MLK Classic features top local hoops teams. Plus football honors & basketball & soccer results
The 27th-annual MLK Classic, which is set to start on Saturday at Monsignor Pace, features three of the top 15 boys’ basketball teams in South Florida, according to miamidadebb.com.
Northwestern (12-1) is ranked 11th, Norland (8-5) is 12th and Palm Beach Dwyer (11-2) is 15th.
Norland’s Marcus Allen, a 6-6 sophomore who is averaging 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists, is perhaps the best player scheduled to compete at the event.
Among sophomores, Allen is ranked No.18 in the nation, No.3 in the state and No.1 in South Florida, according to ESPN.com.
However, Norland coach Lawton Williams III, who has led the Vikings to six state titles since 2006, said his team has not yet developed.
“We’re not good right now,” Williams said bluntly. “We’re soft. We’re young. But how long will that be an excuse?”
Norland will try to get tougher on Monday night at 7:30 against Cypress Bay, one of 11 MLK games set for the long weekend.
Cypress Bay (13-4) is ranked seventh in Broward. In fact, they are the highest-rated Broward team in this field.
“Having won five straight games, we believe we are playing our best basketball right now,” Cypress Bay coach Jason Looky said.
Looky said his team is balanced with three double-digit scorers: 6-4 senior Kevin Pazmino, 5-10 senior Maxwell Gordon and 6-3 senior Noah Kattan.
Another good matchup is set for Monday at 4:30 p.m.: Northwestern against Hallandale (11-6).
Northwestern is led by 6-4 senior wing Camari Austin, who leads the Bulls in scoring (17.2). He had 29 points in a win over Glades Central and 27 against American.
The Bulls won 13 games all of last season and are almost at that level now under legendary coach Melvin Randall, who is in his first year at “The West.” Randall has won a Florida-record nine state titles as a coach, with all of those championships coming at Broward County schools.
Monday’s early games are: St. Brendan vs. Miami Central at noon; McArthur vs. Belen at 1:30 p.m.; and Chaminade vs. Mater Lakes at 3 p.m.
Belen is led by 5-9 junior point guard Javi Rosell, who is averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. He nearly had a triple-double against Flanagan, posting 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Belen also has 5-11 senior guard Adrian Delgado, who is averaging 16.3 points while shooting 39.7 percent on three-pointers.
“This is one of my favorite teams I’ve ever had,” Belen coach Chachi Rodriguez said. “We are small, but we play fast, we shoot three-pointers, and we defend.”
The MLK tournament starts on Saturday at 1 p.m. with American Heritage vs. Cardinal Newman. That will be followed on Saturday by Dillard vs. Central at 2:30 p.m.; Dwyer vs. South Miami at 4 p.m.; Northwestern vs. Dade Christian at 5:30 p.m.; and Carol City vs. Pace at 7 p.m.
Columbus Basketball
The Columbus boys’ basketball team defeated host Florida Christian 73-51.
A slow start put the Explorers in a 7-point hole after one quarter, but Columbus (15-1) bounced back in the second quarter to lead 27-23 at halftime.
A 27-point third quarter put the game away as Columbus made five 3-pointers, were 2-for-2 on “and-ones,” 4-for-4 from the line, and 8-for-11 from the field. High-efficiency basketball is what Columbus delivered.
Player of the Game Benny Fragela had 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting with five 3-pointers and hustled on defense. Fellow freshman Cameron Boozer added 18 points and 16 rebounds while going 6-of-8 from the field. Garyn Bess totaled 13 points.
Nicholas Mate and Charlie Bell shared top scoring honors for Florida Christian with 17 points apiece.
After winning seven of their first nine games, Florida Christian (10-6) has dropped five of its past six.
COL (15-1): Velasquez, Jalen 4; Boozer, Cayden 6; Huesa, Nicholas 1; Galleno, Daniel 2; Miranda, Angelo 1; Bess, Garyn 13; Boozer, Cameron 18; Noriega, Kevin 9; Fragela, Benny 17; Abdullahi, Malik 2. FC (10-6): Mate, Nicholas 17; Singleton, Amari 5; Gurka, Brett 2; Greene, Tyler 4; Bell, Charlie 17; Smith, Daniel 2; Williams, Levertis 1; Williams, Nathan 3. 3-Ptrs: Bess, Garyn 2; Boozer, Cameron 2; Noriega, Kevin 3; Fragela, Benny 5; Mate, Nicholas 4; Bell, Charlie 4; Williams, Nathan 1. Rebs: Boozer, Cameron 16.
More basketball
BOYS: Ransom Everglades 64, SLAM 52: The Raiders improved to 12-3.
BOYS: Ransom Everglades 62, LaSalle 41: The Raiders are now 13-3.
