First Coast Varsity Weekly: Caleb Williams ready to energize Ribault basketball tradition

Standing inside the upstairs gymnasium of the Riverside Winston Family YMCA, Ribault’s Caleb Williams had a message for Northeast Florida.

“This year, it’s going to be a good season. Good luck to everybody else, but Ribault is the team to beat this year,” he said with a smile at Tuesday's High School 9:12 Basketball Media Day, the fifth edition of the annual showcase for dozens of boys and girls hoops programs across the First Coast.

The promising junior guard averaged 12.2 points, seven assists and 3.6 rebounds per game during his sophomore campaign and has a chance to up those numbers this season. He enters the year as one of the best talents in Duval and could emerge as the top player in Northeast Florida by the end of the season.

The Trojans came to media day sporting powder blue varsity lettermen jackets with Ribault paraphernalia draped all over them. The eye-catching jackets could match their eye-catching play on the court this season.

They finished last season with a 16-10 record and a road playoff win against No. 1 seed Orange Park. They dropped games to Fletcher, Raines, Riverside and Jackson last year— all of them are games that Williams said he looked forward to this year.

“If I stay consistent this year, I don’t think anyone is going to beat us,” Williams said. “I’m like the heart of our team. If the heart’s not pumping, the team is not going to operate well.

“If I do my job and everybody else does their job on the team, we’re going to win a lot of games this year,” he added. “My coach and my teammates want me to score more. So, I told them I’ll be one of the top scorers and be more of a leader.”

With a budding star in Williams and a talented roster returning, Ribault will be a team to watch as basketball season begins.

First Coast Varsity Weekly: Mandarin spikes way to long-awaited Gateway volleyball title

Scott eyes McDonald's honor

Was there a McDonald's All-American in the house Tuesday?

If Taliah Scott's hoops dream for this year comes true, the answer is yes.

For Scott, the Times-Union's All-First Coast player of the year in 2021-22, that's just one of a host of goals.

"I want to finish out a district championship and get to regionals. That's one of our biggest goals as a team," she said. "And then, for me, I want to be a McDonald's All-American this year, and hopefully by the end of the year, a top-10 player in the country."

The St. Johns Country Day senior, Florida's leading scorer last year with 31 points per game, has already tallied 1,829 points through three seasons and is on pace to complete her high school career among Northeast Florida's all-time leaders over four years.

Shante Williams (now Stevens), Erica White and current Minnesota Lynx guard Rennia Davis are the only area girls to date to earn McDonald's All-American honors. All played at Ribault.

Scott also has an eye on the next step of her career at the University of Arkansas.

"Talking to [Arkansas] Coach [Mike] Neighbors and his staff, for my development, it's just to get stronger and be able to take more contact during the game when I'm driving," she said. "That's the number-one thing for me."

Fortegra Invitational field set

The field is set for a boys hoops tradition.

High School 9:12 executive director Alan Verlander rolled out the brackets Tuesday for the eight-team Fortegra Invitational presented by the CSI Companies, set for Dec. 8-10 at the Florida State College at Jacksonville South Campus.

Sandalwood faces Orange Park in the opener at 1 p.m. Dec. 8, followed by Oakleaf vs. Raines, Camden County vs. Nease and Providence vs. Mandarin. The bracket continues for the two following days.

Nease took the championship last year after Fleming Island forfeited due to use of an ineligible player.

Week of comebacks in football

Almost every year, there's a week of the comeback across Northeast Florida football. Mark down Week 9 on this year's list.

This one was wild — really wild.

* Trailing early against unbeaten Palatka, Fernandina Beach fought back to stun the Panthers. Ta'Jon Nelms found the end zone two more times to continue his high-scoring October, which has included more than a dozen touchdowns.

* University Christian trailed 26-6 when they opened the third quarter against Parker. Then, 43 points later, they dashed away with a 49-26 victory, courtesy of a staggering stretch of three interception return touchdowns for Dah'kari Gilley (95 yards), Orel Gray (103 yards) and Luke Thomas.

