Deerfield Beach/BSO boxer Jordan Murphy won his fight in the inaugural Florida Gold Coast Boxing tournament at Deerfield Beach High School on March 12. There were 15 fights that attracted boxers from PAL programs in the tri-county area. Submitted photo.

By Scott Morganroth

Although the FAU Owls Men’s Basketball team lost in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament to North Texas, 78-64, the players still have at least one more game left.

The Owls finished with a 21-10 record and won the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship. FAU will play in the NIT, and the Owls opponent, time and date will be announced March 13.

FAU’s drive to the post season began on Feb. 19, as they won an overtime thriller in Miami against rival Florida International University at the Century Bank Arena. The Owls had luck as the Golden Panthers 21-33 free throw attempts enabled the Owls to emerge 80-78.

Those 12 missed free throws had Golden Panthers Hall of Fame Coach Isiah Thomas smiling and asking reporters if we knew of any players that could convert their shots at the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, FAU Coach Mike Jarvis couldn’t offer Thomas any suggestions to find a cure for his team’s free throws.

Jarvis just wanted his team to win two more games and end the season with a three-game winning streak. The coach saw that come to fruition as FAU trounced Troy, 77-60, at home on Feb. 24, and three days later, the Owls cruised past South Alabama, 74-64, in Mobile, AL.

When I spoke to Jarvis three years ago, after his first season, he knew he had a tough challenge building this program. In his first season, FAU finished with a 6-26 record and he told me that this was a “gut job; therefore, the team was going to be overhauled.”

In his second season, Jarvis brought in freshmen Raymond Taylor, Greg Gantt, Kore White, Jordan McCoy, and junior Brett Royster began to mature. These players demonstrated a great work ethic and FAU finished the year 14-16. This progress would lead to what transpired in Jarvis’ third season that has him going back to the post-season.

Now in his 22nd season as a coach, Jarvis has led three programs to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
His three stops include Boston University (1985-90), George Washington University (1990-98) and St. Johns University (1998-2004). Jarvis has a 404-254 record.

Jarvis said, after the Owls defeated FIU, that any tournament  his team would play in would be a good accomplishment.

“For our program, an NIT berth would be a fantastic accomplishment, and the players deserve to be rewarded for an excellent season,” Jarvis said.

Jarvis added that he’s enjoyed coaching at FAU, even though  he’s coached at St. John’s, which played its home games at the 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden, compared to the 3,000 seat FAU Arena.

“I haven’t had as much fun coaching since high school,” Jarvis said. “I coached Patrick Ewing and Rumeal Robinson. I got into it because I wanted to teach and coach. I’m having a lot of fun even though it looks tough, and I’m in a lot of pain. On most nights, it’s like a mother giving birth to a child. It feels like hell until the child comes out.

“I told these kids that they are killing me, and I told three of them if I die, they’ll be pallbearers at my funeral. I’ve already asked 100 guys to be pallbearers.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports 33.com.

By Gary Curreri

Zion Lutheran Christian Boys Middle School Basketball team just added another feat to its already impressive season by capturing its first Florida Lutheran Schools State Basketball Tournament title since 1990.

Vincent Stubbs received the Tournament’s MVP award as Zion Lutheran defeated St. John’s Lutheran (Ocala) and St. Luke’s Lutheran (Oviedo) to bring home top honors.

The middle school squad ran its record to 15-1 and they advance to the National Lutheran Schools Tournament on March 24-27 at Valparaiso University in Indiana. Zion’s middle school basketball team also won the Trinity Holiday Classic as well as the South Regional Lutheran Schools Tournament earlier this season.

By Gary Curreri

Brian Johnson grew up with the Deerfield Beach Little League.

Deerfield Beach Little League President Brian Johnson goes through Opening Day ceremonies on Feb. 27. Photos by Gary Curreri

The second-year president was sporting a huge smile as he walked around Opening Day at Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex on Feb. 27.

“This is our biggest day of the year,” Johnson said. “It generates the most fundraising. It is just great for all of the kids to be together and participate in all of the events. We have fast pitch events, home run derbies and a dunk tank. It is just great for them to come out and have a good day and, later on in the day, we start the season with four games. We gave out trophies for the different events too.”

