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Feb 23 - Mar 8 2016

Volume 2 • Issue 3

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Featuring Florida Hall of Fame, Boys Basketball, Girls Soccer and Much More . . .

2016 Soccer State Championship Runner-up

pg 8

Bishop Moore

Winter Park 2016 Soccer incredible season

Page 2 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

Windermere Prep Boys Basketball Reach State Semi Finals

WINDERMERE –Windermere Prep is playing in its first boy’s basketball state tournament in school history. So how did they shoot? Awe-some!

The Lakers (26-5) certainly didn’t look like a team that had never played on the big stage, shooting nearly 72 percent from the field as they took down Miami Archbishop Carroll 80-61 in a Class 3A state semifinal at the Lakeland Center.Windermere Prep will play for the State title against Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy at 5 p.m. Thursday. This is a team that has been gaining momentum and looking better as each game passes.

It started early on in the season, when the Lak-ers beat opponents such as The First Academy (25-5), West Orange (6-19), Oak Ridge (20-7) and Evans (15-11). They encountered some bumps in the road mid-season, losing to Olds-mar Christian (27-9), Rock (27-8), and Lake Minneola (21-8). Despite the few losses, the Lakers were and still are winning the majority of their games. Consistency is key, and Wind-ermere has plenty of consistent players on their roster who can no doubt win them the State Championship on any given day.

Parker Davis, David Nickelberry, Matheus Westphalen, Yassen Aratius, and Ryan Swobo-da are a few of the names which have constant-ly been talked about as the best players on the squad. Time in and time out, they led the team

to victories in certain matches which could have very easily seen a different outcome had those certain players not have been on the field. In the Regional Semi Finals against Santa Fe Catholic (23-1), their team averages were well above the national averages reported throughout the sea-son. The Lakers also put an end to a so far undefeated season for Santa Fe.

Then, in the Regional Finals they narrowly beat Tampa Prep (19-11) by a score of 73-70. Some called the win lucky, but no matter which way you look at it its and achievement in itself that they reached the State Semi Finals.

While they are happy they made it this far, they know that the season is far from over. They play Archbishop Car

roll (28-3) next, and while it will be a very hard game for either team to win, they know that they can pull out on top and win the game. With a State Championship spot on the line, the Lakers will put all they have into the match on Tuesday.

by Greyson Everidge

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 3

by Greyson EveridgeWest Orange Baseball Start Season Strong

WEST ORANGE – The West Orange Warriors, who were considered one of the stronger teams during the pre-season, have started the season on the right foot, winning 5 of their first 6 games. Led by a strong senior class, they are backed up with solid juniors and sophomores which helps the team win games by large mar-gins.

The Warriors started the regular season with a 5-1 win against Winter Springs (3-4), in a game which most people expected West Orange to win. They dominated from the first pitch and never looked like they didn’t have full control of their opponents. They then won a tight match against the Bishop Moore Hornets (3-3) by a score of

4-3.

Just a few days later, they destroyed the Montverde Academy team (2-2) 10-0. Apart from not allowing a single run on Montverde’s part, they outplayed the Eagles everywhere on the field.

The Warriors only mishap of the season has come against Trinity Christian Acad-emy (6-0) in a high scoring game which saw West Orange lose 10-8. Despite the loss, it was a good performance even though they couldn’t find that edge to win the game.

West Orange won the next two in a row in blowout games against Dr. Phillips (2-4)

and Westminster Academy (1-2) by scores of 9-1 and 10-0 respectively. Neither came as a surprise, as they were expected to win comfortably no matter what. They beat expectations however, and posted up big numbers in games which would have been easy to skate by with no effort required.

“We are playing good but we always want to get better,” said sophomore pitcher Doug Nikhazy. “To keep it going we just have to keep working hard and the wins will come.” The Warriors play their next match against a decent Lake Minneola team (3-1) on Thursday the 24th, as they look to contin-ue their successful start to the season.

Page 4 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

Olympia Baseball Look Strong

ORLANDO – The Olympia Titans have started the season on a good course with a (5-1) record. The Titans are looking to build off of last year, which saw the team play very well and reach a good play-off position. So far so good, as they have been fairly convincing thus far.

The first game of the season resulted in a huge win, as the Titans beat Winter Park (3-3) 8-1. Led by Jay Thompson, Jordon Morrow and Keniel DeLeon Olympia was always in control, leading from the very beginning.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, they lost

their next game to Haines City (2-2) by a 12-2 score. Almost an exact opposite to their previous game, they lost as they were outworked across the field throughout the whole game.

Flipping sides again, the Titans beat Lake Min-neola (3-1) 10-3 as they showed real character to beat a decent Lake Minneola team by a large margin.

