Jasmine Hinds, Central Lake
Photo courtesy of Jim Schoensee
Great high school athletes don’t always come from large cities. Take Jasmine Hines, for example. She already has reached legendary status at Central Lake (Mich.) – population 900 – and she’s only a junior.
The 6-foot-3 basketball star ran her career point total to 1,875 – a school record – last week and she already has grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds. She also recently set the school record with a 51-point game, erasing her own record of 50.
“She’s very skilled and absolutely dominates the games,” according to Central Lake athletic director Quinn Barry, who also coaches the girls JV basketball team. “She’s super strong and can bench press 215 pounds. She’s extremely great with both hands.”
Hines currently is averaging an eye-popping 36.3 points, 22 rebounds and 4.0 blocks for the 14-0 Trojans, who are the state’s No. 1-ranked Class D team.
The powerful center, who once scored 72 points in a fifth grade game, is on pace to set Michigan career records in scoring and rebounding. She is being heavily recruited by the likes of Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Stanford and Notre Dame.
An all-around athlete, Hines also plays softball, volleyball and is the defending state shot put champion.
* Dominion (Sterling, Va.) snapped a 41-game losing streak – and also avenged a 31-point loss from December - with a 50-45 victory over Briar Woods.
* Shonte Clay, a 6-2 senior headed for the University of Minnesota, poured in 49 points as Von Steuben (Chicago, Ill.) routed Taft, 58-19.
* Junior Onairys Medina (6-2) grabbed a school-record 36 rebounds as Edison (Philadelphia, Pa.) defeated Fels, 54-29.
* Oak Hill (Converse, Ind.) senior guard Courtney Moses outscored the entire Alexandria team with 47 points during a 91-42 victory. She shot 21-of-29 from the field, had seven steals and no turnovers.
* Rockcastle County (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) junior Sara Hammond (6-1) had an amazing quadruple double (18 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks and 10 steals) during a 77-43 rout of Pulaski County.
* Derril Kipp recorded his 700th coaching victory as Maine West (Des Plaines, Ill.) defeated Glenbrook North, 43-30.
* Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, Pa.) defeated Archbishop Wood, 72-61, to hand coach Sherri Retif her 500th career victory.
Hughes, Insell honored
Robert Hughes and Rick Insell were named today as winners of the fourth annual Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball. The award is sponsored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Hughes, the boys recipient, won five state championships and a national-record 1,333 games during 47 years at Texas schools Fort Worth Dunbar and I.M. Terrell. Insell, the girls winner, compiled a 775-148 record with 10 Class AAA state and two national titles during 28 years at Shelbyville Central (Tenn.).
* Micah Behrens, a 6-0 sophomore, scored a school-record 47 points as Moon Valley (Phoenix, Ariz.) rolled past Prescott, 85-55. The record of 46 was held by NBA standout Richard Jefferson.
Angelo Chol, Hoover
Photo by David Hood
* Angelo Chol has blocked a San Diego Section-record 759 shots during his career at Hoover. The 6-9 junior may some day break the state and national record of 1,187 blocks held by Emeryville star Darnell Robinson.
* Minnesota Transitions Charter School (Minneapolis, Minn.) senior Kevin Noreen (6-10) has established a state record with 3,429 career points. He will attend Boston College.
* Kyle Payne (6-6) poured in 49 points to lead Brunswick (Ohio) to an 86-83, triple-overtime victory against Lyndhurst Brush. Nate Tait, a 6-1 senior, scored a school-record 44 points for the losers.
* Midpark (Middleburg Heights, Ohio) outlasted Olmsted Falls, 74-69, in four overtimes.
* Super guard Brandon Knight exploded for 51 points as Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) defeated Grandview Prep, 90-70.
* Mt. Pleasant (Pa.) defeated Derry, 50-20, to give coach Tom Traynor his 600th career victory.
* Mark Nusbaum won his 500th game as Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.) defeated Shawnee Mission East. 50-32.
Wolf makes comeback at 82
After one year of retirement, 82-year-old Warren Wolf has accepted the head football coaching position at Lakewood (N.J.). Wolf had retired from Brick Township as New Jersey’s all-time winner with a 361-122-11 record in 51 years.
The legendary coach has his work cut out, because Lakewood has lost its last 27 and 70 of its last 75 games.
* Bob Johnson of Mission Viejo (Calif.) has been named the National Football League’s High School Football Coach of the Year for 2009. Johnson, who has won 242 games, will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a $10,000 grant will be given to the Mission Viejo football program. An added bonus – two tickets for the Super Bowl.
* Sam Houston (Arlington, Texas) junior quarterback Jamal Turner has committed to the University of Nebraska, according to the Dallas Morning News. The 6-1, 175-pounder passed for 1,816 yards and 13 touchdowns, while running for 1,809 yards and 19 touchdowns last fall.
