USF Bulls Women's Team Makes NCAA Tournament

This is the second time in its history the basketball team will take part in the tourney.

The University of South Florida women’s basketball team has reason to celebrate. For the second time ever, the Bulls have made the NCAA tournament cut, according to Tampa Bay Times. The Bulls are ranked No. 10 and faceoff in their first tourney game Saturday, March 23 against Texas Tech in Lubbock. "We're just so happy to be in the tournament,” The Tampa Tribune quoted USF forward Inga Orekhova as saying. “We don't know much about Texas Tech, but we're going to find out a whole lot more.'' If the Bulls defeat Texas Tech, they’ll move onto the second round of post-season play, which runs March 25-26. The Division I semifinal and championship games take place this year April 7 and 9 in New Orleans. To check out the brackets, visit the NCAA …

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YMCA Set to Host Basketball Seminar

Former NBA player Haywoode Workman will be at the Bob Gilbertson Central City YMCA educating referees and coaches next Wednesday.

From 1989-2000, Haywoode Workman made his living playing on basketball's biggest stage. These days, he's doing everything he can to improve the game at its roots. Workman is now a Tampa resident and an active National Basketball Association official after four years of refereeing in the Continental Basketball Association. Next Wednesday, he'll be sharing his thoughts and knowledge with a slew of coaches and officials from around the Tampa area. "He'll be sharing a lot of his experiences and explaining how he went down the career path that he did," YMCA director of basketball operations Gary Brokaw said. "He'll be talking a lot to the officials of our leagues on how to be better officials and what the correct path to take to improve is." …

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Crusaders Fall in State Semifinals

The Tampa Catholic boy's basketball team ends the season with a loss to Jones High Wednesday night.

Sometimes a positive halftime speech just isn't enough. Tampa Catholic's boy's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Wednesday night at the Lakeland Center with a crushing 83-48 loss to Jones High School of Orlando.  From the tip off, the Crusaders struggled to make shots. Jones, a notoriously good rebounding team, denied them second chance points and was able to get to the basket with ease offensively leaving the Crusaders in an 18 point hole at halftime. "At that point, I told the guys that if we could come out and get that lead down to around ten at the end of the third that we'd have a chance in the fourth quarter," head coach Don Dziagwa said. "We just thought if we could make some shots we'd have a chance, but we couldn't …

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Chiefs Basketball Season Comes to an End

Chamberlain High School's boys basketball team fell to Gibbs in the class 5A region final on Saturday night.

Chamberlain High School's boys basketball season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday night as the Chiefs fell 53-45 in a game looked bleak from the start. After falling behind by 16 points at halftime, the Chiefs were looking at the end of a season that had seen them lose only twice prior to tip off. A high number of turnovers and missed chances were hindering Chamberlain's ability to stay in the game, but the second half would see a revival of the team coach Christopher Snyder has become accustomed to seeing this season. "That team that we saw in the fourth quarter in particular, was the team I've seen all year," Snyder said. "Any time you play the way we did in the first half it's going to be tough to win games. We didn't…

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Chamberlain Athletes Excel

Two athletes at Chamberlain high school are playing a key part in the success of their teams.

Female Athlete of the week: Bianka Bell As a key player for Chamberlain High School's softball team, Bell has solidified her place in the Lady Chiefs lineup as one of the most important positions on a baseball diamond, either short stop or pitcher. Bell's future in softball has already been assured as she committed to Louisiana State University this year. She is one of the main reasons that the Lady Chiefs have gotten off to a 5-0 start this season, with her last victory on the mound coming in Friday night's 8-2 victory over Hillsborough High School. "I'm excited about the coaches and the facilities at LSU," Bell said. "I wanted to be away from home but not too far. I think we look good this year. Certainly we're off to a good start we …

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Chamberlain Scrapes by Sickles to Reach Final

Chamberlain topped Sickles for the third time this year with a 48-45 victory on Tuesday night in the 5A region semifinal.

