The Florida JUCO state champion and representative to the NJCAA National Tournament will be decided this week at the Region XIII Tournament at Chipola Junior College.
The eight-team event is comprised of the top two teams in each of Floridas four major JC conferences: Panhandle, Suncoast, Mid-Florida and Southern. Host Chipola, ranked #2 nationally with a 29-1 record, is looking to return to the national tournament where they reached the 2007 championship game only to lose to Midland (TX) 94-75.
The Indians, who have captured five straight conference titles, have a deep team with many contributors, including 6-2 freshman guard Vernon Teel from Flushing (NY) HS and Laurinburg (NC) Prep. Teel, who sat out last season while attending LIU-Brooklyn, averaged 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He has scored in double figures in 11 games, including his last three, with a high of 25 points and 8 assists in an 88-87 overtime victory over Palm Beach on 12/16.
New Yorkers are making an even greater contribution at Broward, which qualified for the state tourney as the second team from the Southern Conference with a 23-8 record. Tony Dennison, a 6-3 guard headed to Hofstra next season, is 7th nationally in scoring with 24.1 ppg. after finishing second as a freshman with 27.7 ppg. A graduate of Queens (NY) Bryant HS, Dennison has also compiled 7.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists while connecting on 47% of his three-point attempts. Devon Peterson, a 6-3 freshman guard out of Brooklyn (NY) Lincoln HS, gives Broward a solid 1-2 scoring punch, averaging 19.6 points and 4.2 assists. Broward reached the state tournament by downing Miami-Dade 69-65 in the conference tournament championship on 2/26 as Dennison scored 20 points with 7 rebounds and Peterson added 17 points and 6 assists.
Two other New Yorkers will be seeing action in the state tournament this week. Quincy Hankins, a 6-8 freshman forward from Roosevelt (NY) HS, averaged 11.2 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds while helping Polk capture the Suncoast Conference title with a 24-5 mark. Shahee Martin, a 6-4 sophomore small forward, had averages of 12.5 points and 4.3 rebounds for Central Florida (22-10), the Mid-Florida Conference qualifiers.
Other NY-area players who played JUCO ball in the Sunshine State this season included: Greg Lott, a 6-4 freshman forward from Malverne (NY) HS, who averaged 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds for Florida-Jacksonville (11-19); Chris Samuels, a 6-10 freshman center from Edison (NJ) Prep, who averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds for Palm Beach (14-17); Devon Curry, a 6-0 freshman guard from Staten Island (NY) Curtis HS, who averaged 10.6 points for Pasco Hernando (8-23); and Buford Foote, a 6-10 sophomore center, who averaged 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds for Pensacola (14-15).
The eight-team event is comprised of the top two teams in each of Floridas four major JC conferences: Panhandle, Suncoast, Mid-Florida and Southern. Host Chipola, ranked #2 nationally with a 29-1 record, is looking to return to the national tournament where they reached the 2007 championship game only to lose to Midland (TX) 94-75.
The Indians, who have captured five straight conference titles, have a deep team with many contributors, including 6-2 freshman guard Vernon Teel from Flushing (NY) HS and Laurinburg (NC) Prep. Teel, who sat out last season while attending LIU-Brooklyn, averaged 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He has scored in double figures in 11 games, including his last three, with a high of 25 points and 8 assists in an 88-87 overtime victory over Palm Beach on 12/16.
New Yorkers are making an even greater contribution at Broward, which qualified for the state tourney as the second team from the Southern Conference with a 23-8 record. Tony Dennison, a 6-3 guard headed to Hofstra next season, is 7th nationally in scoring with 24.1 ppg. after finishing second as a freshman with 27.7 ppg. A graduate of Queens (NY) Bryant HS, Dennison has also compiled 7.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists while connecting on 47% of his three-point attempts. Devon Peterson, a 6-3 freshman guard out of Brooklyn (NY) Lincoln HS, gives Broward a solid 1-2 scoring punch, averaging 19.6 points and 4.2 assists. Broward reached the state tournament by downing Miami-Dade 69-65 in the conference tournament championship on 2/26 as Dennison scored 20 points with 7 rebounds and Peterson added 17 points and 6 assists.
Two other New Yorkers will be seeing action in the state tournament this week. Quincy Hankins, a 6-8 freshman forward from Roosevelt (NY) HS, averaged 11.2 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds while helping Polk capture the Suncoast Conference title with a 24-5 mark. Shahee Martin, a 6-4 sophomore small forward, had averages of 12.5 points and 4.3 rebounds for Central Florida (22-10), the Mid-Florida Conference qualifiers.
Other NY-area players who played JUCO ball in the Sunshine State this season included: Greg Lott, a 6-4 freshman forward from Malverne (NY) HS, who averaged 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds for Florida-Jacksonville (11-19); Chris Samuels, a 6-10 freshman center from Edison (NJ) Prep, who averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds for Palm Beach (14-17); Devon Curry, a 6-0 freshman guard from Staten Island (NY) Curtis HS, who averaged 10.6 points for Pasco Hernando (8-23); and Buford Foote, a 6-10 sophomore center, who averaged 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds for Pensacola (14-15).