The Titans won their next 3 in a row, starting with Osceola (2-2). The game, which finished 8-5 was by no means an easy one, however Olympia was never seriously threatened. The next win was a

tight one over Lake Mary (3-3), where the Ti-tans won 7-6. The game shook up the team and kicked them into gear to pull out the win they were expected to get in the lead up to the match. The third win was in a high scoring game against Winter Park (3-3). The game ended 10-13 with a win for the Titans, which was good under the circumstances.

The rest of the season looks promising since they have beat multiple opponents who aren’t con-sidered to be an easy task. Their next matchup is against the Wekiva Mustangs (1-5), which should lead to a fifth win in a row for the Titans.

by Greyson Everidge

Winter Garden Stands Out to Rule Out Cheer Competition

WINTER GARDEN - Two Winter Garden high school cheerleading teams brought home some big accomplish-ments this month. The West Orange Warriors won 1st place at regionals, and the Foundation Academy Lions advanced to 1A States as their school’s first ever com-petitive cheer team.

“We used our fear as motivation,” said Madison Emrich, senior at West Orange.

The Warrior cheerleaders have admitted to having an unbelievable feeling not able to put into words over placing 1st at regionals. They are ecstatic to know their hard work paid off up until this point. The energy and excitement throughout their routine kept the crowd and judges entertained with their immense amount of pas-sion and talent.

“We do need to work on our timing,” stated Emrich.

As states approaches, the West Orange team is more

than determined to bring all they have to the table. For stunting purposes, the girls admit to realizing they can better the entire picture by simple fixing small incre-ments that apply to the routine. Ready for the next step, the team is preparing to stay focused and live in the moment to enjoy every minute of it.

“This advance was a dream come true,” said Reilly Lord, senior at Foundation Academy.

As the senior captain, Lord is satisfied with the team she helped create for the private school. The team believes the crowd is the backbone of the cheer portion of their routine. While their cheer is in the middle of their routine, all the girls are catching breaths and doing their best to project their voices. Hearing the crowd scream back to them gives them the motivation and energy to keep going.

“We have to remember to turn our nerves into energy,” explained Lord.

As a new team, the Lions have learned that they perform at the best of their ability when they find ways to calm their nervous habits and create more connection during the routine. Especially during this competition, the girls try to push through anything. One of the flyers on the team rolled her ankle during warmups, pushing through the pain to not ruin the routine. Lord admits to this teammate’s determination being the key to the entire team’s success.

Winter Garden has high stakes set for the upcom-ing states competition. Both teams are set and ready to perform at their highest capability to bring home a successful title. Through hard work and long practices, each team is confident of their outcome later this month. Cheerleading may not have been a well recognized sport in the past, but the city of Winter Garden is ready to change that.

by Andrea Lerner

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 5

by Andrea LernerFoundation Academy Baseball Hits Off Strong for First Game

WINTER GARDEN - The Foundation Academy boys base-ball team (1-2-1) has done all they can to start their season off right. Their first game was against Jones (0-4) in which they left their home with a win of 11-0.

“We really worked hard as a team,” said Casey Lemke, senior.

Hardwork and dedication are key in any sport, and the Foun-dation Lions are getting a taste of just how much they need to put in this season. With a pretty even record for the start of the sport, the baseball players are confident they can pull off a multitude of wins this spring. The boys are ready to show teams and coaches that they are ready to win the district title, and will try all they can to earn it.

“We had little errors here and there during the game against Jones,” stated Lemke.

Starting off as any other team, mistakes will be made. Dur-

ing the first game, a few players made some errors but were lucky enough to fix them before it was too late. As a team, the Lions were able to right their wrongs in order to keep pushing for the win. Jones seemed to have had more than a few errors on their side, but the fact of the matter is that the Lions were faster at correcting their mistakes.

“As a team we have to play clean,” explained Lemke.

As a leader on the team, Lemke states how it is his job to keep the team willing and able to strive for even better than they are doing. The top factor to remember during each game is constantly having clean plays, so that nothing unnecessary happens. Being a young team, the Lions feel as if they have a disadvantage to other teams who have been together longer. Instead of getting down about this fact, the boys use it as a challenge to better their game.

“The sport has given me the chance to follow my dream,” said Lemke.

As students enter their junior and senior years of high school, they start to figure out a path they want to go down. For those who have been playing a certain sport since they were young, they already know what they are doing with the rest of their life. But it is around the last years of high school that a sport becomes more than just a hobby, as it becomes the way of life that player has from now on. Baseball is just that for Lemke, and many other players on the Foundation team.

The Foundation baseball team went on from their win against Jones to tieing with Conrad Academy (0-2-1). From there, they took a loss against Orangewood Christian (7-0). The Lions can next be seen taking on Florida Prep Academy (1-3). Each player only hopes to regain their strength in order to create more wins on their record than previously obtained. Their coaches and fans are confident that they can work hard to achieve another win later this month.

by Andrea LernerFoundation Academy Lady Lions Hold Consistent Start

WINTER GARDEN - The Foundation Academy girls softball team (3-3) has put in all effort when it comes to the start of the season. Their tie-level record only goes to show the fight the Lady Lions have been putting up.

