By Rod Gipson
MaxPreps.com
Tampa Sickles has welcomed Houston, Texas transfer John Henson to its basketball program. Henson, a 6-foot-10 forward and University of North Carolina recruit, is a five-star prospect and immediately becomes one of the best players in the Tampa Bay area.
Henson, who also was being recruited by UCLA and Texas, joins a Sickles team that is a perennial playoff participant, but has been eliminated in the regional round the past two seasons. The Gryphons went 21-7 last season.
Also, Sickles has been invited to the prestigious Trusted Choice Tournament of Champions near Chicago during Thanksgiving weekend.
Volleyball: Plant, Berkeley Prep Start Strong
The prep volleyball season is a little more than a week old. A few things appear to have stayed the same while there has been a surprise or two.
Tampa Plant and Tampa Berkeley Prep are picking up where they left off while Palm Harbor University appears to be back on track.
Plant and Berkeley opened their campaign with wins as the Panthers topped Tampa Sickles 25-14, 25-6, 25-8. Berkeley opened the season with a 25-16, 25-13, 25-20 win against Clearwater Central Catholic. Freshman Jordan Burgess led Berkley with 14 kills.
Plant, the defending two-time Class 5A state champions, got solid performances from the trio of Danielle Erb, Becca Howard and Ariel Ley. Erb had 12 services aces, nine assists and 10 kills. Ley added nine kills while Howard had 25 assists.
Meanwhile, PHU is off to a 3-0 start, including its most recent win, a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 22-25, 16-14) decision against defending Class 5A, District 9 champ Tarpon Springs East Lake.
The win was key for the Hurricanes, who missed the playoffs in 2007, as they regroup. Cassie Roy posted 13 kills and six aces in the match while Allyson Henning added 13 blocks and six kills for PHU.
In other first week matches, St. Petersburg Northside Christian upset defending Class A state champion Tampa Bayshore Christian 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 33-31) and St. Petersburg won its district opener in a 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-10, 25-9) win against Alonso.
Also, St. Petersburg Lakewood setter Michelle Scannel is expected to miss all of the Spartans’ games next week.
Swimming: Sickles Swims to City Relays Title
Tampa Sickles’ boys and girls teams both edged out Lithia Newsome to win the 35th Annual City Relays, traditionally the first big swim meet of the Tampa season.
The Gryphons’ boys posted 320 points to Newsome’s 302 while the Sickles girls scored 302 points to outlast the Newsome girls’ 298. The Sickles boys needed a victory in the last race of the meet, the 200-meter freestyle, to lock up the win.
But Sickles and Newsome weren’t the only teams to fare well at the meet. Tampa Plant’s three-time state champion Meg Anderson led the Panthers to wins in both the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle relays.
Football Notes
Some outstanding performances from prep football’s opening night included Gibsonton East Bay running back Chaz Burrows, who busted out for 258 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries as the Indians defeated Riverview 51-25…Plant City Durant running back Ryan Rice bolted for 168 yards and three touchdowns in a 25-6 victory…Tarpon Springs’ 36-13 win against Palm Harbor University was led by quarterback Danny Reyes, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns. Twelve of those passes went to wideouts Drew Kier (7 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown) and Bobby Vavlas (5-50 yards, 2 touchdowns)…Clearwater Countryside running back Dawrence Roberts rumbled for 185 yards on 23 carries in the Cougars’ 19-6 win against Pinellas Park.
