Southeast's Hanna finishes on high note

Bianca Hanna’s first season of college basketball ended in a loss, but she proved to be a winner with a very bright future.

The Paris Junior College freshman scored 11 points, dished out four assists and pulled in five rebounds in her team’s 74-68 loss to nationally third ranked Trinity Valley Sunday in the National Junior College Region XIV Tournament.

Hanna, the Bradenton Herald Player of The Year last season for Southeast, did everything she could to help her team pull off a win, which would’ve been one of the season’s biggest upsets.

Paris trailed 63-58 with 3:24 left in regulation time when Hanna dropped in two free throws to cut her team’s deficit to three points. With the game tied at 63, she assisted on a basket that enabled teammate Destiny Smith to score on a layup with 2:12 left.

The teams were tied at 65 after regulation. In the five minute overtime session, Hanna led Paris with three rebounds and assisted on a basket that allowed her team to tie the game at 68 with 1:57 left. Unfortunately, Trinity (30-2) scored the last six points for a 74-68 victory.

Paris finished its season at 19-13. In the first 27 games, Hanna averaged 9.4 points per game, was third on her team with 121 rebounds, second in steals (48) and blocks (13).

USF opens Big East Tournament against Villanova

The University of South Florida begins Big East Conference Tournament play Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when the 15th seeded Bulls face 10th seed Villanova at Madison Square Garden in a game that will be televised on ESPNU.

The USF-Villanova contest will be followed by 11th seed Marquette facing 14th seed Providence to cap off the last of four opening round games.

The tournament kickoffs at Noon Tuesday with 9th seed Connecticut taking on 16th seed DePaul followed by 12th seed Seton Hall facing 13th seed Rutgers at 2 p.m. to complete the afternoon session.

Pittsburgh wrapped up its sixth BIG EAST regular-season title Saturday with a 60-50 win against Villanova, giving the Panthers a one-game edge on second-place Notre Dame in the final standings. The Panthers will enter The BIG EAST Championship as the No. 1 overall seed for the third time and look to win their third BIG EAST tournament title.


Pittsburgh joins Notre Dame, Louisville and Syracuse as the top four seeds. Those four schools receive byes through two rounds of the tournament and won’t play until Thursday’s quarterfinals.

No. 8-seed Georgetown will await the Connecticut/DePaul winner Wednesday at noon in the first of four second-round games. No. 5 St. John’s has the Seton Hall/Rutgers winner at 2 p.m., while No. 7 Cincinnati takes on the Villanova /USF winner at 7 p.m. No. 6 West Virginia – the 2010 BIG EAST champion – closes Wednesday’s action against the Marquette/Providence winner.

Friday’s semifinals are scheduled for 7 and 9 p.m., while the championship game tips at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Wednesday’s second-round games, Thursday’s quarterfinals, Friday’s semifinals and the championship game Saturday will be televised on ESPN.

Georgetown has won a conference-record seven BIG EAST Championships. Connecticut has won six tournament titles, while Syracuse has won five.

Tuesday, March 8 – First Round (ESPN2/ESPN 3D)
No. 9 Connecticut (21-9) vs. No. 16 DePaul (7-23)................................................ Noon

No. 12 Seton Hall (13-17) vs. No. 13 Rutgers (14-16)............................................ 2 p.m.

Tuesday, March 8 – First Round (ESPNU/ESPN 3D)
No. 10 Villanova (21-10) vs. No. 15 USF (9-22)..................................................... 7 p.m.

No. 11 Marquette (18-13) vs. No. 14 Providence (15-16)..................................... 9 p.m.



Wednesday, March 9 – Second Round (ESPN/ESPN 3D)

No. 8 Georgetown (21-9) vs. Connecticut/DePaul winner..................................... Noon

No. 5 St. John’s (20-10) vs. Seton Hall/Rutgers winner........................................... 2 p.m.

No. 7 Cincinnati (24-7) vs. Villanova/USF winner.................................................. 7 p.m.

No. 6 West Virginia (20-10) vs. Marquette/Providence winner............................ 9 p.m.



Thursday, March 10 – Quarterfinals (ESPN/ESPN 3D)

No. 1 Pittsburgh (27-4) vs. 8/9/16 winner................................................................ Noon

No. 4 Syracuse (25-6) vs. 5/12/13 winner............................................................... 2 p.m.

No. 2 Notre Dame (25-5) vs. 7/10/15 winner......................................................... 7 p.m.

