LOCAL PLAYERS SIGN WITH MIAMI, FIU

The Coral Park Rams saw two athletes sign official letters of intent this week.

Senior pitcher E.J. Encinosa chose to stay close to home by signing to the University of Miami and All-Dade softball shortstop Jessica Alfonso will be joining her sister at Florida International University next year.

Encinosa, an imposing 6-3, 210-pound right-hander, has been clocked at throwing a 94 mph fastball and throws an average of 90 mph on most of his pitches.

Alfonso, who was an All-Dade selection as a junior, leads the Lady Rams with 30 career home runs.

• Miami Country Day's Sam Halpern signed an official letter of intent to play college baseball for the Buccaneers of Barry University.

Halpern is the first Spartans baseball player to sign a letter of intent to play at the collegiate level.

MLK CLASSICS PROMISE

EXCITING BASKETBALL

The fields for the boys' and girls' basketball Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Classics will be loaded with the top teams in Florida.

Current and former NBA players such as Tim James, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, Amare Stoudamire, Kwame Brown, Raja Bell, Steven Blake and Keyon Dooling all played in this event, which will be held Jan. 9-10 at Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson.

The teams in the field include four defending state champions Norland (Class 6A), Fort Lauderdale Dillard (Class 5A), Monsignor Pace (Class 4A), and Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest (Class 3A).

The other Miami-Dade teams participating are Choice Academy, South Miami, Coral Reef, Booker T. Washington, Palmetto, Krop, Northwestern and Hialeah-Miami Lakes.

The other Broward teams participating are is Miramar, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and Plantation American Heritage.

The girls' tournament, which will be held Jan. 16-17 at Dillard, includes three defending state champions and several other playoff teams including Hialeah, Norland and Krop.

Class 6A state champion South Broward, Class 4A champion Orlando Bishop Moore and Class 3A champion Miramar Parkway Academy will be featured in the event.

-- ANDRE C.

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