“We just had to play our game at that’s what we did,” Griffey said afterwards.

The daughter of former major leaguer Ken Griffey, Jr. put Dr. Philips (31-2) ahead 51-39 with four minutes to go in regulation after taking a steal the other way for an easy layup.

The Rams (30-3) responded by closing out the quarter on a 14-2 run behind baskets from Morgan Jones, Sarah Taylor, Alexis Fitts and Peggy Smith, who hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds remaining to tie the game. But the game-winning shot in the final seconds came up short for the Rams from atop the arc.

Lake Mary outscored Dr. Phillips 23-14 in the final period but were unable to carry that momentum over.

In overtime, Arianna Cumbie and Griffey each knocked down shots to put Dr. Phillips up by four points before Jones and Taylor tied the game up on trips to the free throw line. Following Griffey’s free throw to put the Panthers ahead for the final time, the last two shots of the game came up empty for Lake Mary.

The win gives Dr. Phillips its first state title since 1992 and the program’s second win of the season over last year’s champion.

The game was tied at 20-20 at the break. Dr. Phillips took a 39-30 lead after three quarters.

“Once we knew how to break their press and break their defense it was easy from then on,” Griffey said. She finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-15 attempts and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Hannah Schaible grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for Dr. Phillips while classmate Sydnei McCaskill led all players with six assists. McCaskill also finished with eight points and seven rebounds. The Panthers played with just one junior and one senior throughout the season.

Jones, one of four senior starters for Lake Mary, finished with a game-high 20 points (7-of-26) and seven rebounds. She will play her college ball at Northwestern next year. Taylor finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

On Friday, Lake Mary (29-2) takes on Miami Dr. Krop at 4 p.m. followed by Dr. Phillips (29-2) against Hollywood South Broward at 8:30 p.m. in semifinal games.

The Panthers were the only local team to defeat Lake Mary this season when they won 62-51 on Dec. 11. The Rams only other loss came by one point against Hollywood Christian.

Dr. Phillips suffered losses lost to Olympia and Edgewater this season.

Also still in the hunt for state titles are Port Orange Atlantic in Class 3A and Leesburg in Class 4A. Atlantic (21-7) plays Tampa Catholic tonight at 8:30 p.m. while Leesburg (23-6) faces St. Petersburg Lakewood on Friday at 10 a.m.

Ronni Williams averages 21.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Atlantic. Leesburg has gotten 13.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game from Ashley Perry and 13.2 points from Baylie Bridges this season.

Lake Mary senior Morgan Jones leads the defending 6A state champs with 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Senior Sarah Taylor is averaging 12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals.

The young squad at Dr. Phillips has been led by freshman Taryn Griffey, the daughter of former Major League Baseball player Ken Griffey, Jr., along with Sydnei McCaskill and Hannah Schaible. Griffey averages over 15 points and 7 rebounds per game.

The Panthers lost in the state semifinals last year 46-42 to Miami Lourdes, the team Lake Mary beat by nine points in the title game. Lake Mary lost 27-25 to Miami Norland in the 2009 state finals.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Kiaree Daniels

– Daniels Brothers In Humanitarian Bowl –

Brothers Kiaree and Akeem Daniels out of Osceola High School played bit parts in a 40-17 win for Northern Illinois on Saturday in the Humanitarian Bowl against Fresno State.

Kiaree, a senior defensive back, was in on a tackle while freshman Akeem took one carry for two yards in the win.

Kiaree finished the season with 31 tackles and an interception in 14 games. He recorded a career-high eight tackles against Minnesota on Sept. 25. Akeem scored three touchdowns and gained 87 yards on 10 carries for the 11-3 Huskies.

Correy Johnson

– Johnson Plays For D-I Volleyball Title –

Lake Howell High School alum Correy Johnson ended her sophomore season in the NCAA Division I National Championship on Saturday with the University of California volleyball team. Cal (30-4) lost 25-20, 27-25, 25-20 to Penn State, who won its fourth title in a row in Kansas City, Mo.

Johnson finished with four kills and a dig in the loss. She was selected to the 2009 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team after ranking fourth on the team in kills with 202. In her sophomore season, the middle hitter was third on the team in kills (233) and added 90 blocks.