GIRLS: Lourdes 71, Homestead 14: Sanchez 2, Mayor 12, Rodriguez 13, Hernandez 10, Duran 5, Perez 7, Picasso 6, Schutzen 16. 3-Ptrs: Mayor 4, Schutzen 4, Rodriguez 3, Hernandez 2, Duran 1. Rebs: Hernandez 9, Mayor 5. Asts: Mayor 11. Stls: Llevat 2, Mayor 2. LOUR (13-4).
GIRLS: Palmer Trinity 50, Pine Crest 22: Montes 7, Leon 7, Alibhai 6, Veloso 6, Deleon 12, Sullivan 1, Nieves 2, Kaplan 9. Half: PT 29-10. 3-Ptrs: Deleon 3, Alibhai 1, Kaplan 3. Rebs: Leon 8. Stls: Montes 9. Asts: Montes 7. Blks: Ruiz 2. PT (8-5).
GIRLS: Ransom Everglades 43, IMater Academy 24: The Raiders are now 11-3.
GIRLS: St. Brendan 51, Coral Shores 33: StB: Toro 25, Garcia 8, Montoya 5, Schwarte 4, Gonzalez 3, Caballero 2, Piedra 2, Vindigni 2. CS: Valenzuela 20, Deckard 10, Leah 2, Renoso 1. 3-Ptrs: Toro 3, Valenzuela 2, Gonzalez. HALF: StB 27-21.
State Football Honors
Matt Thompson of Tampa Jesuit High School is the 2021 Florida Dairy Farmers Football Coach of the Year, following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school football coaches and media representatives.
In his ninth year as Jesuit’s head coach, Thompson, who was previously selected as the Class 6A Coach of the Year, led his team to a 15-0 record and the Class 6A state championship, the school’s first state title in 53 years.
Thompson compiled a 99-22 record with six state Final Four appearances during his tenure at Jesuit.
Thompson garnered 10 first-place votes and 157 points to finish ahead of Class 8A Coach of the Year John Peacock of Venice, who picked up eight first-place votes and 140 points to finish as the runner-up.
Class 7A COY Jayson Roberts of Tampa Bay Tech (85 points) finished third followed by Class 5A COY Hurlie Brown of Merritt Island (39), Class 3A COY Dameon Jones of Chaminade-Madonna (27) and Independent COY Ben Bullock of Lake Highland Prep (19).
Rounding out the voting were Class 4A COY Matt DuBuc of Cardinal Gibbons (17), Class 1A COY Mike Coe of Madison County (17) and Class 2A COY Verlon Dorminey of Trinity Christian (15).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This marks the 30th year of these unique awards as they honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports.
The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
Soccer
BOYS: Miami Country Day 1, North Broward Prep 0: Max Manhire 1 goal; Gkp Emilio Belmonte 5th shutout. MCD (5-7-1).
BOYS: Miami Beach 3, MAST Academy 0: Isrrael Rodriguez 1 goal; Mauro Lagrasta 1 goal; Gianluca Calabrese 1 goal; Gkp Ethan Zaldivar 7th shutout. MB (10-1-1).
BOYS: Ransom Everglades 3, SLAM 0: The Raiders (9-3-1) are currently ranked No.2 in Florida in Class 3A.
BOYS: University School 0, Gulliver Prep 0: Gkp Nikolas Ricardo recorded the shutout as the Sharks (9-2-2) advance to the first place game in the Palm League.
BOYS: GMAC Semifinals: Coral Gables 4, TERRA 0: Dany Guzman 3 goals; Jesse Garcia goal; Etienne Montigny 2 assists; Carlos Polita 1 assist; Gkp Gerald Escobar shutout. CG (11-1).
GIRLS: Lourdes 3, Carrollton 0: Coco Aguilar 1 goal; Eva Cova 1 goal; Tessa Abreu 1 goal; Gkp Gabriela Paredes shutout. LOUR (9-1-2).
GIRLS: Lourdes 4, West Boca Raton 0: Katerina Puig 2 goals; Tessa Abreu 1 goal; Eva Cova 1 goal; Olivia Borroto 1 assist; Samantha Diaz 1 assist; Gkp Gabriela Paredes shutout. LOUR (10-1-2).
GIRLS: Miami Beach 6, Miami High 2: Vy Elo 2 goals, 1 assist; Abby Oppenheimer 1 goal, 1 assist; Victoria Badran 1 goal; Verona Farfan 1 goal; Helena Soriano 1 goal. MB (7-4).
GIRLS: St. Brendan 8, Doral Academy 0: Isa Bowen 2 goals; Kyara Ormazabal 1 goal; Krislyn Dennis 1 goal; Eli Lambo 1 goal; Gaby Page 1 goal; Samantha Pro 1 goal; Francesca Alayon-Barrera 1 goal. Gkps Elizabeth Yu and Meagan Alvarez shutout. StB (10-3-1).
Submit sports results
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have varsity results, top performers and stats for this column, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 10:32 PM.
