National High 5: Florida's Top Guard?

By Steve Spiewak

MaxPreps.com

1. The Knight is Right: The Sunshine State's two best guards are probably American Heritage's (Fla.) Kenny Boynton and Pine Crest (Fla.) point guard Brandon Knight. Over the weekend, they locked horns for the third time this season, with Pine Crest getting the upper hand for the second straight time. The Miami Herald has the details. Knight finished with 38 points to Boynton's 33, and is making a strong case that he is the best player in Florida, regardless of grade. Interestingly enough, at the RBK U summer camp in Philadelphia, the two Florida stars were paired on the same team, and caused nightmares for opposing backcourts. At that time, Boynton had already decided to transfer from his previous school, but had yet to determine where he would next enroll. Had he enrolled at Pine Crest, as had been rumored, he and Knight would've formed arguably the nation's best backcourt for the next two years.

2. 102 for his last 103: It may have received much less fanfare than some of the other national high school streaks, but Brian Redford's streak of 102 consecutive free throws might be equally impressive. Starting on December 14 and ending Saturday night, the Frankenmuth (Mich.) senior did not miss a single foul shot. His streak set a national record for most consecutive free throws in a single season. The Detroit Free Press has the story.

3. Collegiate Cooperation: There's a phenomenon sweeping across the country that is affecting players from rival high schools: college. All over America's neighborhoods, bitter high school enemies are overlooking their differences when they are committed to play for the same college. St. Rita (Ill.) defensive end Darius Fleming and Mount Carmel (Ill.) linebacker Steven Filer are perfect examples. Though St. Rita and Mount Carmel are long time Southside rivals in the Windy City, Fleming and Filer both signed letters of intent to Notre Dame, and have become friends in the process. Check the Chicago Tribune for the story. The phenomenon has also struck rivals in Wisconsin and Florida.

4. Whiting Still Winning: Several months after pinning opposing running backs in the backfield for Kentucky 6A state champion Trinity, linebacker Jordan Whiting has switched to pins of a different sort, excelling at wrestling for the Shamrocks. Whiting recently captured the Region Four heavyweight title after pinning his opponent, Mister Cobble. The Courier Journal has the results, and, if nothing else, proves that I didn't make up the name of Whiting's most recent opponent.

5. World's Best 11 Year Old: From the pre-high school files, the Seattle Post Intelligencer has an incredibly intriguing story about a pre-teen wunderkind hailing from Seattle. He can do dribbling tricks that would embarass some NBA players, shoots better than you could ever imagine someone his age shooting, and run a sub-five minute mile to boot. Read the story, and see the accompanying Youtube video.