“We played Master’s Academy this month, and held them throughout the entire game,” said Alissa Holton, senior.

Keeping up a consistent game is only beneficial to the team that is pulling ahead. Even when the op-posite team scores, it is important to keep going and work harder individually, and as a team. The Foundation girls clearly learned this lesson during their most recent match against Master’s Academy (4-4). Players admit to not giving up against their well-matched team, and because of that, they won the game by a score of 6-4.

“We definitely need a lot of commu-nication,” stated Holton.

One of the many mottos the Lions obtain throughout games is to get right back up when one falls down. The team states that there were mo-ments in the game in which better plays could have been made. Some believe that if they had made those better plays, Master’s would not have scored what they did. Either way, the girls were able to pick themselves up and stay strong to fin-ish out the game with a win.

“It doesn’t help my team when I get down on myself,” explained Holton.

Encouragement is key in any sport, and the Foundation girls are learning just how important it is in softball. Without emotional and physical sup-port from the team, a player can be known to crash and burn on the field at practice or even at games. Holton admits to always trying to overcome moments when she is being hard on herself, and the help of her team-mates encouragement only advances her purpose. When she is all set emotionally and mentally, she is a tremendous benefit to the team.

“The sport gave me a place to get away from life,” said Holton.

Many students in high school turn to sports as an escape from reality. Whether it be homework or personal life in general, one usually finds peace in doing something they enjoy. For players like Holton, it is softball. The students at Foundation are thrilled that the season has come so they can release all stress they have built up over the semester. Each stu-

dent highly believes their team is their family, and everyone learns something from each person on the team.

The Lions went on to win against Legacy Charter (1-4) and will be taking on Ocoee (2-4) next. The girls are confident in themselves and their coaches to get them another win and take them even farther. Even though the season has

just started out, the Foundation Academy softball team is already hitting it off game after game. They can only expect to get better from here. Each player feels as if they only have room for improvement, and will bring everything they have to each game they play.

Page 6 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

by Matthew AnetrellaWinter Park in reach of State Semifinals

The Winter Park Wildcats Boys Basketball team is having one of the best seasons they have had in school history. They have averaged 57.1 points total as a team and pass the ball effectively averaging just about 14 assists a game. The Wildcats have worked hard all season to get to where they are now in the playoffs and won’t stop until they have reached their goal of winning a State Championship. They are close to having the chance of being in the State Championship, they just have to go through Seminole (21-9) and then face the Coral Springs Colts (20-7) who are waiting in the State Semifinals.

The Wildcats edged out the Timber Creek Wolves by a score of 51-50. A heart-breaker for the Wolves but an outstanding win for the Wildcats on becoming the 8A District Champions. The Wildcats are on an impressive 8 game win streak continu-ing from the end of the regular season

to the playoffs. They now have to face Seminole who is ranked 88th in the state of Florida and are coming off a win against Oviedo 88-73. This is the first time these two teams have met all season and it couldn’t have come at a better time, the Region-al Finals. Seminole is go-ing to have to lock down Winter

Park’s best Guard/Forward Wyatt Wilkes who is only a junior and averages team best 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. All-around great player and has a great impact on the team. Seminole has given up an average of 63 points per game but usually produce around 67 points on their offensive side.

This is going to be an exciting game to watch so make sure you don’t miss it.

Whoever wins this game will advance to the State Semifi-nals and have to go up against Coral Springs. Then the win-ner of that game will have a chance to compete in the Florida High School State Championship.

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 7

Orlando Christian Prep Basketball is on fire!

Around Christmas time things weren’t going very well for Orlando Christian Prep’s boys basketball team.Two Warriors were out with injuries and the team was flailing, having lost four consecutive games to make its overall record 7-8.

“It just took this team a little bit longer to click and mesh,” OCP coach Matt Ruta said. “That happens sometimes. We knew it was a process, and we knew we had to get better. We definitely knew when we were struggling that we were struggling.”

Ruta said he was never nervous about this Warriors team living up to the program’s previous successes — 10 straight region playoff appearances and five state cham-pionships — but he is proud they were able to weather injuries and struggles to peak when it counts. OCP returns to the FHSAA boys basketball state tournament for the eighth time in nine seasons today.

OCP (20-12) will play Boca Raton Grandview Prep (30-0) in a Class 2A state semifinal at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Grand-view is the No. 1 team in the FABC/Source Hoops 2A rankings. OCP is No. 9.

Grandview averages more than 82 points per game and a 34.2-point margin of victory. The Pride’s success centers on a core of talented seniors led by 6-foot-5 Northeastern signee Shawn Occeus (18 ppg, 14 rpg).

