DURANT — Class 8A, District 7 made another case for toughest district in the county Tuesday as fifth-seeded Wharton shocked second-seeded Bloomingdale 3-2 in the first district semifinal. Then sixth-seeded Alonso took defending state champion Durant the distance in a hard-fought, 1-0 Cougars victory. The Wildcats and Cougars will play ...
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Tue. April 16, 2013 at 10:39 p.m. | Andy Warrener
TAMPA — Ray Ray McCloud is still waiting for his first offer. But it’s offseasons like the one he is having that pretty much tell you he won’t be waiting long. McCloud (5-10, 187) was recently named the offensive MVP at a Rivals Underclassman Camp, which he entered as a ...
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Sat. April 06, 2013 at 6:10 p.m. | John C. Cotey
Boys player of the Year G/F Reggie Hart, Sr., Chamberlain Why we picked him: A year after averaging a county-best 28 points, Hart again somehow flourished when every soul in the gym knew the Chiefs’ offense revolved around him. Unassuming physically (6-foot-1, 178 pounds), he slashed, slithered and spotted up ...
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Sat. March 23, 2013 at 5:40 p.m. | Times Staff
TAMPA — In little more than a decade at Alonso, Landy Faedo gradually built one of Hillsborough County’s powerhouse baseball programs. Faedo has guided the Ravens to two Class 6A state championships, four state tournament berths and five region playoff appearances over 12 years. That resume has grown only more ...
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Thu. Feb. 28, 2013 at 4:45 p.m. | Joel Anderson
Four more juniors in the bay area have reported receiving scholarship offers from USF, including three from local powerhouse Plant High. The Bulls have extended offers to linebacker Andrew Beck, offensive lineman Ray Raulerson and cornerback Mazzi Wilkins of Plant and linebacker Tre Watson of Tampa Catholic. Beck also has ...
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Mon. Feb. 18, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. | Joel Anderson
TAMPA — Jesuit (2-0) picked up its second win of the young baseball season Saturday night, following a win at Berkeley Prep on Friday by rolling over Tampa Catholic 14-0. The Tigers drew 12 walks, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks to good situational hitting ...
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Sat. Feb. 16, 2013 at 11:06 p.m. | David Rice
TAMPA — Every time Boca Ciega made a run Thursday night, Jesuit had an answer: Travis Johnson. When things got close, he muscled his way inside for a basket. He made free throws to convert two three-point plays. He made a no-look pass to a teammate for an easy bucket. ...
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Thu. Feb. 14, 2013 at 9:17 p.m. | John C. Cotey
TAMPA — Somehow, Freedom survived one of its sloppiest 16-minute stretches of basketball and went into the locker room with a one-point lead. Yet there was no need for a stirring halftime speech from coach Laurie Pacholke. She was never worried and she could sense her players weren’t, either. The ...
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Tue. Feb. 12, 2013 at 11:07 p.m. | Joel Anderson
TAMPA — Tampa Catholic will soon hang another district championship banner in the rafters of its gym, whether its season comes to an end today at Lake Placid or sometime next weekend in Lakeland. This will be the Crusaders’ fifth straight banner, another symbol of the program’s recent run of ...
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Mon. Feb. 11, 2013 at 8:45 p.m. | Joel Anderson
Ask around and you’ll hear about how this is Jesuit High School’s year. The boys basketball team is loaded with battled-tested seniors big and small, steered by a terrific point guard in Devin Harris, its desire forged by last year’s 41-point loss in the region final. In 27 games, the ...
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Mon. Feb. 11, 2013 at 6:52 p.m. | John C. Cotey
HomeTeam Hot Shots A spotlight on the Times’ bay area players of the week. Female Hot Shot: Danielle Battle, Tampa Catholic Sport: Basketball Skinny: Battle had nearly experienced it all in her high school career — a state championship, a losing record, three straight district titles, the end of a ...
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Mon. Feb. 11, 2013 at 5:36 p.m. | Times Staff
TAMPA — There was little surprise about Bartow’s blueprint, as it was the same one almost every other team tried against Tampa Bay Tech this season. The state-ranked Yellow Jackets came out in a fullcourt press to prevent the Titans from getting the ball to their imposing front line, a ...
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Thu. Feb. 07, 2013 at 9:20 p.m. | Joel Anderson
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 — Three to four times a week, Jesuit senior Jack Fleming outraces the sun to the Tigers’ gymnasium to hoist hundreds of 3-pointers before the first bell of the school day. But in his most hostile setting of the season, Fleming went nocturnal. Frigid for most of Thursday night’s ...
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Thu. Jan. 31, 2013 at 10:43 p.m. | Joey Knight
Our final Hillsborough boys rankings of the regular season. 1. Jesuit (23-1): Disclaimer of the season: Jesuit played at Tampa Catholic on Thursday 2. Tampa Prep (21-2): Terps’ seven-point loss Tuesday to TC was third defeat since start of 2011-12 season 3. Tampa Catholic (18-6): Entered Jesuit showdown with back-to-back ...
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Thu. Jan. 31, 2013 at 6:14 p.m. | Joey Knight