Chase Rodgers

– Rodgers Competes for D-I Soccer Title –

The unbeaten NCAA Division I soccer season for Lake Mary alum Chase Rodgers ended in the College Cup final as his Louisville Cardinals (20-1-3) lost 1-0 to Akron in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Rodgers became a defensive starter as a redshirt freshman last season. He helped Louisville shut out eight opponents, allow just 19 goals and go unbeaten against eight ranked teams in 2010.

In the semifinals, Louisville defeated a North Carolina team featuring senior midfielder Dustin McCarty of Winter Park, who spent the 2007 season playing at UCF.

Antonio Turner

– Turner Plays In NAIA Title Game –

Former all-state football player Antonio Turner out of Edgewater High School had two tackles for Sioux Falls against Carroll College on Saturday in the NAIA National Championship.

The 42-game win streak for Sioux Falls (13-1) ended in a 10-7 loss in Rome, Ga.

Turner, a three-year letter winner while at Ole Miss before transferring his senior year, led the team with six sacks this season and finished with 24 tackles, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble through 13 games.

Check back for more updates on local alumni making marks in college.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

Following the first region tournament win in program history last week against Oviedo, the Braves benefited from the energy of its home crowd as they won a nail-biter on Tuesday against Lake Mary in five sets.

Down 10-3 in the fifth and final game of the region semifinal, the Braves fought back to keep their season alive with a 16-14 decision.

“That’s a score you just don’t come back from,” said Boone Coach Mike Ladewski. “It was all about us keeping our composure and poise.”

That’s been nothing new for this team throughout the season, though.

“With the desire this team has to win, it doesn’t surprise me that they would come back,” he said. “But yet it’s still a surprise that they were able to do it.”

Boone won the first game 27-25 then dropped the following two 25-19 and 25-18. They then coasted in the fourth game 25-15 to set up the exciting finish. With the win the Braves improved to 20-9 on the season and have now won eight in a row. They lost to Lake Mary in three games in September and Oviedo in three games in October.

This time around, though, the Braves defeated Oviedo by pulling out another come-from-behind effort of sorts. Trailing 24-19 in the fourth game of the match, they fought back to force extra serves before eventually ending the match with a 30-28 score. Boone dropped the second game in the match 25-23 and won the first and third games by 25-19 decisions.

On Saturday they expect another tough opponent to enter their gymnasium, where another enthusiastic crowd is likely to be on hand to cheer on the home team.

Boone hosts DeLand in the region finals at 2 p.m. Also still in contention in Class 6A is Olympia, who opened the tournament with a win in three sets over Gateway then won 24-26, 25-17, 27-29, 25-7, 15-11 on the road at Vero Beach.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

With wind gusts reported at over 25 miles per hour at times, Lake Mary was forced to take the title with a team-score of more than 20 strokes their typical effort on the season.

Lake Brantley finished second at 325 followed by Winter Springs and Hagerty, who each shot 341.

The Rams were led by a tournament-best score of 75 from Tyler Calderone. Brian Ross of Winter Springs shot a 77 while 78’s were turned in by Lake Brantley’s Reed Berry and Hagerty’s Daniel Wieck.

Rounding out the card for Lake Mary, the 2009 FHSAA Class 2A state champs, were Calvin Rosser (80), Sebastian Ostos (82), Billy Herring (85) and Nick Spencer (86).

Rosser finished in a three-way tie with Blake Edwards of Winter Springs and Preston Gillion of Lake Brantley to round out the top seven spots.

Lake Mary went unbeaten in conference play in eight matches and carries an 11-3 record as the district tournament approaches Oct. 18-19.

The Rams suffered 18-hole losses to Spruce Creek (311) and Olympia (319) while shooting a season-best 298 during the opening day (and a 305 on day two) of the Qdoba Tournament of Champions, which was won by Cardinal Newman.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

There will be a few new faces on the links in 2010 for the Lake Mary boys golf team as the 2009 FHSAA Class 2A champs look to defend their title.

Lake Mary 2009 State Champs

Last season the Rams won the program’s third state championship since 2004 by an eight-stroke advantage over Martin County at Silver Spring Shores Golf Club. This time around though, Lake Mary fields a senior-laden group as they attempt to turn that success into back-to-back bragging rights by season’s end.

“They know how difficult it’s going to be,” said Lake Mary Coach Doug Peters of his returnees.

Two weeks ago practices began for Lake Mary without individual champion Han Kim (9-under par) and Hojin Kang (3-under), who both began collegiate careers at UCF this month. That means the pressure falls on the clubs of Tyler Calderone (6-over), Nick Spencer (9-over) and Calvin Rosser (13-over) to lead the way.

