Sports

Freshman finds favor with Falcons coach

By Times Staff
Published January 3, 2006

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Leto coach Todd Price is extremely pleased with the play of freshman Kelvin Daniels .

The 5-foot-10 guard hit four 3-pointers in a 58-34 win over Gaither in the opening round of the Chamberlain Holiday Invitational last week. Then, in a semifinal against Sickles, Daniels hit three more 3-pointers, though the Gryphons held on for a 55-52 win.

"(Price) is a real gym rat," Price said. "He's always playing basketball somewhere. He is going to be a good one."

Meanwhile, Chamberlain's James Devlin scored 12 points in less than three minutes to move the Chiefs comfortably out in front of Riverview on their way to a 66-52 win in semifinal action.

The sharp-shooting lefty drilled home three 3-pointers and three free throws to open the second half and Chamberlain never looked back.

Devlin continued his streaky shooting in the final against Sickles with 14 first-quarter points in helping Chamberlain (10-2) forge a 20-point lead.

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With his team down 34-28 in the third during Chamberlain's tourney, Riverview coach Mike Baker sent in his "Blue Team" to give the starting five a breather in an up-tempo game against Blake.

"I told our second team it was their job to steer the ship for a short time," Baker said.

It worked.

Over the next five minutes, the reserves kept the margin at six, gave the starting team a much needed rest, and paved the way for a late Nolan Ward free throw as the Sharks turned back the Yellow Jackets 48-47 in an opening-round game.

Riverview guard Nick Driscoll thought it was a good move.

Baker said: "We were getting tired and they really helped us out. In the two games we have played against Blake this year, we are 17-for-46 in shooting free throws. I am thinking maybe we ought to stop spending so much time on shooting free throws in practice. It doesn't seem to be helping us very much."

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As Tampa Bay Tech's Cecil Coleman was ringing up 22 points in the first half against Blake, Yellow Jackets coach Winston Davis needed to make a change.

Switching to a box-and-one defense with four men playing zone and one defender chasing Coleman all over the floor, Blake held the rugged 6-foot-5 Coleman to just eight points after intermission in a last-second 72-70 semifinal win.

Blake's Patrick Mims scored his only basket at the buzzer to win the game, the first and only lead the Yellow Jackets had the entire game.

Tech coach Adrian Johnson was philosophical after the game.

"That was a tough loss for us, but we'll be back," he said.

The Titans (6-3) have been without injured three-year starter Ibrahim Fadeyi , who plays all positions and is needed to take the pressure off Coleman.

"He does things you don't see in the stats like setting up plays and directing the team," Johnson said. "We expect to have him healthy in about 10 days and I think we'll be okay once he gets back."

Girls soccer

Durant coach Ronald Evans said his team still has a long way to go this season despite an unbeaten start.

"We're still trying to find some combinations on the field," he said. "And we are learning to work as a team. We have five seniors and we have brought on eight freshmen so we have some new faces but our expectation level is still there."

The Cougars also have expectations from a solid offensive core featuring Gabi Rivera , Dani Rivera , Lisa Hayman and Staci Marsh .

Gabi Rivera had two goals and an assist and Dani added two goals herself as Durant topped Plant City 6-2 in a game in which Durant attack fired off 32 shots on goal.

"We're not sure how the season will play out in our district," said Evans, whose team competes with East Bay, Lakeland, Plant City, Riverview, Sarasota Riverview and Sarasota in its league. "But we haven't lost in the district yet. But it's a tough district and there are no easy games."

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Wharton has one of the more potent offenses in the county and one of the top local scores in Aline Linnard .

From her forward spot, Linnard has helped lead the Wildcats to a 7-1-1 record.

Wharton put up 23 shots in a 5-0 win against Armwood in which Linnard notched four of those scores. More recently, Linnard scored a goal and had an assist as Wharton defeated Tampa Bay Tech 6-1 in a Class 5A, District 8 match.

Wharton's lone defeat was to district foe Bloomingdale, a 2-0 setback on Dec.7.

The Wildcats won't get another shot at the Bulls in the regular season but may square off in the district tournament, which kicks off Jan.16.

--Compiled by Times staff writer Scott Purks and correspondents Jim Reese and Rod Gipson.

[Last modified January 3, 2006, 02:00:11]

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