OCP now has a healthy roster, and senior Cameron Corcoran has been scoring well above his 13.6 points per game average during the playoffs to propel the Warriors to this point. Point guard Damon Harge Jr., leads the scoring with an average of 14.1 ppg.

“They showed a lot of resilience this

year,” Ruta said. “There was plenty of opportunity for these guys to say, ‘Well this isn’t worth it.’ I’m very proud

of their character, sticking together and peaking at right time.”

Page 8 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

by Andrea LernerBishop Moore Girls Slam Dunk Their Basketball Season

ORLANDO - The Bishop Moore girls basketball team (25-7) have gone above and beyond this season when it comes to winning games. The girls have worked extreme-ly hard and their record completely shows it.

Their most recent match proves to have been a loss of 60-23 to Ribault (28-1). The game was for the 2016 FHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships. Even with the loss, the Bishop Moore Hornets brought their best efforts to the court. The final game of the season seemed to have come to quickly, and the girls only wish they had won the championship.

Although they did not win the title, they clearly won ev-ery other game to get to that spot. This is a tremendous achievement for the Hornets, and the girls feel nothing but lucky to have been able to get this far this season. Coaches and parents are more than proud, and even the Ribault team was thankful to have played against Bishop Moore.

For seniors, this is the time where emotions begin to sink in. They start realizing that this was the last game they will ever play for their high school. If they aren’t continu-

ing the sport in college, it can be the last time they will be on a court in general. While some may play basketball just

as a hobby, there are those who are serious enough about it to continue it in their college career.

Everyone else left on the team is looking forward to playing next season. The girls are confident that if they made it this far, they can win it next year. As the seniors leave, the juniors step up and become the leaders. Ready or not, the new season will creep up on them faster than they think, and it will be time to prove what they learned from past players.

The Bishop Moore Hornets are more than grateful for the season they have played. They have given a true definition to hard work and dedication. Mostly everyone is ready to have the well-needed break, but the girls are holding this season deep in their hearts to remember. Coaches are ecstatic even though a part of them wishes they had won the championship. All in all, the Hornets played tremendously well this season and are only going

to better themselves for next year.

Bishop Moore Girls Soccer Win District Championship

ORLANDO – The Bishop Moore Hornets (19-1-3) won 4-0 in the 2A District 7 Championship on the 14th against Lake Highland Prep (8-9) in a game which didn’t look like a tough matchup for the Hornets. The Hornets had a great season with a good win on Thurs-day, however it is far from finished. With the win, the Hornets secured a spot in the regional playoffs, which will be played later this month.

The team has looked very strong during the regular season and carried that over into the playoffs with their win against the Green Wave of Father Lopez. In that 8-0 mercy rule, they put down any doubts that they were a real competitor for not only the District Cham-pionship, but the Regional Championship as well. The 4-0 win against the strong Lake Highland team didn’t

hurt that either.

Lake Highland end their season on a bad note, taking

their record negative on the last game of the season.

Moving forward, the Hornets will continue to do what has worked for them so well thus far. They have strong individuals who not only stand out on their own, but always come together as a team to accomplish the task at hand. They take it game by game, and never seem to want to improve their stats as an individual, even when winning by large margins in easy games. They’re mentality is that of a winning team, and it is one of the reasons that the team is so strong.

Regionals will prove to be a tough job for the Hornets but they can progress further as they chase the Regional championship should they continue to play the way they have been all season.

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 9

by Greyson EveridgeWest Orange Baseball Start Season Strong

WEST ORANGE – The West Orange Warriors, who were considered one of the stronger teams during the pre-season, have started the season on the right foot, winning 5 of their first 6 games. Led by a strong senior class, they are backed up with solid juniors and sophomores which helps the team win games by large margins.

The Warriors started the regular season with a 5-1 win against Winter Springs (3-4), in a game which most people expected West Orange to win. They dominated from the first pitch and never looked like they didn’t have full control of their opponents. They then won a tight match against the Bishop Moore Hornets (3-3) by a score of 4-3.

Just a few days later, they destroyed the Montverde Academy team (2-2) 10-0. Apart from not allowing a single run on Montverde’s part, they outplayed the Eagles everywhere on the field.

The Warriors only mishap of the season has come against Trinity Christian Academy (6-0) in a high scor-ing game which saw West Orange lose 10-8. Despite the loss, it was a good performance even though they couldn’t find that edge to win the game.

West Orange won the next two in a row in blowout games against Dr. Phillips (2-4) and Westminster Academy (1-2) by scores of 9-1 and 10-0 respectively. Neither came as a surprise, as they were expected to

win comfortably no matter what. They beat expecta-tions however, and posted up big numbers in games which would have been easy to skate by with no effort required.

