March 17, 2023
Villages High School Basketball Players Sam Walters & Zoe Tennell to play in FACA All-Star Game Saturday in Lakeland
By Kyle Coppola
Villages High School Basketball Players Sam Walters & Zoe Tennell to play in FACA All-Star Game Saturday in Lakeland
The FACA All-Star games are postseason basketball games reserved for some of the best players in Florida. The games will be played at Southeastern University in Lakeland on Saturday. The Girls game will be at 11:00am while the boys game tips off at 1:00pm. This will be one of the final opportunities these incoming College Freshman will have to take the floor as High School Athletes. Two members of our community have been selected to play in this all-star game and that would be Sam Walters and Zoe Tennell, who are some of the best athletes to ever come through The Villages.
University Of Alabama Commit Sam Walters
Sam Walters has signed with the Alabama Crimson Tide and will begin playing for them in the Fall of 2023. Walters was a standout player for The Villages over his 3 years playing with the team. This year marked his most successful season ever. Walters not only broke 1,000 career points for the buffalo but became the teams all time leading rebounder. Walters was also instrumental in getting the team to its first ever State Championship this season. Ultimately The Buffalo lost that game but it was The Villages most successful season ever.
Sam Walters is the type of player who excels on and off the court. Walters averaged 23 points per game this season while also averaging 10 rebounds per contest. That is just the kind of play that Alabama is looking for on its roster. Walters hustles on both sides of the ball and the results show. We will see the Senior Buffalo player get to take the floor one final time as a High School Athlete this weekend.
Daytona State College Commit Zoe Tennell
Zoe Tennell was one of the most prolific athletes The Buffalo ever had. She was not only the first player to ever break through 1,000 points scored in a career, but she also holds the record for the most rebounds in school history. Tennell averaged 26 points per game this season which is the largest amount of points averaged by a Buffalo girls player in history. She also averaged 12.6 rebounds per game this season, besting Sam Walters average of 10 on the boys side.
Tennell will head to the FACA All-Star game as one of the best players in Lake & Sumter Counties. She excelled the past 4 years and really came into her own this season. She absolutely carried the team on her back this year as The Buffalo did end the season with a winning record. She now will face off against some of the best competition she has ever played against. The FACA All-Star game always provides some great highlights. Be sure to expect some awesome action on Saturday in this one!
FACA All-Star Game
The 2023 edition of the FACA All-Star Game will begin with the Girls game at 11:00am on Saturday and will conclude with The Boys game at 1:00pm. The rosters will be released closer to the game likely on Friday. You can come out and see some of the best stars in the sport take to the court before they head off to their new homes next season!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
