Poinciana, Eustis stun top seeds
The two lower seeds sent a shock wave through the Class 6A, District 13 boys basketball tournament by pulling off semifinal victories on Tuesday night.
Fourth-seeded Poinciana rallied to knock out No. 1 Bishop Moore with a 51-50 victory and No. 3 Eustis eliminated twotime defending state champ Leesburg on its home court, 63-50.
Poinciana (17-8) and Eustis (19-7) will meet Friday night at Leesburg to play for the district championship and homecourt advantage for the region quarterfinal round on Thursday, Feb. 21.
Bishop Moore, which finished 20-5, was Florida’s No. 1 ranked Class 6A team according to MaxPreps, and had been as high as No. 3 in the Sentinel Super 16 area rankings for all classification teams.
After an early 7-0 fourth quarter run the Hornets found themselves holding their largest lead of the game 50-39. But the Eagles finished with an 11-0 run of their own to capture their ninth win in the past 10 games. That includes two victories over Bishop Moore and another against Leesburg.
Senior guard Reggie Mesidor led the Eagles (17-8) with 25 points.
Eustis led most of the way against Leesburg. The Yellow Jackets (14-8) trimmed the lead to 42-39 late in the third quarter but that would be as close as the defending district and the 6A state champ would get.
Jermarious Maple led the Panthers (19-7) with 23 points. Damani Dickerson
Lake Mary wins on PKs: Lake Mary is headed to the girls soccer final four for the first time since 2007 after defeating Orange City University in penalty kicks in the Class 5A, Region 1 final at Daytona State College.
Noel Miller stopped two attempts, and Sara Sigurdsson, Taylor Dorenkott and Tess Foals connected as the Rams (13-4-1) topped the Titans 3-2 in the shootout. The Rams will play a state semifinal at Palm Harbor University on Friday.
The game was tied 1-1 at regulation and through overtime, forcing the shootout.
Lake Mary got on the board first when Maddie Lemery put it a shot over the University keeper’s head from 15 yards out with 21:10 remaining.
Brooklyn Cahill equalized for the Titans (17-2), putting in a rebound after Natasha Sweet’s attempt from the left side. Dan Ryan
Winter Park falls in coach’s final game: Winter Park’s girls soccer season came to an abrupt end Tuesday in the final game for head coach Jimmy Angeles.
Palm Harbor University (16-1-1) scored twice over a span of three minutes in the second half to repeat as Class 5A, Region 1 champs with a 3-2 win over the Wildcats (20-3-1) at Showalter Field.
Winter Park appeared in control of the match for much of the night until the Hurricanes stormed back from a 2-1 deficit following the second-half water break.
UF signee Alivia Gonzalez tied the match at 2-2 when she settled the ball in the left side of the box and booted it into the far corner. She then assisted on the game-winner by delivering the ball to the right side of the field to Brittany Kane for the finish.
Winter Park, which opened the second half with three shots and four corner kicks, had possession of the ball twice inside the 18-yard box in the final moments of the match.
“They have a player that complicated things for us,” said Angeles. “I thought we dominated the game, but unfortunately we made some mistakes that we didn’t want to make today.”
Angeles is stepping down from his post to take a job at Southeastern University in Lakeland.
“It’s been nine great years with the school and with this program and it’s tough to go, but I think they’ll be in good hands, and I’m happy about that,” he said.
Elsewhere in girls soccer, St. John’s Country Day School of Orange Park (19-2), winner of the past seven 1A girls soccer state titles, won 8-0 at The Master’s Academy (12-5). J.C. Carnahan
Montverde blanks Mitchell: Maria Tregansin scored on a penalty kick, and Jody Brown added her 30th goal of the season as Montverde Academy posted a 3-0 victory over New Port Richey Mitchell in a matchup of unbeaten teams in the 4A, Region 2 girls soccer final.
Montverde (19-0), which has won 30 in a row, will host to St. John’s Bartram Trail on Friday night in a state semifinal game.
Montverde kept Troy signee Aja Graham of Mitchell under wraps. Graham, who led the Mustangs (19-1) with 31 goals, did not get a single shot. Mitchell also lost junior striker Eva Pitkoff to a knee injury midway through the second half.
The Eagles kept pressure on the Mustangs until Isabella Recinos was fouled in the Mitchell penalty area. Tregansin nailed the penalty kick to put the Eagles up 1-0 in the 25th minute.
Three minutes later, Recinos sent in a cross pass to Brown. The Jamaica national-team player beat Mitchell goalkeeper Pilar Eguino just right of center.
With Brown resting, Montverde made it 3-0 when Kalena Iwashita headed it into the right side in the 64th minute. Lynn Ramsey
Saints advance to semi: Phoebe Fowler poured in four goals and Trinity Prep continued its bridesmaid’s march through the 2A girls soccer playoffs with a 7-0 romp past P.K. Yonge (15-3-2) of Gainesville. The Saints (13-4-1) will host Saturday’s state semifinal against Jacksonville Bolles.