Final 4 reunion at Fortegra hoops tourney
This year, Jacksonville gets a taste of the final four feeling.
Four state semifinal qualifiers from the 2022-24 season are set to tip off the High School 9:12 Fortegra Invitational boys basketball tournament returning for its seventh year from Dec. 7-9 at Florida State College at Jacksonville South Campus.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for our student-athletes, and we look forward to it each year,” Oakleaf head coach
said.
Oakleaf opens the event on Dec. 7 against Ribault at 2 p.m., followed by Providence vs. Paxon, North Florida Educational Institute vs. Ponte Vedra and Episcopal vs. Southwest Macon of Georgia.
For Providence head coach
the 2023 event is “by far the best” field in the tournament’s history.
Ribault, Providence, NFEI and Ponte Vedra all qualified for last year’s Florida High School Athletic Association final four. Meanwhile, Paxon made the final four three years ago, Oakleaf surged to 24-2 last winter and Episcopal returns two of Jacksonville’s top prospects in
and
“I love the matchups,” said Ribault head coach whose Trojans will return 2022-23 All-First Coast player of the year
“There’s no easy games for anybody.”
The tournament announcement opened Tuesday’s High School 9:12 Basketball Media Day at the Winston Family YMCA, which included dozens of Jacksonville-area schools and more than 100 players.
Among the other storylines Tuesday: Not present were several top 2022-23 players who transferred elsewhere for the coming season. Among others, Richmond-committed center
moved from Providence to DME Academy in Volusia County, while nationally-ranked prospect transferred from Orange Park to girls basketball juggernaut Montverde Academy in Central Florida.
Price
Kent Jackson
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Charles Showers, Football guide for scoreboard watchers
Jason
Jim Martin,
Grady Schwartz.
Caleb Williams.
Jaylen Robinson
Eris Lester
Too early for scoreboard watching? Not in Week 10 football.
For fans of Northeast Florida teams on the bubble for FHSAA at-large berths, the games on their own scoreboards aren’t the only ones to worry about.
As they cheer on their own schools, they’re also watching for the possibility that at-large challengers elsewhere in their Florida regions could slip up -- with potentially big implications for their place in the FHSAA ranking formula.
Jacksonville-area bubble teams are everywhere, ranging from Creekside and Nease in St. Johns County to Episcopal, Jackson and Wolfson in the tightlypacked Class 2M race.
Here are the final games for several Florida schools that could snatch at-large berths from Jacksonville-area teams.
Orlando Evans (Class 4M; in contention with Atlantic Coast); vs. Apopka, vs. Lake Nona
Hagerty (Class 4M); vs. Spruce Creek, at Oviedo
Tallahassee Chiles (Class 3S; in contention with Creekside, Nease, Tocoi Creek); vs. Tallahassee Lincoln, at Sunlake
Tallahassee Leon (Class 3S); vs.
Crestview, vs. New Smyrna Beach
Lyman (Class 3M; in contention with First Coast, Fletcher); at Orange City University, bye
Wekiva (Class 3M); bye, at Apopka Wharton (Class 3M); vs. Tampa Freedom, vs. Hillsborough
Pine Forest (Class 3S; in contention with Middleburg); at Pensacola Washington, bye
Fort Walton Beach (Class 3S); vs. Choctawhatchee, at Crestview
Lake Buena Vista (Class 2M; in contention with Episcopal, Jackson, Wolfson): at Bishop Moore, vs. Orlando Colonial
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● Creekside’s Miller sets decision time
Circle the date: Nov. 8.
That’s when Creekside senior sprinter
is set to announce his college choice from a quartet of high-profile track and field finalists: Florida, Florida State, Georgia and LSU.
Miller won both the 100 and 200-meter dash in FHSAA Class 4A and ran even faster in the summer, capturing both events at the USA Track & Field U-20 Outdoor National Championships in Oregon. His wind-legal 10.06 in the 100 ranks as the fourth-fastest all-time for a high school runner in USATF records and set a new U18 age record.
National track website MileSplit ranked Miller as the nation’s No. 1 track
Christian Miller
and field prospect earlier this year.
Anckner wins Menendez bowling title
Eli Anckner
Add to a new chapter in Menendez sports history.
The Falcons’ bowler won the District 3 boys bowling championship Monday, rolling a 705 to qualify from the competition in Volusia County. He qualifies for the state finals from Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando.
Menendez, Palatka and St. Augustine are the only Northeast Florida schools that participate in boys bowling.
In girls bowling, meanwhile, a 396 from helped Palatka qualify second in District 3 behind Daytona Beach Seabreeze.
Cook
Savannah Roberts BK, Ponte Vedra win Speziale Invitational
No more evidence required: Beating Bishop Kenny and Ponte Vedra in cross country won’t be very easy come playoff time.
Ponte Vedra captured the boys team championship on its home course and Bishop Kenny ran away with the girls title at Saturday’s Craig Speziale Invitational, the last large meet on Northeast Florida’s regular season calendar.
The Sharks’
(16:28) and
(16:35) all placed top 10 in the boys race for an 80-point finish, followed by Bartram Trail at 98 and Nease at 117.
Bishop Kenny’s took the boys individual championship in 15:52, 21 seconds clear of Creekside senior
The Bishop Kenny girls further solidified their position as a potential Class 2A champion, displaying their depth with five runners
Luke Ross
Jack Zurn.
Ross.
Maddox Lee Miles Wicks
Davis Brown
Alyson Johnson
Around the area
Grady Schwartz
Mika Wesley
Lily Bennett
Aubrey Schmidt
Penny Zarczynski
Mike Davis
Sem Sultanov
(16:23),
Alejandro Vinas
(Tessa Massa, Emily Wheldon, Stephanie Grden, Alexis Wilson
Davis Johnson)
and inside 19:15 for a 40point finish. For Grden and Wilson, the times represent substantial personal records.
Ponte Vedra placed second at 53 points, then Gainesville Buchholz with 68.
Dashing away with yet another individual championship was Creekside sophomore in 18:02, an 11-second edge on Ponte Vedra’s
With a light weekend on deck, the season rolls into district races beginning Monday.
Daisy
Julian Porter
Bartram Trail cornerback committed to Army football. … Episcopal forward committed to Tampa men’s basketball . ... Trinity Christian pitcher committed to FSCJ baseball and infielder
committed to Santa Fe College baseball. . … Middleburg junior outfielder committed to Bethune-Cookman softball and junior pitcher committed to FSCJ softball. … Yulee outside hitter
committed to Eastern Florida State College volleyball. … Ponte Vedra midfielder committed to Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse. … Ponte Vedra junior committed to Yale women’s swimming. … Eagle’s View named head softball coach. … Former Mandarin distance runner qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the men’s marathon. … Former Mandarin midfielder
now at Jacksonville University, was named ASUN women’s soccer goalkeeper of the week. .. Alabama recognized Mandarin graduate and double NCAA swimming champion
during halftime of the Crimson Tide’s football victory over Tennessee. … High School Soccer Media Day, hosted by JAXUSL, is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 2 at the Winston Family YMCA. … High school wrestling practice, like basketball, begins Monday across the FHSAA.