“We are playing good but we always want to get bet-ter,” said sophomore pitcher Doug Nikhazy. “To keep it going we just have to keep working hard and the wins will come.” The Warriors play their next match against a decent Lake Minneola team (3-1) on Thursday the 24th, as they look to continue their successful start to the sea-son.

by Andrea Lerner

West Orange Softball Strikes Out Opposers to Begin Season

WINTER GARDEN - The West Orange girls softball team (7-1) have done nothing but hit it out of the park this season. Their almost undefeated record just recently increased with their win against Dr. Phillips (2-4) by a score of 16-0.

“Our pitchers threw a perfect game against Dr. Phil-lips,” said Sam Moore, senior.

A rare factor to the game of softball is having pitchers throw a perfect game, but that is what the West Orange Warriors experienced in their recent match against Dr. Phillips. Pitchers Jade Caraway and Lauren Mathis were identified as the girls who gave the fans this rare sight-ing. The team as a whole hit extremely well and had very few runners that were left on base. “In this game, I missed one ground ball,” stated Moore.

Practice is perfect, but even with hard work and con-stant practice, perfection is underrated. Moore expe-rienced this by creating a mistake when she missed a

ground ball in her third base position. Luckily, her team-mate picked her up on it and she was able to right her wrong. After this, she was aware that she needed to stay down on the ball and be ready to hop on specific types of grounders.

“Softball is a game to make you fail,” explained Moore.

Without mistakes and struggles, a sport would be noth-ing. No one would have fun because there would be no challenge and nothing to try to be better at. Softball to the Warriors is definitely a sport that keeps one in check. It continuously brings the girls struggles men-tally and physically, but every time they play they only want to get better. Winning is definitely key, but each and every Warrior on the team honestly just wants to advance personally.

“This specific sport has taught me to never give up,” said Moore.

Failing is a part of learning whether it’s in a sport, or life in general. Players like Moore have experienced failing more than once when it comes to softball. This only gives them more momentum to get back up and try harder, a lesson Moore learned from playing this sport specifically. Once mistakes are made, the girls have learned to appreciate them for existing because a mistake really does make a player a better person on and off the field.

The West Orange Warriors went on to obtain their first loss, against American Heritage (5-0). The girls will be taking on Lake Brantley (2-5) next, and have high hope that they will come home with a win. Their coaches are confident in how hard the girls practice that they will give all the effort they have into the upcoming game. Although they gained a loss that ruined their undefeated streak, they are determined to not let it define them as they continue the season.

Page 10 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

Dr. Phillips Softball Try to Regain Power This Season

ORLANDO - The Dr. Phillips girls softball team (2-4) have endured more losses than wins they would hope for as they start their softball season. The Panthers are hoping to only better their plays and increase their win record.

The first game they played was against Winter Park (2-4) in which they lost by a score of 1-6. As the first game, the Panthers were disappointed and wor-ried that it was a sign of a bad season. Coaches and teammates tried to stay positive and practice harder to better their game for the next go around. With focus and determination, they are aware that they will be able to overcome any battles they face.

As a rare but exciting siting, the Panthers went on to win by forfeit against Evans (0-3). The ending score was 7-0 and the team was ready to take what-ever they would get. After this game, the team was confident that their luck was increasing and they would only play better as the games came around. The crowd was ecstatic to see this win against Ev-ans, even if it was over a forfeit.

Many players on the team felt as if their luck has done nothing but bounce all over the place. The

next game they played was against Bishop Moore (4-0), in which they took a loss of 8-0. Bishop Moore was unable to be scored against during this game, and the Panthers could not believe at how the match turned out. Losing this match though, hopefully meant that the next one would be nothing short of a win.

In fact, they won their next game against Ocoee (2-4) by a score of 8-7. The team was extremely thankful for this game not just for the win, but for how close of a win it was. The team stayed on their toes throughout the entire match, ready for anything that would rub them the wrong way. Because of this, the Panthers were able to pull out a win. They learned that if they played like this in every game, they might actually do better than when they first started.

Surprisingly, the Panthers lost the next two games they played after their win against Ocoee. The first loss was against Olympia (4-1) by a score of 19-0. The second loss was by a score of 16-0 against West Orange (7-1). The team was devastated at these two losses specifically because of how high the scores was for the opposite team. They know

they are playing their best, and can only try to do better.

The Dr. Phillips team will next be taking on Apop-ka (4-1). The girls are hoping that season records does not start defining wins and losses. They know that they need to practice extra hard for their next game, unless they don’t really want the win. Coach-es and teammates are doing nothing but supporting players who need the encouragement to play harder and smarter. With the start of the season, the girls are hopeful they can get back out there from now on.

by Andrea Lerner

Dr. Phillips Baseball Have Shaky Start

DR. PHILLIPS - With 6 games under their belt, the Dr. Phillips Panthers Baseball team is looking to improve upon their (2-4) record, which is not a great record for a team of their quality and talent. The good news, is since they have not played a district

game yet there is still time to cor-rect the issues before the games start to really matter.