There are 280 players, ranging in age from 6 to 18, on the league’s 23 teams. There are six divisions– Farm, Minor, Major, Junior, Senior and Big League.

“I have been involved in this league for 30 years, since I played when I was 9-10 years old,” Johnson said. “So not only have I played, coached and now I am on the board of directors, I now have kids that I coached back here with their kids and coaching.

“It is a cool feeling to know there are kids you helped as youngsters that have come back to the league and are giving themselves back to the same league,” Johnson added. “You keep them here in a community setting and off the streets. We want to provide six months out of the year a place where they can hang out even if they are not playing. They can have a good time and learn baseball on top of it.”

Rockhounds

Deerfield Beach’s Avery Thomas, 8, has been playing baseball for 5 years. Thomas plays on his father’s Minors Division team, the Rockhounds.

“My dad plays it and I like it,” said Avery Thomas, who plays mostly every position on the field. “I like playing baseball because you can meet new people. It is more important to have fun than win games. I’d like to play for the Marlins. It is a big dream.”

His teammate, Zachary Johnson, 9, also of Deerfield Beach, has been playing the sport for 3-1/2 years. He is a pitcher and can also play multiple positions.

“I like that you can hit the ball and pitch,” said Johnson, who also has aspirations of playing in the big leagues someday. He said he would oppose Thomas when they are older. “I want to play with the Red Sox.”

Johnson said he also was happy to learn how fast he pitches.

“It was really cool because I always wanted to know what my pitch speed was,” said Johnson, who was clocked at 38 miles-per-hour in the fast pitch competition.

Observer Rockhounds pictured above from L-R (first row): Zachary Johnson, Zachary Fletcher, Adam Musa, Isiah Harris, Michael Esau; (second row) Michael Ballesteros, Teriq Phillips, Justin Ray, Tristan Clark, Avery Thomas; (third row) Coach Shaun Thomas

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach boys coach Kenny Brown gives instruction to the Bucks during an earlier game this season.

Hopes for state championships for local boys’ teams were dashed this week when the remaining two high school squads, Highlands Christian Academy and Deerfield Beach, each lost their regional quarterfinal match-ups at home.

Highlands Christian Academy dropped a 37-35 decision to visiting Lake Worth Christian in a Class 2A game, while Santaluces rallied for a buzzer-beating basket to drop Deer-field Beach, 54-52, in a Class 6A contest.

Jeff Romeus scored 25 points to lead the Chiefs (21-7) past the Bucks (19-6) in Deerfield Beach; however, it was Chiefs’ senior Corey Johnson who was the hero. Johnson scored his only basket of the night as time ran out to give Santaluces the win. Santaluces rallied from a 52-48 deficit with 1:14 remaining to stun the hosts.

Santaluces’ Jeff Romeus hit his fifth 3-point basket of the contest, and after Kirby Simpson converted one of two free throws for the Bucks, then dropped two free throws with 53.4 seconds remaining to pull to with 52-50. The Chiefs’ Jess Ewald tied the game at 52-52 with two free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining.

The Bucks threw the ball away on the inbounds play to give the ball back to the Chiefs. Santaluces’ Steven David hit a cutting Johnson under the basket for an easy lay-up for the game-winner.

Teias Peaton-Lane paced the Bucks with 15 points.

Deerfield took a 41-39 lead into the fourth quarter after Simpson converted a 3-point play with 1.6 seconds remaining as he hit a runner from the baseline and was fouled by Corey Johnson. The Bucks led by as much as 49-42 with 3:14 remaining on a basket by Peaton-Lane before the Chiefs started their comeback.

Deerfield Beach, which won state titles in 1997 and 1999, hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2004. The Bucks had won 13 of its past 14 games and two in a row since a 67-62 loss to Blanche Ely in the Big 8 on Feb. 2.

Paul Jones had 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Avalon George added 11 points as the Defenders (17-10) edged host Highlands Christian Academy. Senior forward Andrew Smith had a team-high 12 points for the Knights (18-10), which led by one at halftime.

“I give Lake Worth Christian a lot of credit in executing a very good defensive game plan on us,” said Highlands coach Jim Good, whose team had a season-low 35 points in the loss. “In the end, we still had our chances, but it seemed as if it wasn’t meant to be.”

