TAMPA — His strapping, 6-foot-4 body had slithered through the collegiate cracks. When Robinson High School’s 12-2 season ended in early December, outside linebacker Justin Madison had exactly one scholarship offer to show for his breakthrough senior year. At 205 pounds dispersed over a rangy frame, Madison had the physical ...
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Mon. Feb. 04, 2013 at 3:44 p.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — When the outcome was no longer in doubt, Freedom coach Laurie Pacholke started pulling her starters from the floor one by one. She shared a long embrace with her daughter, senior guard Neena Pacholke. Faith Woodard joined them on the sideline, accompanied by the exuberant cheers of the ...
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Fri. Feb. 01, 2013 at 8:32 p.m. | Joel Anderson
TAMPA — Plant’s Christina Tamargo nailed her first shot, a 3-pointer from the right side of the floor. A little less than a minute later, Tamargo let fly from the top of the key. Three more points. Later in the first quarter, the 5-foot-8 senior drained another basket over the ...
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Wed. Jan. 30, 2013 at 10:18 p.m. | Joel Anderson
Each week, our HomeTeam staffers will nominate male and female Hot Shot athletes from each of the counties we cover. These nominations span Saturday, Jan. 19 through Friday, Jan. 25. Winners get a free T-shirt and bragging rights over every other school in the area. Read up on what made ...
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Sat. Jan. 26, 2013 at 11:35 a.m. | Times Staff
District boys soccer Class 2A, District 9 semifinals: At Tampa Catholic, top-seeded Berkeley Prep (12-10-2) got goals from four players, and a shutout from keeper Ben Milliken, in a 4-0 rout of No. 4-seeded Clearwater Central Catholic. Tyler Sacone, Connor Castro, Warren Backman and Will Sibson scored for Berkeley. In ...
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Thu. Jan. 24, 2013 at 12:32 a.m. | Joey Knight
TAMPA — Palm Harbor University keeps finding new ways to dash Plant’s postseason hopes. In the final seconds of their Class 5A region quarterfinal Wednesday, the Hurricanes came up with their most excruciating flourish yet in this increasingly lopsided playoff rivalry. Alexis Mouton scored the tying goal just before the ...
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Wed. Jan. 23, 2013 at 10:02 p.m. | Joel Anderson
DOVER — Over two nights and 180 total minutes, in both November crispness and January cold, East Bay and Plant City jostled futilely for Class 4A, District 9 supremacy. Finally, with no more minutes to tack onto a neutral-site scoreboard, the Raiders put the fate of this east Hillsborough feud ...
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Fri. Jan. 18, 2013 at 10:56 p.m. | Joey Knight
PLANT — The ball sailed into the scrum of players in front of the Wharton goal and Karli Gutsche muscled her way into position. She then worked herself free of a defender and timed her leap to meet the ball with her head. As the scene unfolded, Newsome coach Kelly ...
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Thu. Jan. 17, 2013 at 11:03 p.m. | Joel Anderson
The college options appear to be increasing for Connor Rafferty even as USF takes strides to mend fences with the Robinson left tackle, who received a scholarship offer from former coach Skip Holtz and committed last summer. The Tampa Bay Times first reported Rafferty received a late-night phone call Sunday ...
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Wed. Jan. 16, 2013 at 6:32 p.m. | Joey Knight
A week after indicating he had resigned as coach at Admiral Farragut to spend more time with his family, Chris Miller has been confirmed as one of 15 applicants for the job at Robinson. Athletic director Marcia Monk released the list Wednesday morning upon a request from the Tampa Bay ...
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Wed. Jan. 16, 2013 at 9:36 a.m. | Joey Knight
Less than a month before national signing day, Robinson left tackle Connor Rafferty is suddenly in limbo. Rafferty's mother, Tracy, confirmed that USF has rescinded its scholarship offer to her son, a first-team pick on the Times' 2012 all-Suncoast team. Tracy Rafferty told the Times early Monday morning that new ...
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Mon. Jan. 14, 2013 at 8:54 a.m. | Joey Knight
Boys basketball Plant 51, Durant 49. At Plant, senior Alex Mitura’s 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds to play lifted the Panthers (8-10, 4-4) in this Class 8A, District 7 matchup. The Cougars failed to get a shot off on their final possession. Wiregrass Ranch 67, Freedom 46. At Wiregrass Ranch, the ...
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Fri. Jan. 11, 2013 at 11:37 p.m. | Joey Knight
Offensive Player of the Year: QB Pete DiNovo, Sr., East Lake It has been a whirlwind two weeks for Pete DiNovo. After competing in the Pinellas senior all-star game Dec. 12, DiNovo was in Orlando two days later for his official visit to the University of Central Florida, where he ...
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Mon. Dec. 24, 2012 at 5:32 p.m. | Times Staff
Offensive Player of the Year: QB Will Worth, Sr., Newsome Why we picked him: Considering no county player was more vital to his team, Worth also was a bona fide defensive player of the year candidate. We chose him for offense in part because of his staggering playoff performance. The ...
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Sat. Dec. 22, 2012 at 11:29 a.m. | Times Staff
Player of the Year Sidney Brown, Jr., OH, Berkeley Prep Why we picked her: Brown ably filled the shoes of Jordan Burgess and Mackenzie Dagostino, two of the most decorated players in Hillsborough and Berkeley Prep history. She was the undisputed leader of the Bucs’ run to the Class 4A ...
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Wed. Dec. 19, 2012 at 5:51 p.m. | Joel Anderson