TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hockey League Displaying Balance

ADVERTISEMENT

By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY nmurray@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2008

BRANDON - With two weeks of play completed in the Hillsborough High School Hockey League, the level of balance between many teams is becoming apparent.

After an opening shootout loss to Lakeland Jenkins, Freedom bounced back to beat Bloomingdale 3-0 on Saturday behind a hat trick by Spencer McNabb. Jenkins, meanwhile, lost 4-1 to the Tigers, who themselves had lost in a shootout to Wharton in their opener last Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bloomingdale defeated Plant on the opening day of the season, only for the Panthers to defeat Wharton 5-4 in a shootout in their second game on Saturday. Siblings Justin and Hannah Bramm each scored in the shootout for the Panthers.

"I went away from the high school league for a couple of years," Panthers coach Larry Seavor said. "I knew Plant to be one of the doormats, honestly, and now everyone I talk to says everyone is pretty even. I watched the Tigers game before me, and I was like, 'those are two solid teams.' I think every team is kind of even, and that should make for a great season.

Tigers coach Bruce Paterson said he and fellow coach Mark Kroeten have emphasized that on-ice effort will be rewarded.

"As we say to the players, any team on a given night can beat any other team," Paterson said. "It's about how hard you work, and if you work hard every night, and work hard during the game, you're likely to win more often than not."

The Tigers got a pair of goals from Zack White, including the game-winner. But the Tigers' play in the defensive zone which stifled a Jenkins team that scored four goals in regulation against Freedom the week before was the key to their victory.

"Everybody stuck to their position tonight and supported each other," Paterson said. "That was the big thing that was really missing from the Tuesday night game was the support for the puck-carrier and support for your teammates, and tonight I think they did that much better."

Paterson also had praise for his goaltending tandem of Troy Mainzer and Greg Lemrow, as Mainzer gave up just a power-play goal against Jenkins.

"Both of our goaltenders are pretty good," Paterson said. "I think we have a comparable tandem to anyone in the league right now. Goaltending is not our issue right now."

NOT MISSING LETSON: While Freedom graduated five seniors from last season's team, one player who could have returned is absent from the team.

That's because Chance Letson is now a member of the Tampa Bay Bolts, a new junior "B" hockey team that plays in the Metropolitan League South Division. But while Letson was an important part of last year's league champions, Freedom coach Mike Lufkin said he's pleased with the way the team has played without him.

"He'd been in the program for a couple of years, so they're not easy to replace," Lufkin said. "You've got to give credit to the boys. Our captain Greg Fries and the alternates have done a great job understanding the things that we want to do on the ice."

Fries himself said he and others had contemplated going a similar route to Letson, and may do so in the future.

"There's a few of us that have thought about going to juniors," Fries said. "Weston Moon wants to maybe go play juniors, and I was thinking about playing juniors, so some of us have high hopes about moving on."

Letson Finishes 2nd At West Bay

George Letson of Tampa led after the first round, but a second-round 78 left him in a three-way tie for second at the Florida Junior Golf Tour's Under-18 event at West Bay Golf Club in Estero on Sunday.

Letson, who plays for Plant High, had led by one after an opening-round of 69. He finished one shot out of a playoff with Greg Carrier of Ponte Vedra Beach, after Carrier shot a 74 on the second day for victory.

Amy West from Valrico bounced back from a poor opening round to finish in a tie for second in the girl's Under-18 event, but didn't get close to champion Erica Popson of Davenport, who won by six shots.

West, who plays for Durant High, shot the low score on the second day with a 74, but an opening 82 left her too many shots to make on Popson.

GYMNASTICS: LaFleur's Largo won the level-five large-team division, and Lightning City Gym won the small-team division at the Gasparilla Invitational on Sunday.

LaFleur's edged out the Tampa Bay Turners by a half-point, finishing with a total of 115.150. Natalie Morrison led LaFleur's, winning her flight and recording the highest all-around total in the level-five meet with a total of 38.575. Morrison won the floor (9.675), bars (9.625) and vault (9.550) and finished third in the beam (9.675).

Morrison was edged out in the beam by the Turners Cassidy Slockett, who recorded a 9.825 as she took second place in the flight. Slockett also tied Morrison on the bars.

Lightning City finished with a total of 109.525, as Cassangela Bailey recorded the team's highest all-around total with 36.425. Bailey won the vault in her flight with a score of 9.375, and was backed by Kyla Pea (36.350) and Taliah Howard (35.525), who both finished second in their respective flights.

RUNNING: Robert Stewart from Lutz won the boy's under-18 championship at the Disney Race For The Taste 10K, finishing the course at the Walt Disney World Resort in a time of 42 minutes, 24 seconds.

Stewart finished over a minute ahead of Colton Devos of La Salle, Canada.

Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243. Keyword: youth sports for more news, notes and live game stories.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT