Colonial stretches streak
drained a shot at the buzzer Friday night to help Colonial claim its seventh straight girls basketball district title.
The Grenadiers (22-5), ranked No. 5 in the Sentinel Super Six, held off a late rally against No. 6 Timber Creek (23-4) for a 49-47 win in the Class 9A, District 4 final.
The game was played at an aggressive pace in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Orlando’s University High School.
“It’s just breathtaking, knowing that we’ve won districts seven years in a row,” Torres said. “That shot was amazing, the best thing ever.”
It was also the only points of the night for Torres, who was credited with a twopointer after saving the ball from bouncing out of bounds and connecting on a running jumper to her left near the 3-point line.
The lead changed five times in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter. Colonial took a 41-40 lead on a shot from
and extended its advantage to 47-40 with less than four minutes to play on back-to-back buckets and a free throw from Timber Creek responded when
made a free throw, then banked in a 3-ponter with a little more than a minute remaining. Another three from the top of the arc, this time by tied the game at 47-47 with 30 seconds left before Torres made the final shot.
The Grenadiers will host No. 2 Wekiva (23-4) in a region quarterfinal Thursday. Timber Creek will travel to face No. 3 West Orange (23-4).
Make it a school-record-tying 20 shutouts for Oviedo’s powerhouse girls soccer team, but the latest one didn’t come easy on Friday night. With Lake Mary goalkeeper
proving a stiff obstacle, the Lions (20-0-0) used clutch goals from
and plus some stalwart defense of their own to turn back the visiting Rams 3-0 in a Class 5A region semifinal at Field. Oviedo scored twice in the second half to break open a close match.
It marked the third consecutive year the schools met in a region semifinal, with the Lions prevailing each time. “They grinded it out,” said Oviedo coach
whose team outshot the Rams 18-4. “This was another good Seminole County battle.”
Two-time defending state champ Oviedo, ranked No. 1 in the Sentinel Super Six, will travel to play for Tuesday night’s region final against Gainesville Buchholz, which beat Flagler Palm Coast on penalty kicks.
Lake Mary finished 15-4-0, with three losses to Oviedo.
The game brought an end to Lake Mary’s 36th season under head coach
who ranks second in girls soccer state history for wins with a career record of 635-205-69. Eissele is retiring from teaching in May but said he hopes to continue to coach the Rams.
Lake Nona will host Tuesday’s 5A, Region 1 final against Palm Harbor University (18-1-2) after posting a 2-1 win vs. Lithia Newsome. scored both Nona goals.