* Masters of the rally, Creekside did it again at Fleming Island, likely clinching a Region 1-4S playoff berth in the process during a 38-35 thriller. For the second time this month, Creekside converted a fourth down for the key touchdown inside the final minute, with Wilson Edwards firing to Ashton Reynolds from 14 yards out.

* Maybe the most improbable comeback belonged to North Florida Educational Institute. NFEI trailed 32-6 in the third quarter against Hamilton County, but roared back for 28 fourth-quarter points in a 42-38 victory. Devon Gordon rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns with an interception on defense, and Willie Scruggs picked off two passes.

Mustangs repeat in Gateway bowling

The Gateway Conference bowling trophy is heading back to Greenland Road.

Mandarin won Friday's Gateway bowling championship at Bowl America Mandarin, followed by 2020 champion Sandalwood, Stanton and Riverside.

The Mustangs' Danielle Fendenheim topped the scoring list with scores of 224 and 225, joining Mandarin teammates Kera Bountharack and Lauren Ankenbauer on the All-Gateway squad.

Other All-Gateway selections are Fletcher's Bethanie Belyea, Paxon's Jazmine Santiago, Sandalwood's Dorothy Kowkabany and Stanton's Cassandra Wichman.

The Mustangs, winners of three of the last four Gateway bowling titles, and other area schools are aiming to capture even more hardware next week. The FHSAA begins the state bowling tournament, the first fall championship of the school year, on Tuesday at Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando.

Blue Devils win Gateway golf

Stanton is making room for a little more Gateway Conference hardware, too.

The Blue Devils took first place in the Gateway girls golf tournament at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, edging Mandarin by four strokes with Paxon further behind in third.

Freshman Alyssa Hardy won medalist honors with a 3-over 75, while Blue Devils senior Charlee Evoniuk — already an All-Gateway Conference selection as quarterback of the flag football team — also received All-Gateway golf recognition.

The All-Gateway list also included Mia Diaz (Fletcher), Jenna Leonard (Mandarin), Juliana Leach (Paxon), Morgan Wilkerson (Riverside) and Alexis Williams (Sandalwood).

The girls golf title is Stanton's third of the past decade, after 2016 and 2019.

Kearney latest Super 11 Gator

With Roderick Kearney's latest announcement, the 2023 Florida recruiting class is shaping up as a bumper crop for the Gators from the First Coast.

On Monday, the Orange Park senior de-committed from Florida State and switched his commitment to Florida, the latest major Northeast Florida recruiting pickup for Billy Napier and the Gators' football staff.

Kearney, selected to the Times-Union's annual Super 11 team before the football season's start, now becomes the fourth Super 11 member to commit to the Gators, along with Bartram Trail cornerback Sharif Denson, Nease quarterback Marcus Stokes and Trinity Christian running back Treyaun Webb.

It's been a busy week for the four-star offensive lineman, who formally received his Under Armour All-American jersey on Wednesday at a ceremony held at the Clay County school.

Golden Eagles' Singleton named All-American

Super 11 running back Samuel Singleton is adding to the All-American list.

The Fleming Island senior was officially recognized Wednesday with his All-American jersey as part of the Road to the Dome digital series ahead of the All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

Singleton is scheduled to compete this winter in the 23rd All-American Bowl inside the Alamodome, matching East vs. West in a high school football showcase of 100 major national prospects televised live on NBC.

SSAC playoffs kick off

Even before the FHSAA postseason for football, the Sunshine State Athletic Conference is kicking off its postseason.

Two Duval County public schools open the SSAC Atlantic League on Friday. Stanton, which ended its losing streak last week under unusual circumstances when St. Joseph forfeited during the second quarter, gets a stiff challenge in the opening round of the SSAC Atlantic League playoffs against one of the region's standout surprise stories in Interlachen.

