Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

The Freedom girls soccer team did not win a district championship until the program’s seventh season in 2010 and has known nothing but titles since then.

The Patriots (4-1-1), who were 11-2-3 in 2010-11, won consecutive Class 5A-District 9 championships the last two years and the current group is out to make it three in a row.

“When we started out we were always the underdogs,” said senior forward Jenna Stiling. “The last two years we’ve really worked together as a team. All the players on our team had the potential, but we weren’t really working together before. Maybe we didn’t have the best speed or skill, but we had heart, and I think that’s why we’re the two-time defending district champs.”

The Patriots’ seniors came close to making the playoffs as freshmen, but came up one win short after falling against Newsome in penalty kicks in the district semifinals.

“Losing like that after playing so hard was tough,” said senior goalkeeper Emily Ball. “We came back and won two district titles with a different coach my sophomore and junior years. To win districts even with a coaching change shows the strength of our team. It’s been a great building process.”

Jenna Ball took over as Freedom’s coach before last season. The former Division I player at the University of South Carolina and University of South Florida (USF) took a team that lost all but two starters to graduation and helped make it into a repeat district champion.

“We came from almost a broken team last year because we lost so many people,” Emily said. “We had so many people who had to step up to make it happen.”

Graduation will be much less of a factor this year, as the Patriots lost only Katie Cerillo.

“We basically have the same team on the field,” said senior defender Suzanna Crochet. “We have a few seniors who weren’t starting last year who can fill in, so I think we can be even better.”

The squad returns its top two scorers from last year in Jenna and Leah Stiling, who posted 13 and eight goals, respectively. The fraternal twins enjoy working together on the Patriots attack.

“We’ve always played on the same soccer field, so I know where she’s going to go,” said Leah, who is 19 minutes older than Jenna. “We’re a little competitive to see who can score more goals, but it’s mostly fun.”

Jenna has jumped out of the gate fast this season, scoring seven goals in Freedom’s first three games.

Also back is most of the Patriots’ midfielding and defensive core, along with Emily and her 76 saves, 10 shutouts and six goals against last year at goalkeeper.

Freedom won’t have to learn how to play together this year, but the returners know they cannot rely on past year’s chemistry.

“The junior class last year had to prove we deserved to be here because everyone counted us as underdogs,” said senior midfielder Alyssa Daniello. “I feel like this year we have to work just as hard and have that feeling of nobody expects us to win. We don’t want the team to be complacent because that’s what made us good last year.”

Senior midfielder Sara Hill added, “Last year we had that want to come out and prove we could win even though we lost a lot of players, so the pressure now is we have to do it again. When you’re on top at any time you can go down.”

Along with the pressure to live up to consecutive district titles, the Patriots are driven by the strange way last season ended.

As a district champion, Freedom was supposed to host its regional quarterfinal contest against Naples Gulf Coast, but the lights would not come on at the Patriots’ field.

“That was probably the strangest game of my entire life,” Daniello said. “I remember pulling up to the school and the lights were out. We had to stand around to see what was happening.”

The game was moved to USF’s field, but the lights failed there after regulation. The squads went to Wharton High for overtime and eventually penalty kicks, where Gulf Coast came out victorious 4-2.

The Patriots have been ready for the new season since that unusual end to the 2010-11 campaign.

“The entire beginning of the school year all everyone on the team has been talking about is how excited we are to play again,” Crochet said.

Freedom travels to district rival Wiregrass Ranch on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. before hosting Plant on Friday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.

–All stats as recorded to C2Cschools.com by coaches.

 

By Kyle LoJacono

Gaither senior wide receiver Carlo Perello remembers the first few practices during last spring.

They were the first with new coach Jason Stokes, and it didn’t take long for Perello to learn he was the right man to lead the Cowboys’ football program into the future.

“He went all out for us this year,” Perello said. “We all appreciate what he’s done for us this year and we all love him. I wish he was here three years ago and we’d have been a whole different team.”

Perello was one of 25 seniors on Gaither’s roster Stokes had to win over in order to get the squad a playoff berth for the first time since 2008.

“It’s hard to win over seniors being a first-year coach, but they deserve all the credit for buying into what we were doing,” Stokes said. “They were hungry to win. They were tired of the past and wanted something fresh. They didn’t fight me. As far as the discipline and the commitment, they gave their all for me and their teammates and themselves.”