Peters said they’ve spent the summer staying active on the golf course, eyeing the chance to not only continue their dominance in the Seminole Athletic Conference but to return to the very place they left off in 2009.

“There’s just something special about having a group of seniors with a lot of tournament experience heading into the season,” said Peters. “We’ve just been really fortunate to have had some great talent come through here over the years.”

New to the fold are three transfers, all of which are seniors whom Peters says has fit right in with the team since their arrival.

William Herring moved in from North Carolina and is already committed to NC State, while Sebastian Ostos spent last year in Alabama and Mike Yamin transfers in from Orlando University High School.

Now that the new cast is in place, the Rams get a chance to see how they stack up with season-opening matches at The Golf Club at Cypress Head against Spruce Creek on Wednesday, Sept. 1 then at Twin Rivers Golf Club against Oviedo on Sept. 2.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

In both games, the winning teams controlled the tempo for most of the way even as Winter Springs needed a little extra time to settle things in overtime.

“Our girls stepped up and played as hard as they could to get [that last goal] when they needed to,” said head coach Kurt Oettl.

Oviedo, on the other hand, is right back where it was a year ago and hope to make the most of the position they’re in once again.

“A district tournament can help set you up for later and get you on a roll,” said Oviedo coach Scott Waisanen.

– No. 2 Winter Springs (14-5-3) over No. 3 Lake Mary (10-6-2)

In a matchup featuring two of Seminole County’s best goalkeepers – Shelby Savolainen of Winter Springs and Megan Lynch of Lake Mary – the real story was how the Bears nearly squandered away the game before coming out on top 2-1 in overtime.

Winter Springs controlled possession of the ball for much of the night, to the point where Lake Mary was unable to get as much as a shot on goal until nearly 10 minutes had passed in the second half.

The Bears were aggressive on the offensive end of the field as senior forwards Vanessa Aponte and Shelby Guenthardt, and junior midfielder Taylor Hoch forced Lynch into a busy night in the net.

Aponte scored the games first goal, her 26th of the season, when she drilled a free kick from just outside the box that landed into the lower left corner of the net a little more than eight minutes into the game.

The 1-0 lead held up most of the way, until Lake Mary junior defender Rachel Buffalo bounced a soft header past a defender as Savolainen was caught out of position to tie the game with less than nine minutes to play. It was just the fourth legitimate opportunity the Rams could muster on goal.

The overtime period didn’t last long, though. Aponte had two shots on goal saved by Lynch, the last of which was a spectacular diving effort that set up the game-winning corner kick. Once the kick sailed to the far post it bounced back toward the front of the goal off of the foot of a Winter Springs player and was promptly tapped in by junior midfielder Meredith Ciocca to end the game.

Lynch finished with nine saves in the loss but saw plenty more shots sail off the mark from the likes of senior midfielders Samantha Murphy and Michelle Samper.

– No. 1 Oviedo (17-4-1) over No. 5 Lake Brantley (8-9-3)

Oviedo has carried the torch as Central Florida’s top girls soccer team for much of the season, routinely bringing the best out of their opponents after advancing to the state semifinals a year ago.

It took some time to settle down on Wednesday during a 3-0 win over the Patriots, but the slow start did nothing to take away from a dominant effort.

Led by the aggressive play of junior midfielders Katie O’Kennedy and Morgan Campbell, the Lions continued to apply the pressure until Lake Brantley eventually broke down the stretch.

Despite missing its mark on a barrage of shots, Oviedo took an early 1-0 lead when a throw-in from April Asby slipped through the hands of keeper Lilian Valle for the first score of the night.

In typical fashion, the Lions moved the ball through a multitude of positions and had no less than 10 different players take a shot in the direction of Lake Mary’s goal.

Late in the game, Erin Phillips punched in a goal on a deflected save following a long attempt from a teammate and O’Kennedy added another goal less than three minutes later.

– More Local Girls Soccer Coverage –

Game recap at Orlando Sentinel

Game photos by Stephen M. Dowell

– To nominate athletic performances for inclusion each Wednesday to the Top-5 list of Orlando Sports Central Standouts, send over an email to JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com –

Ali Schrader (Photo by Jim Hogue)

1.) Ali Schrader – Rollins Tars – The freshman forward helped the Rollins College women’s soccer team win its first Sunshine State Conference tournament title when her goal in the 50^th minute held up in a 1-0 win over Florida Southern over the weekend. With the win, which came on their home field, the Tars (15-1-2) earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament against the winner between Florida Tech and Saint Leo on Saturday. Schrader was named SSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after scoring her first three goals of the season at the tournament.

