RURAL
Well, THAT didn’t go well. We were a diaper dumpster fire of 1-3 in our picks for the regional finals. In our defense, all three were one possession games. Graceville continued its road warrior ways with a two-point win at Chipley. Fort White upset the pre-season favorite Hilliard at Hilliard by three points and Hawthorne got its redemption by defeating two-time defending champ Williston by two points at home after losing two weeks ago in the district final.
Best Matchup: Give us the Crossroad Academy vs Fort White contest in this category. Fort White won its two playoff contests by just two points each time while Crossroad has had an easier time of it with wins at home by six and nineteen points respectively. Should the game stay tight deep into the final period, will Fort White’s experience in that type of game give them the advantage?
Best Chance for an Upset: Graceville has taken down a pair of good teams in Bonifay Bethlehem and Chipley on the road, so expect their confidence to be very high when facing the top-ranked team in the classification. They will have to survive a hungry Hawthorne team that is out to prove they are as much of a championship caliber team without C.J. Ingram (now at Montverde) as they were with him.
Our Picks
Hawthorne over Graceville
Fort White over Quincy Crossroad Academy
Hawthorne over Fort White for Rural Class State Title
CLASS 1A
We finished 7-1 in our picks for Monday’s games. Our lone miss was West Palm Beach Atlantic Christian holding serve at home by just four points to Miami Westwood Christian. Five of the eight games were decided by fourteen points or more. At least Region 1 up in Jacksonville had some competitive games as Impact Christian defeated NFEI by two points and Eagle’s View held off Tally SJP II by a single point. Our suggestion that the CFCA/Zephyrhills Christian game would be close was off base as CFCA won by twenty. Let’s hope the regional finals on Thursday night offer more competitive contests.
Best Matchup: Simply because of the competitiveness of their respective semi-final games, the Impact Christian vs. Eagle’s View game in Jacksonville should be a tight contest the entire 32 minutes. North Tampa Christian, Lakeland Victory Christian, and Weston Sagemont each seem too strong to lose at home.
Best Chance for an Upset: It is all one seed vs two seed in each region, so it is hard to consider any victory an upset. Both Impact Christian and Eagle’s view come from District 2 but didn’t meet in the district playoffs. The widest disparity in rankings is Naples Seacrest Country Day (#18) driving up I-75 then I-4 to play Victory Christian (#4). You can choose that one if you want.
Our Picks
Jacksonville Impact Christian over Jacksonville Eagle’s View
North Tampa Christian over Orlando Central Florida Christian
Lakeland Victory Christian over Naples Seacrest Country Day
Weston Sagemont over West Palm Beach Atlantic Christian
CLASS 2A
While we did well going 7-1 in our picks, it was kind of a crazy night where teams either won by a point or two or won BIG. Our lone miss was Tampa SLAM going on the road and winning by a single point at Tampa Prep. Other squeakers included Oviedo The Master’s Academy over Orlando The First Academy by two points and Westminster Academy of Fort Lauderdale losing an absolute heartbreaker to Miami Riviera Prep by one point. Some wins weren’t surprising but the margin of victory was a shock. Did not expect Miami Country Day to roll Chaminade-Madonna by 32 or Naples First Baptist to rout Riverview Bell Creek by 19 points. As a result, there is only a single #1 vs #2 matchup and that is Jacksonville University Christian hosting Oviedo The Master’s Academy on Thursday night.
Best Matchup: Of the four games, we will go with Miami Country Day at Miami Riviera Prep. This is a matchup of #1 (Riviera Prep) and #2 (MCD) ranked teams in the classification before the start of the district playoffs. This should be an excellent challenge for both teams and the winner will no doubt be considered the favorite to win in Lakeland.
Best Chance for an Upset: The Master’s Academy is experienced enough to go into University Christian in Jacksonville and make things interesting. UC has much more size than The Master’s so that will be a big factor in the outcome of the game.
Our Picks
Jacksonville University Christian over Oviedo The Master’s Academy
Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic over Fort Pierce John Carroll
Naples First Baptist over Tampa SLAM
Miami Riviera Prep over Miami Country Day
CLASS 3A
We came out 6-2 in our picks from Monday night. Both Tampa Catholic and Miami Gulliver Prep went on the road and thrashed their opponent by double-digits. Only Florida High’s win at Newberry, ending Newberry’s undefeated season, was by single digits. The next closest contest was St. Andrew’s knocking off Fort Myers Gateway Charter in Boca Raton by 11 points. While a couple of the games we thought would be competitive (The Villages/Discovery, Tampa Catholic/Lake Highland Prep) were anything but, the games we spotlighted as possible upsets (Florida High/Newberry; Tampa Catholic/Lake Highland Prep; Gulliver Prep/Nova Southeastern) proved to be just that.
Best Matchup: The Villages has a lot of young talent while it seems that Tampa Catholic is peaking at just the right time. Both teams can put up big numbers, either by hitting threes, scoring in transition, or both. A couple of “mano y mano” duels to look for in this game will be senior guards Isaiah Campbell-Finch of Tampa Catholic going up against Adyn Corbin of The Villages and junior wings Hurley Brutus and Willie Piggott of The Villages and Tampa Catholic respectively.
Best Chance for an Upset: Florida High of Tallahassee has a definite size advantage over Jacksonville Jackson and if they put it to good use, they can make things interesting. Down in South Florida, Gulliver Prep has been exceeding expectations all season and should give top seed Cardinal Gibbons all they want and more on Thursday night.
Our Picks
Jacksonville Andrew Jackson over Tallahassee Florida High
The Villages Charter over Tampa Catholic
Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian over Boca Raton St. Andrew’s
Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons over Miami Gulliver Prep