CLASS 4A

A 7-1 record in our picks for this round is pretty good.  Our lone loss was the biggest upset of the playoffs so far as St. Brendan went into Miami Northwestern and came with a win by a single point.  The only other single digit win was in Tallahassee where Rickards got revenge over Godby from a district finals loss a little over a week ago.  All regional finals are a #1 seed vs a #2 seed except for down south where #5 seed St. Brendan has become Cinderella.

Best Matchup: Tampa Blake and St. Petersburg Gibbs have played once this season, a six-point win by Gibbs.  Both teams have been on a roll in the playoffs and the winner will certainly be considered the favorite to hoist the trophy in Lakeland.

Best Chance for an Upset: Why not St. Brendan one more time?

Our Picks

Jacksonville Ribault over Tallahassee Rickards

Eustis over Port Orange Atlantic

St. Petersburg Gibbs over Tampa Blake

Fort Lauderdale Stranahan over Miami St. Brendan

CLASS 5A

We’re okay with a less than stellar 6-2 record from Monday night, but we were VERY excited to see how competitive the games were in this classification.  All the games were decided by two possessions (no more than six points) and a couple of one seeds went down as a result.  Both Tallahassee Leon and St. Petersburg went on the road and won by three, defeating top seeds Fleming Island and Port Charlotte respectively.  St. Pete was our upset alert.  Ponte Vedra’s win over Gainesville by three and Ely’s win over Norland by six were certainly worthy of best matchup status.  Monday’s results set-up a pair of district rematches.  Leesburg and Lecanto met in the district final with Leesburg winning while St. Petersburg is looking to get revenge for a district finals loss to Clearwater Countryside.

Best Matchup: Pines Charter, the defending champion and top-rated team in the classification host #2 ranked Ely.  The Tigers have been a bit of a surprise this season but it is always good to have a traditional power in the mix.

Best Chance for an Upset: Could Leon once again head east and win for a third straight time?  Could Countryside once again defeat district rival St. Pete High? Stranger things have happened.

Our Picks

Ponte Vedra over Tallahassee Leon

Leesburg over Lecanto

St. Petersburg over Clearwater Countryside

Pembroke Pines Charter over Pompano Beach Ely

CLASS 6A

There were no real surprises in our 7-1 record from Monday night.  Well, maybe a couple.  Tampa Wharton’s win over top seed Wiregrass Ranch by fifteen was unexpected as well St. Thomas Aquinas’ win over Miramar by just seven points.  Charlotte’s home win over Tarpon Springs East Lake wasn’t not as close as we thought it might be.  Neither Milton or Bartow, our two possible upset choices, could stay within double-digits of Tocoi Creek and Orlando Evans respectively.

Best Matchup: Orlando Evans reached the Class 7A semi-finals last season.  Orlando Edgewater reached the Class 6A title game last season.  After the FHSAA’s bi-annual reclassification, not only are these two Orlando rivals in the same classification, but also the same district.  The teams have split their two games this season, with Evans winning in a Metro Conference Tournament game while Edgewater defeated the Trojans for the district title a little over a week ago.  This time the stakes are MUCH bigger.

Best Chance for an Upset: It wouldn’t shock us at all if either or both Wharton and Lake Howell took their show on the road and came home with a win.  Lake Howell has a much better strength of schedule and was ranked higher than Tocoi Creek heading into their respective district tournaments.  Wharton is on a roll right now and full of confidence after defeating top seed Wiregrass Ranch.

Our Picks

Tocoi Creek over Winter Park Lake Howell

Orlando Edgewater over Orlando Evans

Punta Gorda Charlotte over Tampa Wharton

Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas over Coral Springs

CLASS 7A

Sanford Seminole spoiled our bid for a perfect 8-0 record with their three-point win on the road at St. John’s Creekside.  Everything else went according to form leaving three of the four regional finals with #1 vs #2 matchups.  Both Apopka and Miami Senior won their games by 11 and 10 points respectively in the contests we thought would be the closest.  Oak Ridge raced past Wellington in the second half of a game we thought could be an upset special.  Only two of the eight games were decided by single digits.

Best Matchup: We feel that the Kissimmee Osceola/Sarasota contest might just be the best game of the night.  We’ve seen both teams play this season and while neither has a “superstar” both are well-coached with guys that execute their roles at the highest level of their abilities.

Best Chance for an Upset: The only upset potential is Miami Senior taking on Columbus.  In our minds, the other three games are “pick’ems”.

Our Picks

Apopka over Sanford Seminole

Orlando Oak Ridge over Windermere

Kissimmee Osceola over Sarasota

Miami Columbus over Miami Senior