First Coast Varsity Weekly: Bolles' Anakin Brown follows father's path to JU basketball
There's a second-generation Bulldog heading to Jacksonville University.
Bolles junior guard Anakin Brown announced his commitment to JU men's basketball Thursday, following in the footsteps of his hoops star father, Dee Brown.
It's a family legacy instantly recognized for longtime followers of both Bolles and JU.
A Bolles graduate who led the Bulldogs to consecutive state finals in 1985 and 1986, the elder Brown starred at JU in the late 1980s. He ranks 12th on the Dolphins' all-time list with 1,503 points, receiving Sun Belt Conference player of the year honors in 1989. After the Boston Celtics selected him 19th overall in the 1990 NBA Draft, he went on to win the 1991 slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star Game and played 12 seasons in the league.
After missing most of his sophomore season due to injury, Anakin Brown got his chance this season to display his explosive skill set from passing to defending the perimeter at Bolles. Although he missed a portion of the finishing stretch, he averaged 19.9 points per game in the Bulldogs' run to the FHSAA regionals.
A 6-4 combo guard, he's the second Duval County prospect in the 2024 class to commit to the Dolphins, along with Providence's Chris Arias.
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Bolles' West earns 400th win
The 400-win club in lacrosse is an exclusive one. Now, it's welcoming a Jacksonville member.
Bolles boys lacrosse coach Tom West joined the club during a winning week with the Bulldogs' 13-4 victory against Episcopal on Friday. Parker Kane scored five goals, while Caleb Coleman and Daylin John-Hill struck three times apiece in the win.
As compiled by LaxNumbers, West became Florida's third 400-game winner in boys lacrosse, following Terry Crowley at St. Thomas Aquinas and Jeff Goldberg at Boca Raton St. Andrew's and Delray Beach American Heritage. He previously won the 2017 Florida High School Athletic Association championship at Ponte Vedra.
While West's 400th win was the milestone, his 401st was a thriller: Ethan Binns scored the game-winning goal in overtime, fending off a comeback by 2022 state semifinalist Winter Park for a 13-12 victory.
At 16-1 (pending Springside Chestnut Hill) entering the week, Bolles stands second in the statewide MaxPreps rankings, and the Bulldogs' Gavin Boree was selected as the South region's player of the week by USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Bolles-Episcopal Day ends in split
West's milestone win wasn't the only time Bolles and Episcopal faced off Friday — far from it.
Carrying on what has become a spring tradition, the private schools collided in six sports on the same day Friday, finishing with an exact split: three wins for Bolles and three for the host Eagles.
In addition to Bolles' boys lacrosse win, the Bulldogs also came out on top 6-1 in girls tennis and 16-0 in baseball. Episcopal's triumphs occurred in softball (7-0), boys tennis (5-2) and girls lacrosse (19-4).
Top performers on the day included Bolles' Gabe Gonzalez, who homered and drove in three RBI for Bulldog baseball, and Episcopal's Grace Jones, who struck out 13 in a three-hit shutout for Eagles softball.
Meanwhile, for Episcopal girls lacrosse, the day was one step toward a bigger triumph on Monday.
Payten Cree scored four goals and an assist, Maeve O'Neil netted three goals and an assist and Brooke McCoy and Bella Vitulli each got two goals and two assists in the Eagles' 12-9 win against state champion Bartram Trail. Two turnovers forced late by Kate Burhyte helped seal the win.
Episcopal became the first Northeast Florida team to defeat the Bears in girls lacrosse since March 27, 2021, when Ponte Vedra squeezed past Bartram Trail 14-13 in overtime.
Long ball boom for Keystone's Channell
On a weekend when Florida Atlantic basketball soared into the national spotlight, Kiley Channell showed that FAU softball's future is also bright.
Lining up against a collection of Florida's top softball programs, the Keystone Heights senior shortstop hit three home runs and two doubles with seven RBI to tie the tournament long-ball record at the Kissimmee Klassic.
Signed with FAU, the multi-talented Channell — she's also a top performer for Keystone girls basketball — homered in three consecutive games against Cooper City, Viera and Lake Wales. Her feats included a double with two runs batted in against Bartow ace Katelynn (Red) Oxley, universally ranked among the nation's top recruits after her sophomore season (21-1, 0.10 ERA, 337 K, 24 hits allowed in 140 innings).
Oakleaf, Trinity Christian and West Nassau also competed at the tournament, each going 1-3. Trinity junior Kadriana Mincey went 7 for 15 with a pair of doubles.
Providence, UC top Class 2A softball
They're No. 1 and No. 2 in Class 2A.
They're fewer than 10 miles apart.
Before long, Providence and University Christian softball might be on a collision course.
The Jacksonville private schools occupy the top two berths in this week's FHSAA softball rankings, released Tuesday. The formula will ultimately determine seeding for next month's district tournament, as well as at-large berths in regionals alongside the district tournament winners.
Providence topped the Class list with 15.386 points, followed by last year's state runner-up UC at 14.178. The teams both compete in District 3-2A for softball, after the FHSAA reclassified Providence from Class 3A last year.
That could mean two postseason matchups between pitching aces Joey Trawick (Providence) and Sophia Kardatzke (UC), one in the district tournament and another in a potential regional final.
Baldwin placed first in Region 1-3A softball, while Paxon (Region 1-4A), Episcopal (Region 1-3A) and Hilliard (Region 3-1A) stood second in their respective regions.
In baseball, St. Johns Country Day tops the Class 2A list for all regions, with Jacob Thomas standing out as a two-way star in the first six weeks.
Creekside tops the Region 1-7A standings, with Columbia on top of Region 1-5A and Providence heading Region 1-3A. Teams in second in their regions include Clay (Region 1-5A), Baker County (Region 1-4A) and Union County (Region 3-1A).
Around the area
Englewood safety Julio Valcarcel signed with Thomas More football. … Episcopal running back Calvin Jasey signed with Saint Mary-of-the-Woods football. … St. Augustine athlete Ivyn Collins committed to Trine football. … Oakleaf forward Devin Kersh committed to University of Mobile men's basketball. … Oakleaf senior middle blocker Lailah Hester committed to Miles volleyball. ... Ridgeview junior middle blocker Haley Robinson, who has recorded 294 career blocks, committed to Wright State volleyball. … Named a WBCA High School Coaches All-American earlier in the week, St. Johns Country Day senior guard Taliah Scott placed third in the Rocket Mortgage High School 3-Point Championship in Houston, a continuation of McDonald's All-American festivities. … Bartram Trail hired Kyle Forson from St. Augustine as the Bears' new boys soccer coach. He takes over from Matthew Crowell, who led the Bears to consecutive FHSAA regional playoff appearances. ... Bartram Trail named Johan Olarte head wrestling coach. … Bartram Trail freshman Ava Myers cleared 10 feet, 11 inches at the Florida Relays, breaking the school girls pole vault record set by Gracie Clapp. … Ridgeview junior T'Vario Willis set a school boys high jump record of 6 feet, 6 1/4 inches at the Florida Relays. ... Providence boys lacrosse coach Brian Theiss earned his 250th career win Monday against Tallahassee Maclay. ... Miami Columbus sophomore forward Cameron Boozer was named Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball, and Gaston Rodriguez of Belen Jesuit was named boys basketball coach of the year. … Jacksonville Sports Medicine Program executive director Bob Sefcik received the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association's Dorothy Brunson Award for supportive service to interscholastic athletics statewide. ... High School 9:12 has scheduled a social media education seminar program, beginning 9:15 a.m. Thursday at Mandarin.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Bolles' Anakin Brown, Jacksonville basketball
