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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Gaither High

Lutz teen gets heartwarming surprise

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When Abbie Grace Flohr returned to her Lutz neighborhood after a life-saving surgery, she was greeted with a life-affirming welcome home celebration.

Cheryl Flohr stands with her daughter, Abbie Grace, in front of a large group of well-wishers. Abbie Grace, who will be a freshman this fall at Steinbrenner High School, just returned home. The teenager had been hospitalized following a six-hour surgery to remove a blood clot from a vein near her heart. (Courtesy of Carter Gaddis)

The young woman, who will be a freshman at Steinbrenner High this fall, was coming home from the hospital, after a surgery to address a massive blood clot in a vein near her heart, according to her mom, Cheryl Flohr.

The operation took six hours and involved putting in five stents.

This is just the latest medical issue for Abbie Grace, who has been hospitalized more than 120 times, her mom said.

When Julie Dumois-Sands, the social worker at Martinez Middle School heard that Abbie Grace would be returning home, she came up with the idea of greeting the girl with a driveway concert and car parade.

Dumois-Sands turned for help to Karen Bishop, a retired Martinez Middle orchestra teacher.

Bishop texted some of her former students to see if they could help, and she got a huge response.

Some of the volunteer musicians were Bishop’s private students, so they didn’t even know Abbie Grace.

Just the same, they turned out to create a pop-up orchestra with 25 players, including Steven Bossert, orchestra director at Plant High, and musicians from Martinez Middle and Steinbrenner, Gaither, Hillsborough and Blake high schools.

Karen Bishop stands with Abbie Grace Flohr in front of a group of musicians who welcomed the young woman home with a driveway concert and car parade.

They played a 10-minute concert, without the benefit of any practice.

It was: “Show up. Set up. Let’s go,” Bishop said.

Besides being the social worker at Martinez, Dumois-Sands also founded the school’s Circle of Friends, Bishop said. That group aims to prevent bullying and to promote inclusion, and both Bishop and Abbie Grace are among its members.

Abbie Grace and her mom were touched by the outpouring of warmth.

“We live in a place where we truly are a community,” Cheryl Flohr said. “Over 20 kids took time out of their day to do this. Thank you to all of our friends that came by to show your support,” she said.

But, Abbie Grace and her mom weren’t the only ones to take joy from the event, Bishop said.

“It certainly brought sunshine to a lot of people, not only the Flohr family, but to the kids, parents and teachers that just wanted to spread the love —  a much needed thing, especially when the world is a tough place right now, the retired orchestra teacher said.

This kind of love makes the world a “kinder place” and offers hope for the future, she said.

Published July 08, 2020

Record 3-point shooter adds new challenges

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Justin Dargahi, a record-holding three-point shooter, has added a few new challenges for 2016 and beyond.

First: Turn around the struggling Gaither High girls varsity basketball program.

Next: Set the world record for most three pointers made by a pair, in one minute.

Dargahi — the Guinness World Record for the most 3s made from NBA range (23 feet, 9 inches) in one minute (26) — first hopes to bring some cache to the Gaither High’s girls basketball program.

It won’t be easy for the former Land O’ Lakes High girls head JV (junior varsity) coach.

The Cowboys—which went a combined 5-38 the last two seasons—have had six straight losing seasons.

Yet, that doesn’t deter Dargahi, who will be the program’s fourth head coach in six years, once tryouts begin Oct. 24.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge,” he said. “I love proving people wrong.”

He relishes it.

“You have room to improve. If you take over a great team, what are you trying to accomplish?” he said.

“Hopefully, we can increase our win total a lot just this coming year alone.”

It will be tough, he acknowledged, considering Gaither High plays in a highly competitive eight-team district (Class 8A, District 8).

It’s one stacked with perennial prep powerhouses in Wiregrass Ranch, Plant, Freedom and Steinbrenner high schools.

“It’s hard to win and advance anywhere when you have four or five great teams out of eight,” said Dargahi. “Luckily, we have a good three weeks of practice before the first game (Nov. 15).

His blueprint starts with building around junior Janae Lyle, the team’s top returning player (7.6 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, 1.9 steals per game).

“It is a lot of specifying toward your players’ talents,” said Dargahi, a former basketball player at Cambridge Christian School. “I refuse to go into the first game not having specified positions.”

It also includes implementing a pressure man-to-man defense to help close out one-possession games.

“I love pressing,” he said. “I love getting steals, turnovers. That’s how you score points,” he said.

“I think the best (coaching) aspect is game management,” he added.

When not on the sidelines, meanwhile, Dargahi will be spending ample time at the three-point line. The new Gaither coach is teaming up with Teddy Dupay — a former Florida Gators basketball standout (1998-2001) and current boys basketball coach at Cambridge Christian School — to break the Guinness World Record for most three-pointers made by a pair in one minute.

The current record is 19, set by Harlem Globetrotters’ Cheese Chisholm and Ant Atkinson. The previous record (15) was set by NBA all-stars Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks).

Though Dargahi hasn’t set an official attempt date, he figures it will “definitely be before Thanksgiving (Nov. 24).”

Dargahi, who claims he makes anywhere from 75 percent to 80 percent of attempted 3-pointers, said the feat largely boils down to each participant making 10 shots. It’s possible, he said, considering both his and Dupay’s shooting prowess. (Dupay ranks 10th all-time in Florida Gators history for career 3-point field goals made with 188.)

