The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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Longtime coach retires

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Wharton boys basketball coach Tommy Tonelli on the night of his 500th win in his coaching career. (File)

Wharton boys basketball coach Tommy Tonelli, who started the program in 1997 and won more than 500 games with the Wildcats, announced his retirement from the coaching position on April 8.

Tonelli, who turns 58 in May and is a former University of South Florida point guard, will remain at the school as a guidance counselor, but leaves a program that has seen 12 district titles, two region championships and two Final Four berths. This past season, the Wildcats were 28-3, but eventually fell to Class 6A champ Stuart Martin County in the semifinals.

Pasco High Grad, All-American honored

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Warner University women’s soccer and Pasco High grad Taylor Boyd was named an All-American for 2021 and was honored by the City of Zephyrhills on March 14. (Courtesy of Kevin Weiss)

Taylor Boyd already was an amazing athlete, but now she has the accolades and hardware to back it up.

Just months after earning 2021 NCCAA First-Team All-American status this past season at Warner University in Lake Wales, the City of Zephyrhills gave Boyd a proclamation from Mayor Gene Whitfield during a March 14 City Council meeting at Zephyrhills City Hall.

Boyd was a standout soccer player at Pasco High, where she also was part of the prestigious Cambridge program. After high school, Boyd went to Warner on a women’s soccer athletic scholarship, only to rack up numerous accolades, including: Sun Conference All-Academic Team in 2019, 2020, 2021; Sun Conference Honorable Mention in 2021; NCCAA Scholar-Athlete in 2021; and, NCCAA All-Tournament Team in 2020 and 2021.

Boyd also is known for giving back to her community, having volunteered at Meals on Wheels, the Pregnancy Care Center, filling and distributing sandbags through the Zephyrhills Police Department during Hurricane Irma, and packaging meals at Saint Leo University for the Feeding Children Everywhere program.

So, what’s next for Boyd? She plans to join the United States Air Force to become a pilot.

Local teams compete in Farm Bureau Classic

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Land O’ Lakes, Bishop McLaughlin, Wesley Chapel and Cypress Creek baseball teams all competed in the Farm Bureau Insurance High School Baseball Classic, the annual tournament held in Hernando County and featuring teams from Hernando and Pasco counties.

The Gators defeated Citrus and Central, but lost to tournament runner-up River Ridge in three games. The Hurricanes beat Central and Weeki Wachee, but lost to Springstead, while the Wildcats defeated Nature Coast, but lost to Cypress Creek and Hernando. The Coyotes won its first two games against Lecanto and Wesley Chapel, but lost the third game to the eventual tournament champion, Mitchell.

Warriors take third in softball tourney

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Steinbrenner High competed in and took third place decisively in the Inaugural 2022 Bay Made Fastpitch Invitational, which was hosted by Bay Made Fastpitch, a Tampa Bay-area based media site that covers high school softball in seven counties.

The Warriors won the third-place game handily with an 11-1 five-inning mercy-rule win over McKeel Academy, which came after also beating Durant and Calvary Christian.

Land O’ Lakes High also competed, but lost the four games it played against Lake Region, Sickles, Durant and Plant, respectively, with the games played at the Greco Softball Complex in Tampa.

Local teams compete in Saladino tourney

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Freedom, Steinbrenner and Wharton baseball teams all competed in the prestigious Saladino Baseball Tournament, held annually during Spring Break.

The Patriots defeated King and Riverview, however, dropped a heartbreak in extra innings to Robinson. The Warriors dropped three tough games against Sickles, Hillsborough and Durant, while the Wildcats lost its opening game to eventual tournament champ, Plant, but won its next two games against Durant and Hillsborough, respectively.

Center Ice to host Isobel Cup

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Starting March 18 and running through the weekend, AdventHealth Center Ice, at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., in Wesley Chapel, will host the Premier Hockey Federation’s (PHF’s) 2022 Isobel Cup Playoffs. This marks the first time the women’s hockey league will play its championship game outside of its franchise markets.

“This is like the Stanley Cup for this women’s hockey league,” said Gordie Zimmerman, the ice center’s CEO, who has run the facility since it opened more than five years ago. “We’re thrilled to be hosting this with the PHF and look forward to some great hockey over the few days these teams will be here.”

Center Ice is the largest ice sports facility in the southeastern U.S. It has housed events such as the 2017 Four Nations Cup and the 2021 NHL Prospect Showcase.

All six PHF teams will participate in the tournament and all of those games are on ESPN+. The Isobel Cup Championship game is scheduled for March 28 at 9 p.m., and will be shown on ESPN2. Five games will be played on March 25, followed by two semifinals on March 27. Tickets on Eventbrite are only available for games March 25, while the semifinals and championship are sold out.

The six PHF teams are the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride (the 2021 Isobel Cup winner), Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps and Toronto Six. The Isobel Cup is named after Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley’s daughter, Isobel, who shared his love of the game and is known to be one of the first female hockey players in Canada.

