Gulliver Prep's phenom bowler Andrew Koff captured his third District 14 boys' individual title in four years with a 728-631 win over Palmetto's Amir Merali on Monday at Bird Bowl.

Koff, who won a state championship as a freshman, qualified for the state tournament in Orlando even though the Raiders were eliminated as a team.

``He's [Koff] the hardest-working bowler in the state of Florida,'' Gulliver coach Michael Nyitray said.

Southwest freshmen Melissa Perez won the district 14 girls' individual title with a 594-570 win over Palmetto's Melissa Covert.

The Coral Reef and South Dade boys' bowling team fought hard for the district title, but after falling to the consolation bracket, South Dade surged back for a win over the Barracudas.

Ana Koff, who bowled a team-high 563 to help her team advance to the second round of the district tournament, lead Gulliver to a stunning upset of GMAC champion Palmetto. The Raiders had lost earlier in the second round but rallied for a late win.

In District 13, Columbus' Feliz Lopez bowled 613 to win the boys' individual title and lead the Explorers to a team victory over Braddock.

Braddock's Natalie Alvarez, who finished with a 394 to win the girls' individual title, lead the Bulldogs to a win over South Miami.

BASKETBALL

Several of Miami-Dade County's top girls' players have recently committed to colleges.

Hialeah's Chandler Merkerson and Jasmine Wilkins were the latest. Merkerson committed to the University of North Florida, and Wilkins chose Bethune-Cookman Cookman.

Gulliver's Alyssa Baron recently chose the University of Pennsylvania. Baron has been chosen The Miami Herald's All-Dade Class 4A-1A Girls' Basketball Player of the Year twice.

Lourdes' Takia Brooks, last year's Class 6A Player of the Year, also recently committed to Florida Atlantic. Brooks averaged 17.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

-- ANDRE C. FERNANDEZ

BOWLING

The Goleman boys' bowling team upset previously unbeaten Krop 3-1 (136-182, 167-154, 148-135, 153-119) in the District 12 championships on Monday at the Pembroke Pines AMF Bowling Center.

The Gators lost their first-round match against Carol City, but they rallied back from the consolation bracket and handed Krop two losses in the finals to claim the school's first district title.

``We were always below them,'' said Goleman bowler Rick Jimenez, whose three-strike 10th frame in the Gators' first match against Krop gave his team the win. ``But we came out here when it counts and made it happen.''

Krop's Daniel Graham won the individual title, followed by Carol City's Christopher Pichardo and Ronald Davis.

Goleman and Krop advance to next week's state championships along with Pichardo, Davis and American's James Monroe.

On the girls' side, North Miami Beach defeated Carol City 3-1 (132-114, 135-135 [50-18], 93-98, 123-118) to win the district. Both teams are going to states, as are Krop's Andrea Regalado, North Miami's Kayanna Peel and Hialeah-Miami Lakes bowler Cindy Ly.

Katherine Jones of North Miami Beach won the individual title followed by sister Victoria Jones and Regalado.

-- EVAN DREXLER

MORE BOWLING

• District 13 boys' teams that advance to the state tournament: 1. Columbus, 2. Braddock: District 13 individual boys that advance: Ivan Ramirez (RR) 503, Ari Pena (RR) 449, Jose Gonzalez (RR) 403.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@