A night of shockers
Terrence McClain, a former Apopka player, snatched the Blue Darters championship hopes away with a buzzer-beating 3-point shot on Wednesday night.
Wekiva’s senior guard banked in a desperation shot just before the horn sounded to break a 51-51 tie and give the fourth-seeded Mustangs a 54-51 homecourt victory over No. 1 Apopka in a Class 9A, District 3 semifinal.
Apopka (22-4) led 51-44 but went scoreless in the final two minutes and 44 seconds. The Blue Darters, ranked No. 1 in 9A and No. 2 in the Sentinel Super 16 area rankings, were one of several victims of upsets on Wednesday.
Super 16 No. 1 Oak Ridge avoided the upset bug, routing Olympia 78-39 at home in a 9A, District 5 semifinal.
Michael James scored 16 points and McClain had 15 for Wekiva (11-14), which will play for the title on Friday against second seed Evans (18-7), which won 77-59 over West Orange.
Andy Antoine and Deshaune Osborne both scored 18 points to lead the Trojans into the final. Rick Staudt
Ocoee ousts Edgewater: Edgewater thumped Ocoee by 19 points in the boys basketball regular season.
But playoff time brought out the best in the underdogs. The Knights knocked the No. 1 seeded Eagles out of the playoffs with a passionate performance in an 8A, District 5 semifinal surprise.
Ocoee led almost all the way and came through with enough made free throws and defensive stops down the stretch to win 54-51. The Knights (17-10) were the tournament’s fourth seed but have won 12 of their past 14 games.
“The first time against Edgewater they punched us and we backed up,” said Ocoee coach John “Sarge” Siers. “This team stuck together. We battled tonight.”
Junior guard Saleem Blake scored 14 points in the win and Ocoee’s physical front line stymied the Eagles. David Green, a 6-foot-7 junior, added 12 points and joined Kordell Brown (6-7, Jr.), Clayton Tarpley (6-6, Sr.) and Brantley Preval (6-3, Sr.) in making key plays in the paint for a squad that would be even more imposing had 6-10 junior Alston Andrews not missed the entire season due to a foot injury and two surgeries.
“They wanted it more,” Eagles coach Jason Atherton said of Ocoee, which held his team to 18 first-half points.
Eddie Foster, a 6-2 senior, had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Edgewater (20-7), which played both of its district tournament games without standout senior guard Trevon Cason due to an undisclosed infraction.
Ocoee locked up a region berth and will play for the title on Friday night against tournament host and second seed Windermere High (23-4).
The Wolverines came in ranked No. 3 in the Sentinel Super 16 area rankings — one spot ahead of Edgewater — and took care of business with a 65-43 victory vs. Lake Howell (17-11).
Windermere, which was led by sophomore guard Trey Moss’ 16 points, made nine 3-point shots in the first half and 10 for the game.
Big men Jonathan Lawrence (10 points) of Lake Howell and Dakota Rivers (6) of Windermere balanced each other out. Rivers had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two rim-rattling dunks.
LHP, TFA advance in 5A: Underdog Lake Highland Prep scored a 67-42 win over area No. 11 Jones in a 5A-6 semifinal at The First Academy. Freshman Jared Berry led the Highlanders (15-12) with 15 points.
Friday’s final will pit LHP against host and top seed TFA, which won 56-37 over Windermere Prep. The No. 10 Royals (15-11) were led by Alex Shields, who made five 3-point shots and totaled 21 points. Damani Dickerson