The various district tournaments are over and the fields for the regional rounds in each classification are set. Time to look at what took place and what lies ahead this coming Saturday in Classes Rural and 1A.
RURAL CLASSIFICATON
District Upsets: There were a few. In District 2, third-seed Ponce De Leon defeated Chipley in the semi-finals. However, because of Chipley’s higher ranking, it will advance to regional play. This bounces District 1 runner-up Baker out of the playoffs. In Region Two, Port St. Joe’s undefeated season came to an end at the hands of a higher-rated Quincy Crossroad Academy. In District 5, Bradford, the third seed, knocked off Hamilton County, the two-seed. However, this wasn’t enough to get them into the regional round. In District 7, Williston defeated top-seed Wildwood in the final. This won’t make a difference in the first round of the regionals as Wildwood will still have a home game but it could matter in the regional final round the following week.
Toughest Region: Region 2 features #3 Crossroad Academy, #4 Port St. Joe, #7 Munroe, and #10 Blountstown. This is the only region with four top ten teams. Any of these four teams could make it to Jacksonville. Crossroad Academy has a superior strength of schedule to the other three. We’ll see if that makes a difference.
Best Opening Matchup: We’ll go by the numbers and take Port St. Joe at Munroe in Quincy. Though Munroe has a better strength of schedule and is playing at home, Port St. Joe will be wanting to start a new winning streak and may have the best player in the classification in 5’10 junior Zay Jenkins, who averages a tic above 23 ppg.
Best Chance for an Upset: Surprisingly, it may be Blountstown at Crossroad Academy. This is a rematch from last season. Blountstown lost in the closing minute and would like nothing more than to avenge that loss. Both teams return the majority of the players that took part in that contest, so it could be a wild affair.
Our Picks:
Holmes County over Chipley
Paxton over Ponce De Leon
Crossroad Academy over Blountstown
Munroe over Port St. Joe
Trenton over Hamilton County
Hilliard over Union County
Wildwood over Hawthorne
Williston over Fort Meade
CLASS 1A
District Upsets: There were a surprising number of top seeds that didn’t win the district tournament. In District 1 FAMU out of Tallahassee knocked off L.E.A.D Academy out of Pace. In District 3, second-seed Jacksonville Christ’s Church knocked off top seed First Coast Christian. In the District 6 tournament, third seed Halifax out of Daytona defeated top seeded Mount Dora Christian. Orlando Christian Prep took down crosstown rival Central Florida Christian Academy in the District 7 final. Also in District 7, Lake Mary Prep, #24 going into the district tournament, was able to defeat #18 Casselberry Geneva to make it into the regional round. In District 10, Tampa Universal Academy defeated top seed Cambridge Christian. Everglades City, the two seed in District 12, prevailed over top seed Donahue Catholic. Down south in Region 4, Miami Beach Hebrew Academy (#34), somehow jumped over #29 Miami Christian to make it into the regional round
Toughest Region: It certainly looks to be Region 4 with three teams in the top ten (#2 Sagemont, #7 Dade Christian, and #8 Atlantic Christian) to go along with four other teams ranked between #11 and #20. Given that, it would still be one of the bigger shocks of the tournament regardless of classification if Sagemont is not the region’s rep in Jacksonville.
Best Opening Matchup: We find the Orlando Christian Prep vs. North Tampa Christian matchup enticing. The reason for that is that each team has a double-digit strength of schedule, the only game in the classification on Saturday night with that feature. This suggests both teams played a tough schedule to prepare themselves for just such a moment as this.
Best Chance for an Upset: Nothing really jumps out except for a pair of games where the higher seed is on the road. In Region 1, Eagle’s View out of Jacksonville goes to Tallahassee to face FAMU as the Baby Rattlers get a home game after winning their district tournament. Likewise in Region 3, it is a district finals rematch with third seed Donahue Catholic heading to Everglades City, the sixth seed.
Our Picks:
Impact Christian over Meadowbrook
Christ’s Church over First Coast Christian
North Florida Educational over L.E.A.D Academy
FAMU DRS over Eagle’s View
Central Florida Christian Academy over Halifax Academy
Melbourne Florida Prep over Mount Dora Christian
Orlando Christian Prep over North Tampa Christian
Legacy Charter over Lake Mary Prep
Victory Christian over Universal Academy
Sarasota Christian over All Saints’ Academy
City of Life Christian over Canterbury
Everglades City over Donahue Catholic
Sagemont Prep over Hebrew Academy
Schoolhouse Prep over Grandview Prep
Dade Christian over Westwood Christian
Atlantic Christian over Highlands Christian