Perello has seen Gaither at its lowest. His first year on the varsity squad was 2009, a year when the Cowboys went 1-9 and were outscored 334-66.

Gaither went 3-7 last year and lost two of its first three games this season before winning eight of its last 10 contests to finish the season.

The improvement allowed the Cowboys, who finished last in their district the previous two seasons, to play in the month of December for only the second time in the program’s 27-year history.

“We started off slow, but as we started to win we realized we were a great team,” Perello said. “We started believing in ourselves. We all bought into the new offense and the changes made and we all wanted to be here.”

Stokes was sad to see Perello and the other seniors’ high school careers ended on a 42-14 loss to Lakeland in the Class 7A regional finals, but said they helped lay the groundwork for something building in northern Hillsborough County.

“We’re going to take this momentum and just roll into the offseason,” Stokes said. “Get into the weight room and all our offseason things we have going on. I’m excited about next year’s team already.”

 

By Kyle LoJacono

It’s hard to miss the strong and confident voice of Emily Ball directing traffic on the field during Freedom girls soccer games.

The senior goalkeeper calls back defenders when needed, yells out when everyone should press the attack and warns her teammates of an approaching opponent.

“She definitely leads the team vocally in the back,” said Patriots second-year coach Jenna Ball. “It’s hard to find a keeper who is vocally so dominating on the field. Usually they’re shy in high school, but she automatically leads the team like that.”

And when it’s time to make a key save, Emily stops almost every routine shot and makes challenging saves look easy.

“Her athleticism just helps us out if we do make a mistake,” Jenna said. “We try not to, but if we do she is usually there to make the save.”

Emily made 76 saves and posted 10 shutouts while allowing only six goals last season, making her teammates confident she will stop virtually everything.

“It’s really reassuring knowing that we have somebody who we completely trust behind us,” said senior midfielder Alyssa Daniello. “It’s great to have such a strong captain and player who will have our backs just in case.”

Emily looks and acts like she has been between the pipes for her entire life, but she has only played the position for about 7 years.

“I became a goalkeeper when I was about 11,” Emily said. “That’s not where I started, but I’m glad it’s where I’m at.

“The thing I usually get is you’re crazy because all goalkeepers are crazy,” Emily continued. “Maybe that’s true, but I like the look on a strikers face with the disappointment and frustration when they can’t score.”

Emily got some playing time as a freshman, but took over as Freedom’s starter the following year. See has posted 16 shutouts while allowing only 14 goals during her first three seasons in high school.

Emily has committed to the University of South Carolina and plans to study engineering.

“It has a very great family atmosphere, and they have a great goalkeeping program,” Emily said. “It feels like family.”

After college, Emily said she would like to try a career as a professional soccer player but won’t be crushed if it does not happen.

“I love soccer,” Emily said. “My favorite memories are on a soccer field. If it becomes a career that’s great, but if not I’ll always have those great memories.”

By Kyle LoJacono

Despite his stoic demeanor, Wesley Chapel boys basketball coach Doug Greseth can hardly contain his excitement when talking about what is possible for his team this year.

“At this point I just feel like we’re so much better than this time last year,” Greseth said. “We have a lot of really good basketball players who are getting better every day.”

The 9-year Wildcats coach has that feeling not only because of the talent, but also because of how young most of his players are. Wesley Chapel (5-0) made regionals last year, the first time since 2007, with only one senior.

The Wildcats, who finished with a 13-16 record, entered the district tournament last year as the No. 6 seed, but reached the finals to earn a postseason spot. Wesley Chapel was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by cross-town rival Wiregrass Ranch, but earned experience that will serve the players this year.

“I thought making regionals was invaluable for the team,” Greseth said. “We had times last year when we started two sophomores and two freshmen or three sophomores and a freshman. We were very young, but we did what I thought we would do. We struggled early but improved as the season went on.

“The good thing is this year we have about eight players with at least a year on varsity,” Greseth continued. “I can already see the difference. We’re just so much better just from experience standpoint and the players getting more mature with their bodies and minds.”

Being in the postseason is nothing new to the Wildcats. The program made the final four in 2002, just three years after the school opened. Wesley Chapel returned to states the next year, a season that saw the squad lead Florida in scoring with 83.7 points per game.

