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Youth Notebook: Smith Takes Orange County Title

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By Nicholas J.E. Murray/The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

Connor Smith of Tampa defeated Chris Jackman of Key Biscayne, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the Orange County Winter Designated Boys Under-18 Tennis Championships.

Smith, who entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed and is ranked No. 34 in the state, did not lose a set the entire weekend on his way to the title. Smith defeated No. 1 seed Blas Moros of Boca Raton in the semifinals (6-4, 6-2), and Taylor Albrecht of Sarasota in the quarterfinals (6-2, 6-3).

In the girls tournament, Rebecca Bodine of Tarpon Springs advanced the farthest of the local entries, reaching the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Carling Seguso of Bradenton, 6-4, 6-1.

Bodine had defeated Kayla Rizzolo of Wesley Chapel (6-1, 6-3) and Laura Gutsche of Sarasota (6-0, 6-0) to advance into the quarterfinals. Kaysara Mandry of Valrico and Jennifer Miller of Tampa each reached the round of 16 before losing. Mandry lost 6-2, 6-0 to Jaime Yapp-Shing of Miami, and Miller lost to Alina Jerjomina of Fort Lauderdale, 6-0, 6-2.

Meghan Sullivan, Amber Li, Bridget McKenna and Raquel Hylton, all from Tampa, were knocked out in the round of 32.

Elsewhere, Michael Alford of Tampa reached the quarterfinals of the Seminole County Winter Designated Boys Under-16 Championships before he was eliminated by No. 1 seed Gonzalez Austin of Miami, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Alford, who was the No. 9 seed, had gone to three sets in his round-of-16 match against sixth-seeded Gordon Watson of Naples. Alford came from a set down to advance, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Garrett Betsarakis of St. Petersburg was eliminated in the round of 16 as the No. 2 seed was upset by No. 10 Boris Bogomolov of Miami, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

Tampa's Kelly Sullivan and Erin Snook were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the girls draw, but neither advanced past the round of 16.

Sullivan was knocked out by eventual champion Gina Suarez of Pembroke Pines, 6-2, 6-1, while Snook lost in three sets to finalist Sarah McLean of Miami, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Patriots Edge Wolves For Regular-Season Title

Chris Burt had a shutout and Justin Quillen scored the only goal of the game as Freedom beat Newsome Blue 1-0 to win the regular-season title in the Hillsborough High School Hockey League on Saturday.

Quillen scored with 2:09 left in the second period off an assist by Barry Preusch, and it was enough for the defending "pure" division state champions.

Newsome had opportunities in the third period to tie the game, the best chance coming when the Wolves had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:47 when Carey Coleman and Preusch were in the penalty box. The Wolves were shut out for the second straight week. Riverview/Durant had defeated the Wolves 2-0 in the 17th week.

Freedom and Newsome Blue could meet again in the "pure" division playoff final — the Patriots face Newsome White, and Newsome Blue face Wharton in today's semifinals.

The Tigers earned the No. 1 seed in the "combined" division despite a 5-2 loss to Lakeland Jenkins. The Eagles took a 3-0 lead with 4:23 to play in the first period on goals by Kevin Wagner, Brendan Baker and Jason Jensen, but the Tiger appeared to have gotten back into the game when Ryan McCaughtery and Derek Herscovici scored to make it 3-2 at the first intermission.

But the Tigers were unable to keep the momentum, and after a scoreless second period the Eagles put the game away in the third. Kevin Wagner scored his second goal of the game with 7:02 to play before Keith Wagner added a fifth with 27.6 seconds remaining.

Jenkins will face Riverview/Durant in the "combined" semifinals after Riverview/Durant beat Wharton 5-3.

Wharton took the lead 19 seconds into the game on a goal by Jared Bishop, but Cody O'Conner tied it with 6:46 to go in the first. Matt Cazes restored the Wildcats' lead 34 seconds later. But Riverview/Durant then seized the momentum as Nick Feira tied it again and O'Conner added his second of the game for a 3-2 lead at the first intermission.

Wharton tied the game on Bishop's second goal of the game, but Riverview/Durant took the lead for good with 3:57 to play in the second on Joey Heyer's 26th goal of the season. Heyer finished five goals ahead of Wharton's George Prieto to lead the league in goals.

Billy Augensen added an insurance goal with 2:25 to play in the third.

Wesley Chapel will face the Tigers in the other "combined' division semifinal" but didn't get a boost entering the playoffs as the Ice Cats lost 5-1 to Newsome White.

The Wolves took a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals, one by Brendan McGowan and the other by Spencer Roth, and continued to build their lead as Jacob Michniewicz scored twice for a 4-0 lead midway through the third. Jim Wheatley added a fifth for the Wolves before Ryan Barron scored a consolation goal for the Ice Cats with 25 seconds to play.

Plant got a pair of goals by Alex Siegman to beat Bloomingdale 3-2 in both teams' final game of the season.

Siegman opened the scoring 44 seconds into the game, but the Ice Bulls pulled even with 1:52 to play in the first on a goal by Mike Wood. Bloomingdale then took the lead 35 seconds into the second period as Chris Binger found the net on Wood's assist.

Trailing, the Panthers re-established control with a goal by Mikel Amias with 7:29 to play in the second before Siegman scored his second of the game with 1:28 to play in the period for a lead the Panthers wouldn't relinquish.

Pelicans, Warriors "Play To Tie

The Tampa Pelicans Under-19 rugby club didn't put itself in the driver's seat, but it didn't lose their opportunity at the North division title after a tie with the Jupiter Warriors on Saturday.

The Pelicans were in control for most of the first half as they were able to maintain possession in the Warriors' half. But for all their pressure, the Pelicans were unable to put any points on the board as the Warriors put up a solid defense. The Pelicans had two chances with the option to kick for goal, but they opted to go for the try thinking the Warriors defense was wearing down.

Jupiter countered with some late first-half pressure, but poor decisions killed their chances, leaving the game scoreless at halftime.

The second half began as the first had ended, with the Warriors forcing pressure on the Pelicans, but a big tackle by fullback Joey Loving seemed to turn the tide, and the Pelicans were able to control possession and move down the field. Their pressure finally paid off in the 25th minute off a scrum from 10 yards out, when the ball came to fly-half Robbie Cribbs, who absorbed two tacklers before passing to inside center Andrew McNeil. McNeil found just enough space to get to the goal line, and Cribbs' conversion gave the Pelicans a 7-0 lead.

The lead was short lived, as the Warriors took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Pelicans and tied the game with just over a minute left in regulation. Cliffy Morris scored the Warriors' try after the Pelicans were caught napping on a quick tap-penalty. Fernando Lopez kicked a difficult angled conversion to tie it.

The Pelicans got one last chance to win in stoppage time as a penalty on the Warriors for going over the top in a ruck gave Cribbs a chance to kick a penalty goal. But Cribbs' effort from a tough angle went wide.

The Pelicans and Warriors could play again this season if both teams win out and leave them tied atop the North division standings.

Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243 or nmurray@tampatrib.com.

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