian vs. Manatee HEAT, 7 p.m.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 8 AT SEFFNER CHRISTIAN

Semifinals - Seffner Christian vs. Bradenton Christian, 1 p.m.

Prep football: Spring game matchups

(pagemoorephoto.com)

Cord Sandberg and the Manatee Hurricanes were the last locals standing last season before falling to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in a Class 5A state semifinal.

That's Palmetto's Quinten Bostic in pursuit of Sandberg during last fall's game at Hawkins Stadium.

The march to next season begins a week from today, when football teams are permitted to conduct their first official practice of the spring.

The games are listed below.

Friday, May 13

St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut at Braden River, 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 19

St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep at Bradenton Christian, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 20

Tampa Berkeley Prep at Bayshore, 7:30 p.m.

Tampa Carrollwood Day School at Cardinal Mooney, 7 p.m.

Out-of-Door Academy at St. Petersburg Keswick, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 27

North Port at Lakewood Ranch, 7:30 p.m.

St. Petersburg Gibbs at Manatee, 7:30 p.m.

Booker at Palmetto, 7 p.m.

Venice at Southeast, 7:30 p.m.

NOTE: Saint Stephen's is not playing a spring game, and Braden River heads back to Raymond James Stadium on 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21 for the Pirate Bowl.

Prep softball: Regional pairings

(logo from FHSAA.org)Listed below are the area pairings for Tuesday's regional softball quarterfinals. Winners advance to Friday's semifinals, with sites and times to be determined.
Games begin at 7 p.m.

CLASS 4A-Region 3
Braden River at Dover Strawberry Crest
Tampa Jefferson at Lakewood Ranch
CLASS 3A-Region 3
Cardinal Mooney at LaBelle
Class 1A-Region 2
Bradenton Christian receives a bye and will face either Hernando Christian Academy or Winter Haven All Saints Academy in a semifinal Friday.

Prep football: Bradenton Christian's McCarthy headed to Case Western Reserve

(photo by Grant Jefferies)

Bradenton Christian quarterback Sean McCarthy is headed to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said BCS coach Allan Gerber.

McCarthy threw for 1,295 yards and 10 touchdowns this year for the Panthers. He also rushed for 214 yards and seven touchdowns.

Case Western is ranked 41st in the country by U.S. News and World Report in its latest list of the top 50 colleges in the country and is a Division III school.

The Spartans, who compete in the University Athletic Association, went 8-2 last season.

In February, former Case Western quarterback Dan Whalen signed with the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League.

Prep track: Southeast to host Class 2A-District 10 meet

The Class 2A-District 10 track meet is coming to Southeast.

Orgininally scheduled for Thursday at Booker, the meet will instead be run Friday at John Kiker Memorial Stadium, said Southeast athletic director Paul Maechtle.

Cardinal Mooney will join Southeast at the meet, along with Arcadia DeSoto, Booker, Clearwater Central Catholic, Ruskin Lennard, Wauchula Hardee and St. Petersburg Catholic.

On Thursday, Out-of-Door Academy plays host to the Class 1A-District 11 meet. The Thunder, Bradenton Christian and Saint Stephen's will be joined by Sarasota Christian and a slew of schools from St. Petersburg - Admiral Farragut, Canterbury, Keswick Christian and Shorecrest Prep.

Smoothie King Classic schedule is here

(logo from wikipedia)

Bradenton Christian's Smoothie King Classic, a 16-team girls and boys basketball tournament, runs from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30 at BCS.
Each team is guaranteed three games. The finals will be played Thursday, with the girls championship slated for 6:30 p.m. and the boys scheduled to go at 8 p.m.
The Panthers won the girls and boys tournaments last year.
Here are the first-round matchups with the area teams in bold.

GIRLS, 12/28
Bayshore vs. Crystal River, 12:30 p.m.
Tampa Alonso vs. Arcadia DeSoto, 3:30 p.m.
Hawthorne vs. Seven River Christian, 6:30 p.m.
Cardinal Mooney vs. Bradenton Christian, 8 p.m.