The Wildcats made the playoffs every year from 2002-07, but it has been a process to get the squad back to that level.

“When Wiregrass opened up a few years ago that took some of our players,” Greseth said. “The year they opened up I had seven players that went over there. So we’ve been hovering around .500 the last few years, but I really think we have a good group here. For the next three or four years I have a good feeling about the guys we’ve got now.”

The players are confident they can get Wesley Chapel back to making deep postseason runs.

“I think winning districts and regionals is possible,” said sophomore guard Carson Emery. “I think we have the talent to get to the final four.”

Junior forward Erik Thomas, who posted 15.2 points per game last year while adding 220 rebounds and 75 assists, is also excited about what is possible this season.

“We’re all ready to go out and have an even better season,” said Thomas. “We want to have a better record, get back to regionals and from there just see what we can do.”

Most of the Wildcats are back from last year’s team, but they will have to replace the points put up by 2010-11 leading scorer Christian Parra, who transferred to Wiregrass Ranch. The junior point guard led Wesley Chapel with 15.4 points per game while adding 91 assists, 83 rebounds and 59 steals last season.

Moving into Parra’s spot at point guard is junior Stefan Bayne, who scored 4.5 points per game while adding 76 assists, 41 rebounds and 40 steals.

“I think it’s more of a team effort,” Bayne said. “I’m not trying to make up for the points he scored all by myself. I’ll just do what I’m capable of and if we all do that we’ll be fine.”

Emery will also play point, but his accuracy makes him lethal as a shooting guard.

“I try and practice shooting every day,” Emery said. “Usually I take about 500 shots every other day. The confidence comes from that and not some natural mindset.”

Greseth said his three seniors, Julian Vann, Sasha Mentor and Xavier Leatherbury, will be leaned on for their experience and leadership this year as well.

“I’m going to go all out and leave everything on the court,” Vann said. “I’d like to get us back to states like Wesley Chapel used to.”

The Wildcats have already secured a small victory this year by winning the River Ridge Thanksgiving Tournament. Wesley Chapel defeated Land O’ Lakes 62-38 before taking down Tarpon Springs 54-31 to claim the title.

Thomas, who was named tournament MVP, had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in the championship game. Sophomore center Marcus Hayne added 13 assists and nine rebounds in the victory against Tarpon Springs.

The Wildcats host Hudson on Tuesday, Dec. 6 and Pasco on Friday, Dec. 9. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

By Jeff Odom

Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

The Steinbrenner girls basketball team has spent the last two seasons clawing its way up the ladder to become a competitive program.

From finishing one game under .500 during its first season in 2009-10 to capturing its first winning record with a 15-7 record last year, the squad had been focused on gaining respect. Now in Year 3, the talk of a district championship is starting to brew.

“I think with the new district alignment, we will have a very good opportunity to win the district title,” said Warriors coach J.R. Allen, the only coach in program history.

The new alignment matches Steinbrenner (3-1) against Freedom (5-0), Gaither (1-6), Wiregrass Ranch (5-2) and Chamberlain (3-2) in Class 7A-District 9.

Allen said his team is in good position for a title because numerous district opponents lost key players to graduation last year.

“Three of the teams that are in our district were hit hard by graduation and therefore will have to rely on some unproven players to step in and represent their teams,” Allen said.

Freedom, which went 20-6 and won a district championship last year, lost its top-two scorers to graduation.

Point guard Kaitlynn Pacholke posted 15.3 points, 8.8 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 steals per game in 2010-11. She is currently playing at Jacksonville State University on a basketball scholarship. Freedom also lost forward/center Lindsay Taggart, who put up 14.1 points, 8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game last season.

Gaither also lost its top-two scorers from the 2010-11 squad that went 6-14. Departing were center/forward Aja Osborne and her 12.3 points, 17.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per contest, and guard Ayanna Fullwood’s 9.1 points, 6.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 steals.

Wiregrass Ranch is coming off the rockiest offseason in the program’s six-year history. It was hit with Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) violations that included recruiting point guard Briahanna Jackson, who has since graduated from Freedom.

Greg Finkel, who had been the only coach in program history, resigned after the FHSAA found the Bulls guilty of 10 violations. John Gant was named Wiregrass Ranch’s new leader in August.