Freshwater fishing derby

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is hosting a free youth freshwater fishing derby at the Tenoroc Public Use Area, 3829 Tenoroc Mine Road in Lakeland on April 2 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Preregistration is now open and is required to attend the derby. A fishing license is not required on this date because it falls during a license-free freshwater fishing weekend.

This special event will be held on the Derby Lake Recreational Facility, a 16-acre former phosphate pit stocked with a variety of freshwater sport fish and catfish. The lake has seven fishing piers and a 200-foot boardwalk that is accessible for fishing.

In addition to this fishing opportunity, there will be a casting contest, exhibitors and other outdoor activities for youth participants. A free lunch will be provided by Publix Supermarkets. Bait, and a limited number of loaner rods and reels, will be provided free of charge to youth ages 15 and younger. A parent or guardian must accompany youth participants.

To preregister, call the FWC at 863-648-3200, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Preregistration will end on Friday, April 1 at 5 p.m.

If you would like more information about the fishing opportunities at Tenoroc Public Use Area, visit the Tenoroc Public Use Area webpage, or call the FWC’s Southwest Regional Office at 863-648-3200.

Wrestling awards

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The 2021-2022 Western Conference Wrestling awards were announced earlier this month, with several Hillsborough County athletes nabbing honors. In the American Division, six Steinbrenner High School wrestlers received first class honors. Joey Vitale (113), Daniel Bush (120), Red Noble (132), Frank Diaz (138), Christian Santana (145) and Colin Bernstein (220) helped lead the Warriors to a second-round berth in the 3A FHSAA Dual Team Wrestling Tournament in January. In the National Division, Freedom High’s Randall Watson (132), and Wharton High’s Nathan Patrick (138) and Jarquez Knight (160) also made First Team.

Outstanding students, coaches honored

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Here are the high school students and coaches honored in the East Division of the 2021-2022 Sunshine Athletic Conference Awards, for this school year’s winter season:

Boys Soccer
Offensive Player of the Year: Mick Stauffer, Sunlake
Defensive Player of the Year: Colin Bailey, Wiregrass Ranch
Coach of the Year: John Soellner, Zephyrhills

Girls Soccer
Offensive Player of the Year: Teresa Rodriguez, Land O’ Lakes
Defensive Player of the Year: Kayla Ojeda, Wiregrass Ranch
Coach of the Year: Mark Leonard, Wesley Chapel

Wrestling
Wrestler of the Year: Cassidy Grubbs, Pasco
Coach of the Year: Eddie Marley, Land O’ Lakes

Boys Basketball
Player of the Year: Josh Martin, Wiregrass Ranch
Coach of the Year: Jeremy Calzone, Wiregrass Ranch

Girls Basketball
Player of the Year: Emari Lewis, Wesley Chapel
Coach of the Year: Phyllis Crain, Cypress Creek

Cheerleading
Cheerleader of the Year: Kylie Weiser, Pasco
Coach of the Year: Dawn Wetherby, Pasco

Girls Weightlifting
Snatch Lifter of the Year: Andje Costa, Cypress Creek
Traditional Lifter of the Year: Samantha Tapanes, Sunlake

Girls soccer competes at states

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The Land O’Lakes High School Gators girls soccer team in February advanced to the state tournament by winning the Class 6A-Region 3 tournament, and capping a season noted with balanced play and nail-biting wins.

The Land O’ Lakes High School girls soccer team celebrated winning the Class 6A-Region 3 tournament with a resounding 4-0 win over nearby Wharton on Feb. 15, which advanced the Gators (13-8-1) to the program’s eighth state tournament appearance. (Courtesy of Vicky King)

“We were off to a rocky start — close to .500 the whole season,” said longtime coach Vicky King, who just finished up her 35th season at the Gators’ helm. “But after playing Sunlake in December, we played only playoff teams after that. We play a tough schedule to prepare for districts and we peaked at the right time.”

The Gators extended its season by winning the 6A-9 district title — its third-straight — with a shootout win over nearby rival Sunlake, on Feb. 1, with Land O’ Lakes winning 5-4 on penalty kicks. Then, in the first round of the regional tournament, the Gators narrowly beat Fort Myers Riverdale, 1-0, thanks to a late goal by sophomore Eve Garrett, who was one of three players that led the team with 11 goals.

“We had a lot of confidence in each other,” King said. “We became a very balanced team and didn’t depend on one individual.”

And while Garrett would add a goal in the Gators’ second-round win over Wiregrass Ranch, both the other two leading scorers — senior Teresa Rodriguez and junior Jordyn Keene — added goals.

Keene and Rodriguez would both score again in the Gators 4-0 win over Wharton that propelled the team to its third-straight final four appearance. However, the team’s season came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Miami Lourdes Academy on Feb. 18. Still, King was proud of how her team performed in what was predicted to be a rebuilding season.

“We were a highly inexperienced team coming in after losing seven starters, but they earned everything they got this season and really wanted to win, and did almost every step of the way,” King said.