The Rams (8-0), a three-win team last year, have held opponents under 10 points per game thus far, led by 14 sacks from pass rusher Dertavius Mack and 15 tackles for loss from linebacker Jonathan Servin.

Paxon, paced by dual-threat quarterback Johnathan Rentrope, plays in the opposite semifinal against Cocoa Beach.

In SSAC Class 5A, Bishop Snyder plays at home against Legacy Charter and Cedar Creek Christian heads to Seven Rivers Christian. Harvest Community travels to Lighthouse Private Christian in SSAC Class 4A, while Eagle's View gets a Class 3A rematch against Orlando Faith Christian one week after the Warriors' 12-7 victory last Friday.

St. Johns quartet tops swim standings

Two swimming districts. Four St. Johns County team champions in the opening week.

Matthew Koziol and Rich Nguyen each won two events to lead the Nease boys to first place in the District 3-3A meet at Planet Swim, while reigning Class 3A champion Ponte Vedra took the girls district title with individual wins for Annie Wohlgemuth (100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly) and Annabelle MacAdams (100 breaststroke).

Parker's Owen Williams won the boys 500 free and 100 back, while Nease's Olivia Moore won the girls distance freestyle races and Fleming Island's Maryn McDade swept the girls sprints.

In the District 1-4A meet, Bartram Trail dominated the boys standings behind Raymond Prosinski, Simeon Prosinski, Abdelrahman Shaheen and Luke VanDeusen for a convincing 628 points.

Creekside narrowly won the girls team race, with 508 points to 476 for Bartram Trail. The meet wasn't wrapped up until Creekside won the final three events: the 100 back with Dani O'Dwyer, the 100 breast with Leslie Dame and finally the 400 free relay. Elle Fox won two individual events for the runner-up Bears.

Sharks dominate for district title

Ponte Vedra cross country hasn't slowed down all through the fall. They're not planning to let up come playoff time.

The Sharks' boys team won the District 2-3A title with 27 points and the reigning state champion girls squad went even lower with 26 points to win the opening-round meet at Matanzas.

Newly-committed future University of North Florida runner Grant Doherty, Nicolo Fasanelli and Davis Brown each broke 16 minutes for the Ponte Vedra boys, and Lindy White (17:43) and Daisy Ross ran 1-2 in a dominant girls race.

Fleming Island also had plenty to celebrate, including an individual boys title for Graham Myers in 15:28 and a new school girls record for Katie Thompson at 18:52. The Golden Eagles placed second in the boys standings and third in the girls standings, behind Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine.

Elsewhere, Creekside's boys used superb depth, led by Tanner Simonds at 15:44, to win the District 1-4A meet at Apalachee Regional Park with 37 points. Nease's Matt Ryan won the individual title at 15:43. Oakleaf's Sierra Barrera ran 18:59 to lead locals in the girls race, won by Kate Drummond of Buchholz.

Providence's Walker White ran 17:13 for second place in District 2-1A in Tallahassee, leading the Stallions to the boys team championship. Clayton Knox of Tallahassee Maclay was the individual victor in 17:01.

St. Joseph's Paige Brammer led local girls in District 2-1A with a fourth-place 20:21, while Gracie Koeppel of Maclay took the top spot in 19:18.

Around the area

Bolles junior attacker Gavin Boree committed to High Point men's lacrosse. ... Middleburg golfer Chase Carroll committed to North Florida men's golf. ... Middleburg outside hitter Connor Rahn committed to San Francisco volleyball. ... Sandalwood pitcher Tanner Reed committed to Thomas baseball. ... Former Suwannee offensive lineman Joshua Braun departed the Florida football program with plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal. ... Ponte Vedra boys lacrosse released its 2023 schedule with opponents from seven states, including state champions of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia as well as a trip to a tournament near Washington, D.C. ... Boys basketball opens practice Monday across the FHSAA.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Caleb Williams leads Ribault boys basketball