2.) Han Kim – Lake Mary Rams – Last week Kim dominated the field at the Class 2A Golf State Finals in Ocala as he shot a 9-under par 135 over two days at Silver Springs Shores to earn the gold medal. His day one score of 70 and day two efforts of 65 (on the Par 72 course) were six strokes better then all other competitors and helped Lake Mary win the team title by two strokes.

3.) Tom Smith – Apopka Blue Darters – The junior running back rushed for 152 yards on 11 carries, scoring four touchdowns and three two-point conversions in the first half for Apopka as they raced out to a 66-14 win on the road over Ocoee last week to claim the Class 6A, District 5 title. (Game Recap)

Mike Sims-Walker

4.) Jalen Singleton – Bishop Moore Hornets – By scoring three touchdowns in the second half and making big plays in the secondary for the Hornets, Singleton helped Bishop Moore wrap up the Class 2A, District 4 title in a 23-0 win at Jones. Singleton rushed for 162 yards on 22 carries, which included scores from 43, 5 and 5 yards out. (Game Recap)

5.) Mike Sims-Walker – Jacksonville Jaguars – The former Edgewater and UCF football standout posted the best receiving-yards effort for the Jaguars since 2000 on Sunday when he caught six passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in a 24-21 win against Kansas City. It was his third 100-yard game of the season.

More ––

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 11/4/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/28/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/21/09

Orlando Sports Central Standouts – 10/14/09

–– Class 2A ––

An experienced boys team at Lake Mary recorded a 583 score over two days (300, 283) thanks to a solid showing in the second day of competition at Silver Springs Shores (Par 72) in Ocala to beat out Stuart Martin County (581), Weston Cypress Bay (596), Fort Walton Beach (604) and Olympia (605).

- 2A Boys – Team Scores

Leading Lake Mary, and all other golfers in the state, was senior Han Kim with a phenomenal 9-under par score of 135 (70, 65). Olympia’s Joey Petronio tied for second in the state with a 3-under score of 141 (73, 68) at the tournament.

- 2A Boys – Individual Scores

With three freshman and two seniors on its girls golf team Lake Mary wrapped up the state title by eight strokes over Melbourne Viera, 625-633, at the 72-par Ocala Golf Club. Plant City Durant (652) came in third followed by Gulf Breeze (655), Timber Creek (667) and Olympia (670).

- 2A Girls – Team Scores

Lake Mary was led by senior Jessica Schall, who shot a 70 and 76 to tie for seventh in the individual standings. Winter Park senior Brandi Rodriguez tied for second in the state with a 2-under par score of 142 (72, 70).

- 2A Girls – Individual Scores

–– Class 1A ––

The Trinity Prep boys golf team finished in a fourth-place tie with Ocala Trinity Catholic in the team standings at the 72-par Juliette Falls in Dunnellon with a score of 606 after shooting 303 during both days of competition. North Palm Beach Benjamin took the championship with a 580 score followed by Fort Lauderdale Archbishop McCarthy (589) and West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman (590).

- 1A Boys – Team Scores

Trinity Prep was led by sophomore Collin Engelhardt, who finished tied for 12^th overall with Circle Christian freshman Ryan Stovash. They both shot a 3-over total of 147.

- 1A Boys – Individual Scores

The young girls squad at Lake Highland Prep took fourth place with a 629 score behind Plantation American Heritage (590), St. Petersburg Northside Christian (603) and Naples Community School (626) at the 72-par Golden Hills Gold & Turf Club in Ocala.

- 1A Girls – Team Scores

Sophomore Mary Fran Hillow led a Lake Highland team that featured two sophomores, two freshmen and a sixth-grader as she shot a 78 and 70 to tie for ninth overall. Lake Nona freshman Ashley Holder tied for third in the state with a 1-under par score of 143 (73, 70) while Orlando Circle Christian sixth-grader Abbey Carlson shot 1-over par to tie for sixth with a 145 score.

- 1A Girls – Individual Scores

–– More FHSAA State Championship golf coverage ––

Video recap of boys golf at Varsity Sports

Video recap of girls golf at Varsity Sports