“We’re both very confident with our shooting,” Dargahi said. “The good thing about this record — both shooters have to be awesome. You can’t have one guy carry it.”

But the difficulty, he said, lies in get enough shots up in 60 seconds.

“I don’t even know how many shots we can get up, to be honest. I’m guessing 25 to 30, at the most,” said Dargahi.

The strategy, he added, will include court positioning — the wings or the top-of-the-key — and conserving energy across multiple attempts.

“I think we’ll at least try it for an hour, or an hour-and-a half,” Dargahi said.

Perhaps one aspect working in the duo’s favor: home court advantage.

“I’ve shot more balls at Cambridge than any other gym,” he said. “There’s a little bit of a comfort zone.”

Additionally, Dargahi has been approved by Guinness to attempt world records for most individual free throws in one minute (51) and most individual three-pointers in two minutes (44).

“The free throw one is tough,” Dargahi said. “I just tried it once just to see, and I didn’t even get up 51 shots. I definitely have to speed it up to shoot. If I could get up just 55 (shots), I like my chances.”

Published Oct. 19, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

Area spring football preview: Hillsborough County

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Spring football practices are underway for Hillsborough County schools in our coverage area. Programs such as Gaither High and Freedom High are hoping for turnarounds, while Steinbrenner and Wharton high schools are trying to build off last season’s successes. Carrollwood Day School fits the bill as a possible team on the rise for 2016.

 

Carrollwood Day School
Coach: Lane McLaughlin (10th year)
2015 record: 7-4       

Carrollwood Day School prep fans should be excited about the potential for an entertaining season, and not just because the private school’s football team will be playing at a brand-new athletic complex in 2016. A majority of Carrollwood’s young playmakers on offense return, including incumbent quarterback Raymond Woodie Jr., leading rusher Yahsin Wooten (740 yards, 8 TDs) and leading receiver Markeis Colvin (20 receptions, 501 yards, 4 TDs.) The Patriots also return their top two tacklers from last season in linebackers Ryan Verscharen and Stephen Walters, who will be seniors. Replacing the production of two sack artists in Zac Watson-Parcells and Corey Shamley will be key to take a step forward in 2016.

Freedom High School
Coach: Floyd Graham (1st year)
2015 record: 3-7

Freedom High School Coach Floyd Graham is likely in for a rebuilding year. (File photo)
Freedom High School Coach Floyd Graham is likely in for a rebuilding year.
(File photo)

It’s likely a rebuilding year for new Freedom coach Floyd Graham, who was officially hired on April 1. The good news for those that closely follow Freedom’s program is it’s something Graham should be able to handle, considering he created football programs from scratch at both Newsome and Steinbrenner high schools. However, Graham will have some uphill battles to climb in year one. Being hired in April doesn’t give him much time to implement his coaching philosophy, and develop a rapport with both players and assistant coaches. Also, the team is losing a plethora of seniors from 2015, including do-it-all playmaker Nasir Core.

Gaither High School
Coach: Jason Stokes (6th year)
2015 record: 4-6

In order to improve in 2016, the Cowboys must make some strides on the offensive side of the ball. The team scored nine points or fewer in six out of their 10 games. Luckily for Coach Stokes, bellcow running back Alex Rodriguez returns. Getting quarterback Gavin Denboer to cut down on his interceptions (10) is a must. The Cowboys defense should be able to hold its own, with the return of linebacker Decalon Brooks, last year’s leading tackler (114). The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Brooks, the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks, is widely viewed as one of the top players in all of Tampa. The consensus three-star recruit already has Division I scholarship offers from Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Illinois and University of South Florida.

Steinbrenner High School
Coach: Andres Perez-Reinaldo (5th year)
2015 record: 9-2

The Warriors finally had a breakout season in 2015 under the tutelage of head coach Andres Perez-Reinaldo. Thanks to a potent offense and an at-times smothering defense, Steinbrenner’s only two setbacks last season were against dynasty prep programs in Manatee (Bradenton) High and Dr. Phillips (Orlando) High. On offense, quarterback Collin Wray (56 percent completion, 1,634 yards) returns, as do two of his favorite targets in Brett Bitter (35 receptions, 600 yards) and Carson Kaleo (34 receptions, 277 yards). Replacing the production of 1,000-yard rusher Jayquese Dantley is something the team will need to address. On defense, Coach Perez-Reinaldo and his staff must find some players that can carry the load, since the Warriors lose three leading tacklers in Tyler Mirabella, Patrick Lukert and Zack Deitz.

Wharton High School
Coach: David Mitchell (12th year)
2015 record: 8-2

The Wildcats enjoyed a successful 2015 campaign, with sizable victories over the likes of King High, Gaither High, Wiregrass Ranch and Leto High. However, it won’t be easy to replicate the scoring outputs (at least 30 points in seven games) from 2015. Coach Mitchell will have to replace quarterback Bryce Martin, leading rusher Miles Williams (1,102 yards, 10 TDs) and leading receiver Devontres Dukes (18 receptions, 360 yards) from last year’s squad. They also lost defensive stalwarts in linebacker Hayden Parks (75 tackles) and defensive lineman Godey Coleus (six sacks). One possible breakout candidate to watch is two-way player Shannon King, who will be a junior. The powerful 5-foot-10, 210-pounder rushed for nearly 400 yards, adding 6.9 yards per carry.

Published May 4, 2016