The Bulls, who finished 14-12 last year, were unable to make the postseason for the first time in three seasons and must replace three of their top four scorers. Guard Jeileen Mas, who is playing at East Wyoming College on a basketball scholarship, averaged 13.5 points last season. Fellow guard Lauren Gould and center/forward Kayla Deloach put up 9.2 and 10 points per game, respectively, a year ago.

Wiregrass Ranch does return leading scorer Kelly McCaffrey, a senior forward, and her 15.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 2.9 assists per game from the 2010-11 campaign.

Steinbrenner is fortunate enough to return every one of its players.

“We have the great luxury of returning our entire varsity team for the third year in a row, so we have great experience and veteran leadership across the board in all positions,” Allen said.

The team returns junior guards Baylee Hooker, who averaged 11.8 points per game last season; and Justice Thigpen, who recorded 4.4 rebounds per game before an injury ended her 2010-11 campaign. Also back is senior guard Alexis Wright and senior forward/center Rebecca Cohen, who averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, respectively.

Hooker says while the competition will be tougher than in years past, the squad has looked strong to open the season and is focused on reaching its goals.

“Our offseason was really crucial for us this summer,” Hooker said. She then added, “We all set personal goals and pushed ourselves to reach them. We even dedicated ourselves to (early morning) conditioning three days a week for five weeks. Practices are more intense and coach is really pushing each one of us to be the best we can be.”

The Warriors’ attention is centered on a district title, but Allen said the talent level and consistency gives them a shot of making a run to the state final four.

“I feel very strongly that we will not only win the district title this year, but also are in a great position to make a deep run,” Allen said. “We have great team speed, good depth off the bench, good size and a bit of a swagger that has been brought about due to knowing that all the hours of preparation and sacrifice are going to pay off for us.”

Steinbrenner got its first district win at Gaither on Dec. 1, a 68-17 victory. The Warriors traveled to Blake on Monday, Dec. 5, but results were not available by press time. The squad hosts Wiregrass Ranch on Tuesday, Dec. 6 before traveling to Hillsborough on Thursday, Dec. 8. Both games start at 8 p.m.

–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

 

By Kyle LoJacono

Olympic weightlifter Brad Bouthot had quite a pair of weekends to close out November.

The Wesley Chapel resident and 2007 Zephyrhills High graduate went out and won the Florida State Championships on Nov. 12 at Altamonte Springs and backed up that title with another on Nov. 20 in Miami at the Soul Open.

Bouthot put up 265 kilograms, 584 pounds, combined at the state championships. His total was matched by another lifter, but Bouthot weighed less and was therefore declared the overall champion.

Bouthot, who competes in the 187-pound weight class, posted 264 pounds in the power snatch and 320 in the clean and jerk. He was named the men’s Best Overall Lifter at the state championships, given to the best pound-for-pound athlete.

Bouthot was also named the top lifter in Miami by posting 606 total pounds, 276 snatch and 330 clean, the following week. The amounts were not only new personal bests for him, but also totaled the most of any lifter at the event. He did not have to sweat out the final outcome at the Soul Open.

“The way the meets are structured is that the athletes lifting the lighter weights go first and the barbell slowly increases in weight as each athlete takes their attempts,” Bouthot said. “Each athlete gets three attempts, so the strongest athletes will be the last ones lifting. Well I hadn’t even taken my first attempt and all the other men had already completed all their attempts. This was the case on both the snatch and the clean and jerk.”

Eric Auciello has been Bouthot’s coach since he picked up the sport less than two years ago and said it was a proud couple of weeks for him watching his pupil excel.

“Almost two years ago a young man walked into my gym and told me he wanted to be a champion,” Auciello said. “He possessed certain physical attributes that made him a natural weightlifter, but it was the intangible qualities that impressed me the most. He exuded a quiet confidence. He was driven, passionate, dedicated and hungry.”

Auciello added Bouthot is a very self-motivated person. They only see each other at Crossfit Revolution in Brandon about once every other week to make sure Bouthot is using correct form. The rest of the time the east Pasco County resident is lifting on his own.

The pair of titles for Bouthot came in a lighter weight class than he had previously competed in. He shed 9 kilograms, about 20 pounds, to get down to 187.

“It was really just a personal choice,” Bouthot said. “I felt I had extra weight that wasn’t benefiting me as an athlete that I could afford to lose. The extra baby fat wasn’t what was moving the weights. So I figured I’d clean up the diet even more than it already was and slowly see if I could lose the useless weight. Certainly I thought also that it would be beneficial to be in a lighter class as I try and move up the national ladder as well.”