They won their season opener against University High (2-7) by a score of 9-5. They played well and got the win against a decent Cougar team who look average at best for the coming season. It gave the Panthers some confidence, which was to no avail as they were hammered by powerhouse Lake Mary. Dr. Phil-lips lost 11-0, failing to put up a single run against the Rams, who so far hold a (3-3) record.

We no doubt saw the Panthers at their weakest in that game, and there is only room to improve on that performance. However just two days later they gave up 11 runs to Oviedo (3-2-1) in an 11-2 loss which saw them concede 22 runs in just 2 games.

They then beat Lake Howell (1-3) 8-7 in a tight match which was crucial to helping get the season back on track after a pretty tough start. Since then, the Panthers have lost two straight. The first, was a loss to the West Orange Warriors (5-1) by a score of 9-1. While many agree that the War-riors has a very strong team this year, with many seniors signing to colleges, there are still those who thought that Dr. Phillips could have kept the score down lower.

In their second back-to-back loss, the Panthers were outplayed 8-6 by the Ocoee Bulldogs, who have a respectable (4-2) record. It was a tighter game than the one against the Warriors, yet they still failed to win against decent op-position, something which could prove to hurt them as the season progresses and playoffs draw closer.

by Greyson Everidge

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 11

“Strive for Success” Series

Student Athletes from various sports attended Connecting Student Athletes’ Strive for Success Series at Foundation Acad-emy on Wednesday, January 27th. Students were able to hear words of wisdom from the talented head coach of the Jaguars of American Indoor Football Team, Coach Ronnie Ghent. He shared his story regard-ing his struggles and successes at the high school, collegiate, and professional level. Coach Ghent kept the students very engaged with his real life experi-ences shared in a relatable way.

In keeping with CSA’s core values of athletics, academics, and life skills, Coach Ghent enlight-ened the athletes with knowledge about the ins and outs of preparing for college and beyond. In the area of athletics, he focused on the importance of perfecting your craft. He continu-ously emphasized how he had to “want it” for himself. He also spoke to the necessity of parental or guardian involvement in this process.

In the area of academics, he stressed the importance of prepa-ration and how the GPA and standardized test scores have a lot of impact in your college decision. Finally, in the area of life skills, Coach Ghent had a lot to say about the company you keep. He shared stories with the students about his personal experi-ences and how he had to surround himself with students that had a drive and motivation to be great.

At the closing of the event, the student-athletes had the oppor-tunity to ask Coach Ghent any type of question that came to mind. Most certainly without a restriction on the type of ques-tion, there were all sorts of inquiries thrown out there: Money, entertainment, NFL fines, etc! Coach Ghent didn’t shy away from the truth about it all. The students were not only enlight-ened by this educational conversation with Coach Ghent but they left inspired.

Here are a few words from the students-“I knew academics played a role in where I went to college, but I didn’t realize how much it had to do with me actually playing football”

“I can’t believe Coach Ghent let us ask all types of questions. He was very cool and down to earth. He made me feel like this is something that I can do, and it’s achievable. ”

“It’s time for me to go rethink some of my friends”

Connecting Student Athletes would like to especially thank the athletic director, football coach, headmaster and president,

and all other administration, parents, and teachers at Founda-tion Academy for their continued support of their student ath-letes. We are grateful to have such a forward thinking academic

institution who play a vital role in our community of student athletes. They truly be-lieve in allowing student-athletes to do what they love, while achieving higher education.

Connecting Stu-dent Athletes would also like to thank Coach Ron-nie Ghent and the Jaguar American Indoor Football Team for tak-ing time to speak with the student-athletes. Despite Coach Ghent’s

prestigious accolades and accomplishments, he took time out to grant the student-athletes this unique opportunity. His invest-ment into the lives of these student-athletes will bring about an invaluable return!

Page 12 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

By Noelle ClaySapp Signing Day

The daughter of NFL Hall of Famer War-ren Sapp will be wearing a Missouri uni-form next fall.

Mercedes Sapp was one of the six signees the Missouri women’s soccer team an-nounced Wednesday. She’s a goalkeeper from Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, Fla. Sapp was a finalist for Florida’s Class 2A Miss Soccer in 2015.

Sapp will give Missouri three goalkeepers on its 2016 roster, joining freshman Kelsey Dossey and sophomore Kristen Rivers, who split playing time last season.

