HomeTeam Hot Shots
A spotlight on the Times’ bay area players of the week
Male Hot Shot: Pete DiNovo, East Lake
Sport: Football
Skinny: After rewriting the Pinellas County record books this season, DiNovo had one more goal: a state title. To pull that off, the senior would have to lead the Eagles past Orlando Dr. Phillips, the top-ranked team in Class 8A. For one half, DiNovo was nearly flawless. He completed his first 11 passes and finished the first half 16 of 20 for 229 yards and three touchdowns. His final touchdown, a 12-yard pass to Dylan Renaker, gave East Lake a 21-14 halftime lead. Engulfed by a heavy rush through much of the second half, DiNovo was unable to engineer another scoring drive as the Eagles lost 31-21. Still, Dinovo finished with 318 yards passing, his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season.
Female Hot Shot: Kim Knudsen, Mitchell
Sport: Basketball
Skinny: The Mustangs struggled early in Thursday’s game against Tampa Catholic, falling behind 21-4. But Knudsen led Mitchell’s late, slow comeback. The 5-foot-7 junior point guard hit a 3-pointer at the elbow to give her team a lead in the fourth quarter and sank a layup moments later to give the Mustangs a one-point lead again. She scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter or overtime to help Mitchell escape with a 65-60 victory. Those were just the latest heroics for Knudsen, who hit 3-pointers last season that forced overtime against Land O’Lakes and Coral Gables. “Nothing fazes her,” Mustangs coach Jacob Tavo said. “Her tempo or how she’s feeling is exactly the same from when she starts the game to when she ends the game, regardless of how she’s playing.”
Voting results
Pete DiNovo, East Lake football 283 25.178%
Kim Knudsen, Mitchell basketball 259 23.043%
Zain Gilmore, Robinson football 152 13.523%
Cassidy Place, Sunlake soccer 131 11.655%
Reggine Brown, Plant basketball 128 11.388%
Skye Barba, Palm Harbor University soccer 38 3.381%
Marcus Hill, Armwood basketball 29 2.58%
Aja Jenkins, Clearwater basketball 27 2.402%
Artavis Scott, East Lake football 24 2.135%
Rico Kerney, Wiregrass Ranch basketball 21 1.868%
Bailey Hooker, Steinbrenner basketball 20 1.779%
Zac Campbell, Central soccer 12 1.068%
Total: 1124 votes