By Bill Buchalter
BHSN High School Sports Analyst

Basketball season has begun and I know it's a good sign when local athletes are earning success on the next levels.

For example:

Alexa Deluzio scored the go-ahead basket on a jump shot with 37.4 seconds remaining and contributed eight points to 10th-ranked Florida State's 66-62 victory over Florida at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville. Deluzio is a redshirt freshman from Orlando's First Academy who is returning to the lineup following surgery that kept her sidelined last year. Her floor play helped FSU snap a 17-game Gator streak for success against out-of-conference opponents.

Junior Chandler Parsons (Winter Park Lake Howell) hit a 3-point shot late in Florida's 74-46 season-opening victory over Stetson to extend the Gators' streak of games with at least one 3-point shot to 580. Parsons also contributed a dozen points to the victory.

Sophomore Solomon Alibi (Montverde Academy) led FSU to an 87-61 season-opening victory over Jacksonville University, scoring 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting (7-8 from foul line) and eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Stetson's leading scorer through the opening two (1-1 record) games is freshman Tyshawn Patterson, who a year ago was leading Orlando Christian Prep to the Class 1A state high school championship.

And UCF freshman Keith Clanton, Patterson's teammate and OCP's Class 1A player of the year, recorded his first college double-double in the Knights 68-59 victory over Howard University. The 6-8 Clanton posted 10 points and 10 rebounds in game two after just missing (9 points, 8 rebounds) in the opening victory over U-Mass. Leading scorer for the Knights vs. Howard was junior guard Taylor Young (Orlando First Academy).

The NBA season also is well under way, but curiosity makes me wonder how many people realize the number of Floridians playing in The League?

We're just talking about the I-4 corridor from St. Petersburg (Marresse Speights/Admiral Farragut), who should return shortly from an injury, to Daytona Beach (Vince Carter/Mainland) and all points inbetween like Joey Graham (Tampa), Chris Richards (Lakeland), Amare Stoudemire (Lake Wales/Orlando), Tracy McGrady (Auburndale, and he is Carter's cousin), Damien Wilkins (Orlando Dr. Phillips), Marquis Daniels (Orlando Edgewater), Chucky Atkins (Orlando Evans), Solomon Jones (Mount Dora) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Montverde Academy).