Missouri’s signing class includes seven players, including midfielder Sarah Lueb-bert of Jefferson City High School, a three-star recruit according to TopDrawerSoccer.com who enrolled this semester and has joined the team for offseason workouts

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2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 13

by Andrea LernerWindermere Prep Holds Strong Over Loss to Father Lopez

WINDERMERE - The Windermere Prep girls soccer team (2-11-2) lost by a score of 3-0 to the Father Lopez Green Waves earlier this month. Even with this outcome, the Windermere Prep Lakers are headstrong in their players and field play.

“I would like to see our team fight the way they did again,” said Kelly Ro-swell, senior.

During the game, the Lakers never once gave up on a play or move. Teammates admit to ignoring the score until the end, not letting the numbers affect how they play. Ro-swell, starting goalkeeper, says it was amazing to watch her team from the goal work hard and continue to push on. The girls are aware that if their confidence is high, they can make anything happen.

“We weren’t able to keep possession of the ball,” stated Roswell.

From the goal, the game has an en-tirely different view. While the Lakers struggled most of the match with ball control, they made up for it with hard work and dedication. Not a single player stepped onto the field unpre-pared to play. For the next game, play-ers admit to needing better communi-cation along with a stronger defense.

“Personally, I try to organize my de-fense and take control of the field,” explained Roswell.

Making sure the opposite team is marked is a key factor in the game. If the opponent has any room or ability for a shot, it is the goalie’s job to deny that access. For Roswell, this is on her main agenda during every second of the game. She plans to make sure everyone is in their correct positions at all times. Although admitting she has struggled with this capability in the past, she is more than confident that she has overcome the struggle this season.

“This sport has always impacted my life,” said Roswell.

Playing since the age of 6, teammates like Roswell hold soccer extremely tight to their hearts. Already aware of her future, Roswell will be furthering her soccer career at Rollins College after she graduates this year. The sport has brought players like herself many friends and life experiences that they never thought they would have.

The Windermere Prep Lakers are confident in their goalie to get them through the rest of the season. They plan to work together to finish out the season strong. Coaches are thank-ful for this experience to cheer on the Lakers team from the sidelines and influence them in the locker room. Although they will not be advancing in any way, each and every player is grateful for the season they have had.

Page 14 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16

Lake Highland Basketball Continues to Dominate

Lake Highland’s Girls Basketball (22-3) team have been unstoppable at home this season with a 10-0 record so far in the season. They faced off against Winter Park (20-5) in a non-conference duel. Winter Park has an away record of 8-2, so it was a good night to see these two teams face-off. Lake Highland is ranked #2 in the state and Winter Park is ranked #19 in the state according to Max Preps.

The first quarter was close but Lake Highland lead 16-12. In the second LHP lead by 5, 27-22. In the third quarter LHP still had a 5 point lead 42-37. The

fourth quarter was really when LHP pushed hard and fought their way to a win by outscoring Winter Park 21 to 14. Lake Highland won 63-51 to improve their record to (21-3) on the season. Winter Park fell to (20-4).

Jordan Lewis, Senior Guard for Lake Highland came to play against Winter Park scoring 20 points, grab-bing 4 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and had 1 steal. She shot 5/17 from the field but led Lake Highland in scoring. Next for Lake Highland in scoring was Junior Guard Rachel Jablonski who shot 4/12 from

the field recording 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Lake Highland’s next game was against Colonial Grenadiers (20-4) who are ranked #5 in the state according to Max Preps. This was good game to watch and Lake Highland won 60-45. Lake Highland extended their win streak to an impressive seven games. Winter Park’s next game is against Timber Creek (9-13) on January 27. Winter Park recently played Wekiva and picked up an 18 point win by a score of 51-33.

by Matthew Anetrella

Windermere Prep Softball Gears Up for New Season

WINDERMERE - The Windermere Prep girls soft-ball team has just started their season, with the first game being later this month. The team has dropped to a JV level and have a brand new coach on board, along with many players playing for the first time.

“It’s probably one of the most difficult season for me,” said Kendall Zierten, senior.

With change in any team or sport comes the ability to overcome it. For new players on the Windermere team, there isn’t really a sense of change but more of a new beginning. In contrast, old players like Zierten who have been playing over a long period of time, have to deal with and overcome the change. Espe-cially going into senior year, players like Zierten are weary about how the season will go this year.

“My goal is to strengthen the softball team,” stated Zierten.

After she graduates, Zierten hopes to leave a legacy

personally but more so create a strong team through-out all of the changes. This is the most difficult time of need for the Lakers, and any one person who can take a leadership role is more than beneficial to the team. Zierten is one of the players who will be stepping up to the plate to bring whatever she can to help out her teammates.

“I respect the new coach a lot,” explained Zierten.

The Windermere team simply did not have enough players for a Varsity team, which is why they had to drop to a JV level. With this, a new coach came along as well. Players have shown him nothing but respect in dedicating his time to help the girls build up their softball program. For seniors, they are experiencing the biggest change since this is their last year playing on the field. The new coach has brought great strength and wisdom to the Lady Lakers.