Good said his team played one of its toughest schedules ever with most of its losses coming to teams that won district titles or advanced to the state playoffs.

“We will miss our seven seniors, Andrew Smith, Mike Gray, Justin Dann, Jeff Sullivan, Matt Moser, Lee Izquierdo and Chris Deshommes,” Good said. “It’s definitely going to be a rebuilding year next season – a challenge that I am looking forward too.”

Blanche Ely’s Germain DeCoste, right, tries to drive past Dillard’s Ryan Duncans in an earlier game this season. DeCoste scored 16 points in the Tigers’ 67-57 loss to Northeast ending their season. Photos by Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely dropped a 67-57 decision to Northeast in the District 16-5A semifinal to end its season at 18-6. Clide Geffrard had 22 points, while Germain DeCoste and Anterio Smith had 16 and 11 points, respectively, in a losing effort.

“We had a great summer and with the guys here my expectations were pretty high,” said Blanche Ely coach Melvin Randall, who has been at the school for 10 years and won a state title with the Tigers in 2007.

He also won two state titles with Deerfield Beach in 1997 and 1999. “We kind of jelled over the summer.”

Randall said as high school teams graduate players, he always seems to find a way to sustain success.

It’s a simple formula, he said. “The situation I am in is that I always go with the cards that I am dealt. It is about development. My staff and I try and develop these kids who are considered no names I guess by some people. Somehow they develop into these standout players, which we’ve known since day one, but not everybody knows about them. We may not have the most athletic players consistently, but we try and develop them into those types of players. I give that credit to my staff and also the players, who have put in the hard work.”

By Gary Curreri

For a while it appeared Pompano Middle School would end the 23-game winning streak of Silver Trail, and in the process win its first girls’ basketball county championship in seven years.

That was until the undefeated Mustangs flexed its muscle and rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the third quarter and pulled out a 51-47 victory for its second consecutive county championship. Led by Shanell Atkins, who was named MVP after a 19-point, 16-rebound effort, they throttled the undefeated aspirations of the Bengals, who finished the season 11-1.

Pompano High Middle School girls’ coach Carolyn Hickson said it was a difficult defeat.

“It was real hard,” Hickson said. “We started with nothing but seventh graders, and we will be back next year. Some of them have never played before.”

“To end up here was a blessing,” Hickson added. “Destiny Frazier did a tremendous job. I couldn’t ask any more of her. Skaydrah Woods played great defense. The whole team stepped up. I have three eighth graders, but my whole starting lineup is seventh graders.”

When the season started, Hickson admitted she had her doubts.

“I didn’t think they would come this far,” Hickson said. “They improved every game. By the third game of the year, I started to think they might get here because they were improving with every game.”

Silver Trail opened the game on a 4-0 run before Pompano rallied for a 7-4 lead. After Silver Trail was able to battle back and take a 14-12 lead with 5:30 in the second quarter on a basket by Danielle Antieau, Pompano went on a 13-0 run to take a 25-14 lead on a 3-point play by Frazier with 2:30 left.

Samantha Provenzano stole and went in for a layup to trim the lead to 25-16 at halftime. Shanell Akins opened the second half with a bucket before the Bengals’ Skaydrah Woods hit back-to-back baskets to extend the lead to 29-18 with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Silver trail closed out the period on a 14-4 run, including 5-0 down the stretch to pull to within 33-32. Provenzano’s bank shot at the buzzer gave Silver Trail the momentum entering the final stanza.

The teams traded leads in the fourth quarter with neither team holding more than a 3-point advantage.

Silver Trail took a 46-43 lead with 1:45 left in the game on a basket by Zebegret, before Frazier hit a 3-pointer with 1:28 left to tie the contest at 46-46.

Silver Trail’s Atkins and Pompano’s Woods traded free throws before Atkins hit a short jumper with 34.5 remaining and added two free throws with seven seconds remaining for the 51-47 victory. Atkins finished with 11 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Frazier paced Pompano with 18 points, while Woods had 13 points, and Kiyana Jones added 12 points. Allison Jordan and Danielle Carr each hit baskets.

