Notes: Gbinije, Davis named all-state

Cadets’ duo headlines VISAA all-state basketball

Mike Gbinije and Trey Davis helped Benedictine win the Virginia Independent Schools Division I state championship, and both have been named to the all-state first team.

Player of the year honors went to Gbinije, who is headed to Duke. The award is named in memory of former Trinity Episcopal coach E. Dale Travis. Gbinije averaged 18.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and was the VISAA tournament’s most valuable player. Gbinije has played in national all-star games in Houston (All-American Championships during the Final Four) and Charlotte (Jordan Classic).

Davis, who is headed to the University of Richmond, averaged 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Rounding out the first team are former Thomas Dale standout Andrew White of the Miller School; Cameron Anderson and Malick Kone of Blue Ridge; Arnaud Adala Moto and Kethan Savage of Episcopal; Patrick Holloway of Paul VI; Demetrius Pollard of Cape Henry and Larry Savage of Bishop O’Connell.

Benedictine’s Sean McAloon was named the Warren Rutledge Coach of the Year.

Jordan Burgess of Benedictine and Jermaine Johnson of St. Christopher’s were honorable mention.

Adjehi Baru of Steward received first-team all-state accolades for Division II, and Amelia Academy’s Jan Zornjan, Evangel Christian’s Dakotah Jongbloed and Tidewater’s Mike Greene were accorded Division III first-team honors.

Tyler Piper of Banner Christian was an honorable mention in Division III.

Ezell, Shanaberger honored

Amara Ezell of Amelia Academy was named to the VISAA Division III girls basketball all-state first team, and her coach, Frank Shanaberger was named coach of the year.

Annie Hawthorne of Collegiate and Meredith Doswell of St. Catherine’s were honorable mention in Division.

Green Dragons’ “Pink” a goal-scoring machine

Alex Pinkleton, a junior girls soccer player at Maggie Walker Governor’s School, is one of the smallest players (5-5) in the region, but she comes up big when it comes to scoring goals.

Pink, as she is known to the players and coaches, has put the ball in the net 19 times in nine games. She has scored five goals in a game twice, and she played only about half of each of those games.

“Pink can receive passes under pressure, turn on almost anyone and shoot from anywhere on the field left or right footed with purpose,” said second-year Green Dragons coach Ian Kelley. “Most teams man-mark her, but because she’s so smart and quick with her feet, it doesn’t interfere. One team tried to double mark her, and she adjusted her style and still managed to score.”

Pinkleton was playing left fullback for the Kickers Elite when Kelley took over the MW reins last year. He converted her to a striker.

“She had a natural knack for aggressive style play…. Because of her size, we had to do a lot of work where she created space against defenders,” Kelley said.

Many of the Maggie Walker GS girls (varsity and junior varsity) have played in the Greater Richmond Futsal League, a five-on-five version indoors that emphasizes ball control and footwork.

“The speed of play and the footwork they left with was incredible,” Kelley said. “The girls actually play futsal year round because the skills you learn there are so much more obvious than on the big field.”

Rebels Hall of Fame

The Douglas Freeman High Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will be held May 23 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa in Short Pump. Tickets are $30. For more information, contact Douglas Freeman activities director Drew Bright at (804) 282-3994 or (804) 314-0187 or go to .

The 2011 class consists of 11 inductees. They are: Bill Wood (Class of 1958), basketball; Bobby Grubbs (1964), football, track and field; Buddy Reams (1964), basketball; Buz Mintz (1973), football, baseball; Bruce Woodworth (1978), football, wrestling; Clarence Nelson (1981), football, basketball; Matt Mogel (1991), wrestling;

Susan Larson (1996), cross country, gymnastics, softball, indoor track and the 1996 Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers female Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Ken Moore (1969), baseball (including 26 years as the Rebels’ head coach), football, wrestling; Ronnie Jones, former track and cross country coach; Mary Virginia Manson, former cheerleading sponsor and No. 1 fan during her teaching tenure.

The Hall of Fame fund-raiser golf tournament begins with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. at Hunting Hawk on the 23rd. For information, contact Jim Sangston at (804) 288-6509.

Sviderskiy spearheads Eagles

If the Mills Godwin boys soccer team is to continue in the challenger category for the Central Region title, junior forward Valeriy Sviderskiy will need to keep up his scoring pace.

Sviderskiy scored five of the team’s last six goals heading into spring break and has scored six times in seven games for the fifth-ranked Eagles. He scored Mills Godwin’s goal in a 2-1 loss to Colonial District rival and No. 3 Deep Run and was the lone scorer in a 1-0 nondistrict win over No. 8 Hanover “despite being man-marked and double teamed the entire game,” Mills Godwin coach Herb Modrak said.

Hopkins producing points

Team captain Will Hopkins provided first-year Benedictine lacrosse coach Eli Webb with a first in the Cadets’ 19-8 victory over Fork Union earlier this month.

Hopkins, a junior who plays attack, had a hand in 15 of Benedictine’s points with nine goals and six assists.

It was a performance “I’ve never heard of in my 10 plus years as a high school and Division I player/coach,” Webb said.

Hopkins followed the Fork Union effort by scoring 12 points (six goals, six assists) in a victory over Trinity Episcopal. That’s 27 points in two games.

Hopkins was pulled up to varsity for postseason play as a freshman and was a starter for the Cadets last year. He is one of a number of sophomores and juniors who populate the roster. He scored three goals and had two assists in a loss Christchurch on Tuesday.

“Our team record is 4-6, but we’re looking much better in a transition year and are entering a stretch of games we’re certainly capable of winning,” Webb said. “It’s been a tough year with some injuries and disciplinary issues, but we’re doing our best to coach them up. We have some great sophomores and juniors, and next year is looking to be one of the best teams Benedictine has had.”