There may not be two more evenly matched boys high school basketball teams in all of Hillsborough County than Sickles (23-7) and Chamberlain (24-2). The two sides met for the fourth time this season on Tuesday night in front of a packed house at Chamberlain High, with the Chiefs edging out the Gryphons for a third time this year by a score of 48-45. The result followed the trend of the previous meetings as three of the four contests were decided by five points or less. “Two of the things we say are that defense wins games and free throws make the difference,” Chamberlain coach Christopher Snyder said. “We made our free throws when we really needed to and we made big defensive plays at the end. We didn’t have to say a whole lot in the …

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Chamberlain Shooting Guard Prepares for Life After Basketball

Senior Eric Storts could be facing his final game in a Chamberlain Chiefs uniform on Tuesday night as Sickles will visit in the class 5A regional semi-final.

Eric Storts is staring down his last days as a basketball player with a smile. The senior guard will lead his Chamberlain Chiefs team into battle against Sickles tonight with the knowledge that with each basket made or turnover going the other way, his basketball playing life is hanging in the balance. Storts surpassed the 1,000 point mark in December, averaging a double-double (18 points and 11 rebounds) for the season and has been a defensive force in the back court. Despite all of that, he has not garnered interest from many collegiate programs. Though he plans on attending a state school and attempting to walk on to a college team, Storts is relishing each game as if it were going to be his last. “This season has meant a lot,” Storts …

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Player of the Week

Tampa Catholic Players Inspire Success

Both the boys and girls basketball teams at Tampa Catholic have advanced in the 3A regional tournament thanks to contributions from key players.

Female athlete of the week: Kai Jones The 5-foot, 10-inch junior forward  has been essential piece of coach Nancy Kroll's system this season. She is averaging 12 points per game to go along with her team leading 10 rebounds.  In the team's victory over Fort Meade on Tuesday, Jones matched her averages with 12 points and 10 boards. She has shot 49 percent from the free throw line this season. "She's an important player for us because she does a lot of really important little things," Kroll said. "She has a real presence inside as a rebounder and is a solid defensive player. She's been crucial for us this year." Male athlete of the week: Isiah Thomas Point guard Lashawn Harrison is the Crusaders' leader, but fellow guard Isiah Thomas has …

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Hillsborough Boys Basketball Season Comes to an End

The Terriers fell to King High School in the opening round of district tournament play.

Hillsborough High School's boys basketball team fell to King High School by a score of 63-58 on Tuesday in the opening game of the district 5A-9 boys basketball tournament. In a scrappy phyiscal game that saw players sliding across the court for loose balls and throwing elbows for rebounds, the Terriers were edged out due to a lack of experience. "I think that the effort was there," Hillsborough coach Stephanie Crawford said. "When you look at our lineup, we have a lot of young guys that we were asking to step up and play big roles. You could see that they were maybe a little bit nervous. We lost our composure at times and didn't make the most of some opportunities." Hillsborough successfully overcame a seven point halftime deficit but was…

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Tampa Catholic Boys Basketball Falls to Tampa Prep

With the season finale against arch rival Jesuit approaching on Friday, the Crusaders find themselves at a crossroads after a 61-50 loss to Tampa Prep.

Tampa Catholic's boys basketball team fell to a 16-7 overall record on the year after losing a tough battle against Tampa Prep Tuesday night by a score of 61-50. The Terrapins (18-3) came into Crusader Castle with an aggressive attitude towards grabbing rebounds and getting easy baskets, but their reserved 2-3 zone strategy on defense gave them a surprising edge over the pressing defensive style of Tampa Catholic. "We think we're a pretty decent pressing team, but we committed ten more turnovers than them with them sitting back in a zone defense," Crusader head coach Don Dziagwa said. "We tried to force things, and we didn't get a lot of easy baskets because we never got going defensively. On top of that we shot five free throws and they …

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