Bucks, Knights win

Bendly Valdor had a game-high 13 points and 11 rebounds as Deerfield Beach defeated Boyd Anderson 45-42 to win the District 10-6A boys basketball championship.

Andrew Smith had a game-high 28 points to lead four players in double figures
as Highlands Christian downed Florida Bible, 89-69 for the District 14-1A title. Gabe Gabe Hantsbarger added 21 points.

By Gary Curreri

The final chapter to the girls’ soccer season at Highlands Christian Academy wasn’t quite the storybook finish the Knights had hoped for.

Stephanie Perret-Gentile and Erica Johnson each scored second half goals to lift Boca Raton’s Pope John Paul II to a 2-0 Class 2A regional quarterfinal victory over the host Knights on Jan. 27. First-year goalkeeper Dani Chase earned her 15th shutout of the season as she made three saves.

Despite the defeat, Highlands Christian Academy girls soccer coach Shelly Wik was pleased with the effort of her team as it made history by winning its first-ever girls district soccer championship in the 10-year history of the program last week. It was also the first time the Knights (16-3-1) ever hosted a regional quarterfinal contest.

“We played a great game and we are just excited that we got to play in this game for the first time in school history,” Wik said. “This is the first time they got this far. They played hard. I am proud of them.”

“They definitely have more experience than we do,” Wik added. “The level of skill they have on that team is phenomenal. They are crying now, and it’s not because they lost the game, it is for the seniors because they are not going to play another game together. It is always an emotional time when they realize that. I started coaching two years ago and these girls are like one big family. We have a rough middle, but they just championed on. They did well, and they were rewarded by winning districts. They are upset – not that they lost, but that they don’t get to play as a team anymore.”

The best chance the Knights had to score came in the 68th minute when Kaitlyn Leta’s left-footed shot, following a poor clearance by the Eagles’ defense, was saved by Chase.

One minute later, Johnson put the game away; she scored from 18 yards out for the victory.

As she has been all season, Knights’ sophomore goalie Kayla Wincko was stellar with 13 saves in the match.

Jackson to coach Deerfield Beach

Allen Jackson, who has coached at Coconut Creek the past three seasons, was named the football coach at Deerfield Beach earlier this month.

Jackson replaces former Bucks coach Adam Ratke-vich, who stepped down after the 2010 season which Deerfield finished 2-9, yet still qualified for the postseason.

“It’s an honor and privilege to coach at Deerfield Beach,” said Jackson, who was an assistant coach at Deerfield Beach for 13 years before coaching at Monarch and Coconut Creek High Schools. “I’m happy to be here and hopefully we can get back to the big stage.”

Highlands’ boys fall in district soccer final

Calvary Christian defeated Highlands Christian Acade-my’s boys’ soccer team, 3-0, for the district title. The Knights will travel to American Heritage-Delray on Thursday for a regional quarterfinal game.

By Gary Curreri

Highlands Christian Academy girls soccer coach Shelly Wik knew her team would have to rise to the occasion as it hosted the girls District 14-2A championship on Jan. 21.

The Knights (16-21) did as it defeated the South Florida Heat, 1-0 (5-4 PKs), for the school’s first-ever girls district soccer championship in the 10-year history of the program. Highlands Christian and the Heat (19-8-1) battled to a 0-0 draw after regulation and overtime.

“I am so proud of how the girls played in the district games,” said Wik, whose team will host Boca Raton’s Pope John Paul II in the regional quarterfinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. “The girls avenged their two regular season losses and pulled together as a team to win districts with dignity and Christian character.”

Alley Costello, Joanna Marko, Cybille Lassegue, Grayson Mack and Marina Mueller each scored a goal in the penalty kick shootout. Mueller’s goal was the decisive goal. Knights’ goalie Kayla Wincko had 14 saves in the match and needed to make two saves in the shootout for the victory.

Dillard downs Tigers in girls hoops

Kayla Wright scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the second half as host Dillard downed Blanche Ely, 47-40, in a District 16-5A game on Saturday night.

The Panthers (14-5, 8-1) broke open a 24-24 game early in the second half and outscored the Tigers (14-6, 5-4) 23-17 for the victory.