Bouthot said it was pretty easy for him to lose the weight.

“The hardest part was staying away from the fridge late night,” Bouthot said. “The easiest way to lose weight like that is to eat your biggest meal earlier in the day. The worst thing you can do when trying to lose weight is load up on food within the last hours before bed. Other than that my diet didn’t really change too much in terms of the things that I ate, it was just the timing of when I ate them.”

Besides keeping up his high lift totals with his new slimmed-down frame, Bouthot is planning to compete in the Arnold Classic in March. His long-term goal is to eventually make the U.S. Olympic team.

“I’m not among that top five elite in the country yet that will have a real shot to go to the London Olympics next summer, but I won’t let anyone outwork me, and I’ll be busting mine to get to Rio, Brazil in 2016,” Bouthot said. “For 2012, I’d like to total 300 kilograms (661 pounds) in competition. Going up by 25 kilograms (55 pounds) in competition won’t be easy, but I think I can do it by the next Christmas.”

The videos of Bouthot’s lifts in Miami can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylxn_lnOfpA and www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWiNtz-Dm7s.

By Eugenio Torrens

Derrick Alexander told his football team on Day 1 of Bishop McLaughlin’s 2011 season that his team was going to have moxie to usher in the new era under the first-year coach.

“Everything’s changed. We do everything with swagger now,” said Evan Barhonovich, a senior linebacker and wide receiver for the Hurricanes (4-6).

Alexander finished his first year at the helm with Bishop McLaughlin, but he is far from inexperienced when it comes to the gridiron. He was an All-American defensive end at Florida State University and a first-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft for the Minnesota Vikings.

Now he is trying to bring what he has learned to build a foundation with the Hurricanes.

“I’ve tried to create a culture around here of we gotta work hard during the week and play hard during the games and we gotta speed practice up a little bit,” Alexander said. “What I’ve always learned, the faster you practice, the faster you play.”

In addition to speeding up the tempo at practice, Alexander has stressed the fundamentals: blocking and tackling, as well as working on hand- and footwork.

“A lot of times in high school, everybody likes to run into each other,” Alexander said. “You watch the pro and the college game, and these guys use their hands better than anybody else.”

Alexander’s players took notice quickly.

“Last year’s practice we’d all just be walking around, looking at the sky, doing our thing,” said junior Austin Meyers who plays offense and defense. He added that this year, kids come focused to practice. Barhonovich knew immediately when Alexander took over that it would be a good move.

“The first practice when we ran tons, I knew it was going to be a better year,” Barhonovich said. “Just coming out and making us run, going crazy right off the start was good for us. That’s what we needed.”

The Hurricanes started 0-5 against a stretch of teams that exposed fundamental flaws in the squad. But the rookie coach loaded the front end of his schedule with tough teams, and Bishop McLaughlin rebounded, reeling off four straight victories to reach the Sunshine State Athletic Conference playoffs.

The Hurricanes were knocked out in the first round of the postseason by Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian, 55-38 on Nov. 11.

While Bishop McLaughlin’s practices may be sped up, Alexander knows firsthand success and stability don’t come as quick.

“We’ll be around this thing popping, going quick,” Alexander said. “Everything will be done exactly kind of the way it would be done on a college level. But it takes time, it’s not going to happen in one year.”

Just a few weeks ago the South Pasco Predators youth football program had zero regional championships but now can display a trio of titles in its trophy case.

The Predators, part of the national Pop Warner youth program, play in the Foundation for Youth Development (FYD) region of Florida. The program’s Jr. Pee Wee Gold, Pee Wee Blue and Jr. Midget Blue squads each claimed championships at the regional finals on Nov. 5 at Tampa Bay Tech High.

Jr. Pee Wee Gold defeated the Palm Harbor Panthers 30-6 to complete a 9-0 season. The Jr. Midget Blue also went 9-0 by defeating the Manatee Bulldogs 37-0. Pee Wee Blue knocked off the West Pasco Prowlers 38-6 to finish with a 7-2 record.

The Predators are part of a 25-team league that includes clubs from Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties. The squad practices at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway. For more information on the program, visit www.southpascopredators.com.