No. 3 Louisville (23-8) vs. 6/11/14 winner.............................................................. 9 p.m.



Friday, March 11 – Semifinals (ESPN/ESPN 3D)

Thursday afternoon winners..................................................................................... 7 p.m.

Thursday evening winners........................................................................................ 9 p.m.



Saturday, March 12 – Championship (ESPN/ESPN 3D)

Semifinal winners....................................................................................................... 9 p.m.

Bianca Hanna helps team to upset in JUCO Tourney

Former Southeast High star Bianca Hanna played a key role in leading Paris Junior College to an 80-75 overtime upset over Angelina Friday in a quarterfinal round NJCAA Region tournament contest.

Hanna, the Bradenton Herald’s Player of The Year last season, scored seven points and hauled in seven rebounds with two steals and dished out a team high four assists.

The victory earns Paris (19-12) a spot in Sunday’s semifinal against top seed Trinity Valley College (29-2), which is ranked third nationally.

The tournament is being held at the University of Texas at Tyler. Hanna was two for six from the field and drained one of three attempts from 3-point land.

Dallas coaches optimistic Mike Jenkins can return to his All-Pro form

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and secondary coach Dave Campo believe cornerback Mike Jenkins will show his 2009 form and comeback from a very disappointing 2010 season.

The former Southeast High standout and USF All-American was a Pro Bowler in 2009, which was his first season as a starter.

However, last season he became the favorite target of alot of quarterback and allowed 54 receptions for 935 yards and five touchdowns, the second-most yards in the NFL and tied for 14th-most catches allowed.

“Well, I’ve seen him play at a very high level…I’ve seen him do it. He’s a talented guy,” Garrett told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. “I think he wants to be good, and we as coaches are going to try to get him back where he plays with the right frame of mind and plays with the discipline necessary to allow his talents to come out.”

The Cowboys are reportedly taking a hard look at Nebraska’s cornerback Prince Amukamara with their ninth overall pick to provide aid for Jenkins and Terrence Newman, both former first-round selections themselves

Southeast's A.J. Love looking to resume career for USF

The USF football team began spring practice this week with a lot of questions needing to be answered.

Near the top of the list is receiver A.J. Love, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after tearing his ACL in last year’s spring game.

The former Southeast High pass catcher figured to be one of USF’s top receivers last year and had people calling him a possible Big East first team selection.

It never happened but Love is back and coach Skip Holtz is hoping for big things from the 6-2, 205 pounder, particularly in the leadership department.

Love, who is a cousin of Southeast great Peter Warrick, will turn 24 before next season ends and Holtz is hoping that maturity will bring the kind of leadership he got last season from Mistral Raymond, the defensive back from Palmetto.

In 2009, Love tied for the team lead with four touchdown receptions and came on strong at the end of season the season. A big play receiver in high school his 18.8 yards per catch average in his junior year is the third highest in school history.

Sarasota opening crowd sounded pro Tampa Rays

The Tampa Rays answered Baltimore’s home run barrage with a mini splurge of their own in Tuesday’s spring training home opener for the Orioles, though none got a bigger yell from the crowd than Manny Ramirez blasting his first homer of the spring over the left center field wall.

B.J. Upton followed Ramirez a long ball shot with one of his own, also his first round-tripper of the season. Catcher Kelly Shoppach got the Rays first homer of the game in the fourth inning with another solo blast. Ramirez and Upton hit their homers in the sixth.

It was evident that the announced crowd of 7,497 had more Rays fans though it was a big day for baseball in Sarasota and the Orioles, who emerged a 12-6 winner.

The Rays also had to feel good about the one inning three strikeout performance by righthander Chris Archer. The 6-3, 185 pounder was the major piece for Tampa in the Matt Garza deal and manager Joe Maddon said after the game it won’t be long before he is in the big leagues.

Orioles celebrate new look stadium with five homers in first two innings

The Baltimore Orioles celebrated their spring debut at the renovated Ed Smith Stadium in the best way they know how by blasting three first inning home runs of Tampa Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine.

Nick Markakis stared it off with a two-run shot. After an out, Vladimir Guerrero smacked his first homer of the spring and one out later Adam Jones slammed his first spring homer over the left center field wall.

Things didn’t improve much for Sonnanstine in the second when Jake Fox added a solo shot over the left centerfield fence and then Markakis slugged his second homer, this one over the right field wall to give the Birds a 6-0 lead after two innings.