* In an unusual twist, junior tight end Chris Barnett (6-6, 245) has transferred from A. Maceo Smith (Dallas, Texas) to powerhouse Euless Trinity. His father, Elzie - who is the coach and athletic director at A. Maceo Smith - supports his son’s decision to gain better exposure and tougher competition. He already has 22 college scholarship offers, according to the Dallas Morning News.
* One of Pennsylvania’s premier football coaches, George Smith, has resigned at McKeesport. Noted for his triple-option offense, Smith won 190 games in 28 seasons.
* Rick Bye has retired as head football coach at Stevenson (Sterling Heights, Mich.) after posting a 268-94 record in 35 years.
* Former Northwestern University quarterback Dave Shelbourne has retired as head football coach at Avon (Ind.). He won 211 games in 33 years at three Indiana schools.
* Mike Parsons has been hired as head football coach at Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) after leading Modesto Christian to a 15-0 record and a Small-Schools state bowl championship. According to the Modesto Bee, Parsons was one of eight candidates who went through a two-day, CIF-approved audition during which he had to demonstrate his typical practice session and top items in his playbook.
Duplantis sets world record
Competing in the high school division, 10-year-old Armand “Mondo” Duplantis set an age-group world record by clearing 11 feet, two inches during the Pole Vault Summit in Reno (Nev.).
A fourth grader at Woodvale Elementary in Lafayette (La.), he is the son of former professional vaulter Greg Duplantis, who is one of the few Americans to ever have cleared 19 feet.
The high school boys champion was Michael Woepse of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), who cleared 16-6. The girls champion was Merritt Grace Van Meter of Metairie Park Country Day (Metairie, La.), who cleared 13-3. Both heights are national indoor bests at this time.
* Carl Sandburg (Orland Park, Ill.) star Lukas Verzbicas is the first sophomore to be named Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. The young superstar, who is the Foot Locker national champion, will not run track this spring due to a stress fracture in his left foot and his desire to run triathlons, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
* Pat Schellberg and Cory McGee won the prestigious mile championships before a crowd of 11,510 during the 103rd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Schellberg, who is a senior at Delbarton (Morristown, N.J.), captured the boys race in 4:14.84, while McGee, a senior at Pass Christian (Miss.), was the girls champion in a nation-leading 4:52.77. She had placed second each of the past three years.
* Competing against collegians, Parkway Central (Chesterfield, Mo.) senior Emily Sisson turned in the third-fastest indoor 3,000-meter time in history (9:25.7h) during the Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence, Kan.
National tournaments
IMG Academies and the National High School Coaches Association will hold national high school all-star tournaments this summer in Bradenton (Fla.) for 7-on-7 football, 7-on-7 boys and girls lacrosse, team tennis and team golf. The sponsors hope to eventually expand to 20 sports, including basketball and baseball.
Bob Ferraro, founder and CEO of the Easton (Pa.)-based coaches association, told MaxPreps, “It would be a violation of high school federation rules if teams compete for a national title. However, make no mistake, the state teams will feature the best high school coaches and athletes in the state.”
Bob Kanaby, director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, says, “National All-Star games are almost common at this time and would not be classified as high school championships in my mind.
“The membership of the NFHS has begun detailed discussions of the concept of additional true national high school events and championships as part of the objectives in the latest NFHS strategic plan.”
Here’s hoping that all sides find common ground and get together in the future.
Potpourri
University (Orlando, Fla.) senior Vivian Nweze is affectionately called both “Beauty” and “Beast,” because she is a beauty queen and champion weightlifter. She was crowned winner of the 2010 International Junior Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant and has qualified for the Feb. 13 state weightlifting championships.
But her talents don’t stop there. She’s a varsity cheerleader, a track sprinter and has an outstanding 4.1 weighted GPA. Her goal is to be an international news correspondent or anchor.
* Laurel West Jones junior soccer star Macie Wallace has broken the Mississippi state record with 176 career goals.
* Pittman (Turlock, Calif.) senior soccer standout Donya Oliveira, who has overcome two concussions, will be the youngest member of host Team Portugal during Algarve Cup competition from Feb. 23-March 3.
* The Woodlands (Texas) senior pitcher Jameson Taillon has won the first annual USA Baseball International Performance of the Year Award for striking out a record 16 batters during a 6-1 gold-medal victory over Cuba.
* Reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion Jordan Spieth, a junior from Jesuit (Dallas, Texas), is only the fourth amateur ever granted an exemption to play in the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championships (May 19-23 in Irving, Texas).
* Paulsboro (N.J.) wrestling coach Paul Morina notched his 500th career victory, 37-21, against West Deptford. His teams have lost just 29 dual meets during his 25-year career. He also has won 23 Group I state titles and tutored 11 individual state champions. In addition, he is the high school principal and a city councilman.