BOYS, 12/28
Palmetto vs. Braden River, 11 a.m.
Lakewood Ranch vs. Gulf, 2 p.m.
Bayshore vs. Pinellas Park, 5 p.m.
Ilion, N.Y. vs. Bradenton Christian, 9:30 p.m.

FHSAA announces new tentative football districts

(Logo from wikipedia)

The Florida High School Athletic Association released the district football alignments for the 2011 and '12 school years.

These are tentative, and schools have until Friday, Jan. 7 to file an appeal.

The FHSAA will announce reclassifications for its other sports Monday.

Listed below are the district involving local teams:

Class 7A-District 10 (population 1,926-2,300)

Braden River, Manatee, Sarasota and Venice

Class 6A-District 10 (pop. 1,581-1925)

Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Bartow, Winter Haven, Lakeland Kathleen, Lakeland Lake Gibson

Class 5A-District 10 (pop. 1,100-1,580)

Bayshore, Southeast, Arcadia DeSoto, Englewood Lemon Bay, Wauchula Hardee

Class 3A-District 6 (pop. 281-690)

Cardinal Mooney, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Lakeland Christian

Class 2A Urban-District 6 (pop. 47-280)

Bradenton Christian, Out-of-Door Academy, Saint Stephen's, Community School of Naples, Fort Myers Evangelical Christian, Moore Haven, Naples First Baptist, Naples St. John Neumann, Southwest Florida Christian.

Local players picked for inaugural All-Madden Team

Football players from Bayshore, Bradenton Christian, Braden River, Palmetto and Southeast were among those selected for the All-Madden Team. Members of the team were picked by the coaches associated with The IMG Madden Football Academy following a three-month tour that covered 27 states and seven countries.
Academy director Chris Weinke was among the coaches who picked the 27-member team.
Palmetto guard Iziah Sanders, Bayshore tackle Wendell Williamson and Braden River kicker Kadin Kerns made the team on offense, while Southeast's Brian Poole (cornerback) and Terran Williams (linebacker) were picked to play defense.
Palmetto offensive lineman Kevin O'Brien and linebacker Daqual Randall, Bradenton Christian offensive lineman Josh Clark and Southeast defensive lineman Sanjai Persuad made the team's Next Man In Category, created for underclassmen on the rise.

FCA 7-on-7 tournament set for next week

The Gulf Coast FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Air Attack, a 7-on-7 football tournament featuring seven area teams, has been scheduled for Tuesday at the Manatee PAL fields at 202 13th Ave. E.
Pool play begins at 8 a.m. and the championship game is scheduled for 1:45.
The 10-team field will be broken into two divisions - Faith (Southeast, Bradenton Christian, Cardinal Mooney, Tampa Wharton and Palmetto) and Service (Venice, Out-of-Door Academy, Bayshore, Tampa Middleton and Braden River).
The top two teams from each division advance to the semifinals, and consolation games will be played at 1 p.m.

Mitchell no longer Panthers' AD

Drew Mitchell is no longer the athletic director at Bradenton Christian.
A graduate of BCS who became the school's athletic director in 2005, Mitchell said Friday he was the victim of budget cuts.
Football coach Allan Gerber takes over as school's new AD.
Mitchell oversaw the school's decision to add football for the '05-06 school year, a move duplicated months later by area private schools Bradenton Prep, Out-of-Door Academy and Saint Stephen's. BCS also added girls soccer that year, as well, and decided to move boys soccer, formerly a fall sport, to the winter.
Under Mitchell, BCS placed fourth in the Florida High School Athletic Association Floyd E. Lay Sunshine All-Sports Awards the last two years, and was ninth in '08.
"I graduated from Bradenton Christian," he said, "and I will always keep it close to my heart."
Mitchell also helped BCS start the Smoothie King Classic in 2007, the area's only girls and boys holiday basketball tournament that drew 16 teams last December.
Mitchell has been hired to teach at Palmetto Charter School, accepting the job after turning down the AD position at Citrus Park Christian.
"That's a stressful job, being an athletic director," he said. "This way, the hours are better.
"Sometimes the Lord has a different path for us to take, and this is it."