T’Keyah Williams had five points, while Lauren McGraw added four in the first quarter as Dillard jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead. Blanche Ely closed to within 24-22 at halftime and tied the game at 24-24 on a short jumper by Crystal Allen with 7:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Dillard pulled away from there as McGraw and Williams each finished with 10 points.

Blanche Ely coach Clarence Fleming said his team needed to take better care of the basketball. Arkeba Johnson paced the Tigers with 15 points.

“We are not going to beat a good team giving them that many second shot attempts,” Fleming said. “We couldn’t make shots and they did a good job rebounding and making free throws.”

Fleming said everything is correctable by districts.

“It gives us a pretty good idea of where we need to be in order to have a chance to win districts,” Fleming said. “We have to play hard, and it will be an uphill fight. The biggest thing we have to work on is possession and every possession counts. I think we can win it. We need to make a few modifications. There are some things we can do better, and, next time, I think we can play a better game all the way around.”

Ely soccer team runner-up

The Blanche Ely boys soccer team recently dropped a 1-0 decision to Tampa Sickles in the final round of the Ridge-wood Invitational in New Port Richey.

The Tigers had five of their players make the all-tournament team including Nilson Miranda (top defender), Kemberlyn Jean-Etienne, Techlie Tacynthe, Finnddy Innocent and Volvins St. Louis.

By Gary Curreri

Shelly Wik was hoping her Highlands Christian Academy girls’ soccer team would fare better than last year.

The Knights won just four games last year, and two were by forfeit. Highlands Christian Academy opened the year with 10 consecutive victories before it suffered its first loss of the season with a 1-0 setback at the hands of host Calvary Christian Academy on Dec. 17. The team will compete in the District 14-2A tournament this week.

“I was hoping to win a game,” said Wik, who is in her second year at the school. “I was hopeful that we would play well and play as a team and up until the Calvary Christian game, we were doing that.”

The Knights had defeated Calvary Christian, 5-0, earlier in the season; however, they were without the team’s leading scorer, Alley Costello, who was away, and Cameron Petreccia, who injured her ACL and hopes to return in a few weeks.

“We lost the game because we didn’t play as a team,” Wik said. “There were a lot of factors going into it, I think. It was Christmas break and a lot of the girls had finals today and their minds were just on other things.”

Last year’s squad had its share of injuries, the most difficult to overcome was the loss of Cybille Lassegue, who broke her collarbone in the first game of the season and was unable to play. The senior defender/midfielder is back this year.

“The girls were staying very focused on the game and as a team,” Wik said. “I have five seniors this year and four of them – Cybille Lassegue, Joanna Marko, Brett Lawhon and Jackie Justice ­– want to play soccer in college.”

Wik said the quartet all play for the same Parkland travel soccer team. Wik said she didn’t expect to get off to a great start.

“I knew we were good because we had eight returning players this year and have five seniors and all of them were returning,” Wik said. “I knew we were going to be able to contend because last year we were losing games by a point and we didn’t have as good an offense as we do now.”

The Knights went their eight games of the season without giving up a goal.

Wik said Kayla Wincko has made a successful conversion from playing as a forward last season.

“Over the summer, she got some training from the coaches at Florida Atlantic University,” Wik added. “Kayla saved 14 shots in a game and also saved two penalty kicks this season. Our defense is really good too.”

Tigers win own tourney

Blanche Ely’s girls’ basketball team staged a furious fourth-quarter rally to force overtime before eventually upending Boynton Beach, 67-62, to win the championship of its own Lady Tiger Holiday Classic recently.

Senior guard Talissia Carter notched 11 of her team-high 17 points over the final 12 minutes of play as the Tigers (9-2) outscored Boynton Beach, 23-16, in the fourth quarter.

With 47.9 seconds remaining in overtime, junior guard Cevon Jones’ steal and layup extended Ely’s lead to 63-60, and the Tigers were able to connect on their free throws to close it out.

Jones closed with 12 points and four rebounds, while Ariana Holness also finished with 12 points. Senior center Crystal Allen chipped in 13 rebounds and two blocks. Last year’s squad had its share of injuries, the most difficult to overcome was the loss of Cybille Lassegue, who broke her collarbone in the first game of the season and was unable to play. The senior defender/midfielder is back this year.