“Pressure is the most difficult thing to face,” said

Zierten.

As a catcher, Zierten experiences the most pressure of the game. Even before her senior year, she was battling the weight she had on her shoulders. In her leadership role this year, she only wants to set an example for the younger girls and in doing so, hopes to show that one should not let any type of pres-sure take over the game play. Zierten is confident in herself to be an immensely helpful leader to give the Lakers a great new season.

Selflessness of players and hard work has brought this new Lakers team together. For those who use the sport as more than just a hobby, they are being grateful for any chance they get to play at all. The new coach is preparing his girls to start off strong and win as much as possible. Although it will take some time for the girls to fully adjust, they believe they are ready to go. With all the challenges they have faced going into the season, they cannot wait to get on the field and play their first game.

by Andrea Lerner

2/23/16 - 3/8/16 • Florida Sporting News Page 15

by Greyson EveridgeWindermere Prep Baseball Begin Nicely

WINDERMERE – The Windermere Prep Baseball team (4-1) is playing good ball at the start of the season and are undoubtedly looking to improve upon what they already started. If last year was any indication of the year to come, the Lakers have something exciting to look forward to. They began the season with a good win against a fairly decent Wekiva team (1-5) by a score of 4-0. They looked strong and showed good character in a game which didn’t really challenge them in any major way. However, they kept discipline and made sure that no runs were made against them, an accomplishment by itself.

They turned around and beat Legacy Charter (2-4) 12-2 next in a blowout, which speaks about the

kind of team Windermere has this year.

They continued their winning streak against Ocoee (4-2), getting the victory by a score of 4-0. The Bulldogs did not put up much of a fight against the Lakers, and they won with no real effort required. It also got some players who wouldn’t normally see much action the chance to get some quality game time.

The undefeated run came to an end versus the Montverde Academy (2-2) where they were held scoreless by a solid Eagles defense and then out-classed by a strong offense. The Eagles have also played well, so the predicted result was a bit of a toss-up going into the match.

Despite the loss, the Lakers turned it around and got a big win at DeLand (2-4) 7-0 against an aver-age DeLand team who never posed any threat to Windermere. It was a good opportunity to step back and assess what went wrong in the loss to Montverde, and to then correct those mistakes that were made.

They play their next game against Trinity Christian Academy (6-0) on Friday the 26th. Trinity Chris-tian is notorious for having strong athletic teams, and the baseball team will be no exception. It will cause some problems for the Lakers. The match is sure to bring some much needed competition to better prepare Windermere Prep for the playoffs come this spring.

by Andrea LernerWindermere Prep Softball Gears Up for New Season

WINDERMERE - The Windermere Prep girls softball team has just started their season, with the first game being later this month. The team has dropped to a JV level and have a brand new coach on board, along with many players playing for the first time.

“It’s probably one of the most difficult season for me,” said Kendall Zierten, senior.

With change in any team or sport comes the ability to over-come it. For new players on the Windermere team, there isn’t really a sense of change but more of a new beginning. In contrast, old players like Zierten who have been playing over a long period of time, have to deal with and overcome the change. Especially going into senior year, players like Zierten are weary about how the season will go this year.

“My goal is to strengthen the softball team,” stated Zierten.

After she graduates, Zierten hopes to leave a legacy person-

ally but more so create a strong team throughout all of the changes. This is the most difficult time of need for the Lak-ers, and any one person who can take a leadership role is more than beneficial to the team. Zierten is one of the play-ers who will be stepping up to the plate to bring whatever she can to help out her teammates.

“I respect the new coach a lot,” explained Zierten.

The Windermere team simply did not have enough players for a Varsity team, which is why they had to drop to a JV level. With this, a new coach came along as well. Players have shown him nothing but respect in dedicating his time to help the girls build up their softball program. For seniors, they are experiencing the biggest change since this is their last year playing on the field. The new coach has brought great strength and wisdom to the Lady Lakers.

“Pressure is the most difficult thing to face,” said Zierten.

As a catcher, Zierten experiences the most pressure of the game. Even before her senior year, she was battling the weight she had on her shoulders. In her leadership role this year, she only wants to set an example for the younger girls and in doing so, hopes to show that one should not let any type of pressure take over the game play. Zierten is confi-dent in herself to be an immensely helpful leader to give the Lakers a great new season.

Selflessness of players and hard work has brought this new Lakers team together. For those who use the sport as more than just a hobby, they are being grateful for any chance they get to play at all. The new coach is preparing his girls to start off strong and win as much as possible. Although it will take some time for the girls to fully adjust, they believe they are ready to go. With all the challenges they have faced going into the season, they cannot wait to get on the field and play their first game.

Page 16 Florida Sporting News • 2/23/16 - 3/8/16