Boys basketball district favorites Olympia, OCP are locks

The “District of Doom” isn’t so scary since the Florida High School Athletic Association no longer expels good teams that lose in district semifinals from its state playoffs.

That format change, which began with the 2019-20 season, is tailor-made for boys basketball Class 7A District 5, which has three of the top six teams in the FHSAA’s large-school classification’s power rankings: No. 2 Olympia, No. 5 Oak Ridge and No. 6 Windermere. All three teams are assured of advancing to regional play no matter what they do in next week’s district tournament, where semifinals and the final will be played at Windermere.

“For all three of our teams it’s a lot less pressure now,” Olympia coach Rob Gordon said Thursday. “You can really go into it guns-a-blazing. You have nothing to lose. It’s a great platform for us to springboard into the toughest region in the state of Florida, at least the toughest in 7A.”

Oak Ridge and Windermere are lined up to play each other in a district semifinal on Wednesday, with the winner positioned to play Olympia in a Feb. 10 district final.

Olympia, with Cincinnati signee E.J. “Jizzle” James leading a lethal backcourt, is ranked below only defending state champ Miami Columbus in 7A. Gordon said he’ll continue to look for ways his team, which is 22-1, can improve before it joins Oak Ridge and Windermere in the Region 2 tournament, which will have six teams that are in the FHSAA 7A top 10, including loaded Lake Worth (18-1), which dealt 6A power Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer (21-1) its first loss on Tuesday night.

Region winners advance to the March 1-4 state tournament in Lakeland.

“I want us to make one more step forward in our team defense. I think it’s there,” Gordon said. “I want us to really lock in and be connected defensively. We’ve seen flashes of that. We were really good in the first half against Wekiva.”

Olympia concludes its regular season with a home game Thursday against Leesburg and a Saturday game against Victory Christian of Lakeland in Bartow’s Mosaic Stinger Shootout.

District champions get automatic regional berths and that keeps the door open for teams that are on the bubble or squads that pull surprises next week.

Games played this week and

district tourney results will be factored into the next FHSAA power rankings update — which will determine four at-large berths for each region and the seeding.

Three-time defending state champ Orlando Christian Prep remains top-ranked in 2A, but the Warriors lost their past two games — 57-55 to Tampa Catholic and 64-62 in overtime to 7A power Winter Haven.

Other highly ranked area teams heading into the postseason are: 6A No. 3 Wekiva, 5A No. 3 Jones, 2A No. 8 Central Florida Christian Academy and 3A No. 10 Windermere Prep, which is the top-rated team in its region. The Lakers host the No. 2 team in Region 2, Bell Creek Academy (19-4) of Hillsborough County, on Thursday night.

Here is a breakdown with the top-rated team and area teams in the top eight for each region involving Orlando area schools (with win-loss record through Tuesday games, followed by district number).

Check online at SentinelVarsity.com for district tournament pairings to be posted this week.

7 A REGION 1

1. Colonial (19-5) D4

2. Evans (14-9) D3

3. Hagerty (20-5) D4

4. Lake Brantley (16-8) D3

5. Sanford Seminole (15-8) D2

6. Ocoee (13-10) D3

7. Lake Mary (14-10) D2

8. Boone (10-12) D4

Note: The District 1 (Jacksonville area) winner takes one of the eight region slots, meaning Lake Mary and Boone are on the cutting edge if they don’t win district titles.

7 A REGION 2

1. Olympia (22-1) D5

3. Oak Ridge (14-8) D5

4. Windermere (16-6) D5

8. Lake Nona (17-6) D6 Note: The pressure is on District 6 teams. Lake Nona, No. 11 Harmony (19-5) and No. 12 Kissimmee Osceola (14-11) all may have to win that title to advance.

6 A REGION 2

1. Wekiva (21-3) D6

3. Edgewater (13-10) D6

5. Lake Minneola (14-9) D6 Note: District 5 top seed Oviedo (13-10), No. 11, needs a championship to assure advancement.

5 A REGION 1

1. Mainland (18-5) D4

6. Deltona (16-6) D4

5 A REGION 2

1. Jones (12-10) D7

5. Leesburg (10-10) D5

Note: Jones ranks third in 5A behind Miami Belen Jesuit (20-4) and Riviera Beach Suncoast (17-5).

4 A REGION 2

1. Alachua Santa Fe (19-5) D5

3. Umatilla (18-4) D6

6. Lake Highland (12-11) D7

8. Eustis (11-9) D6

Note: Bishop Moore (13-11) is 0-2 in tight games vs. Lake Highland Prep. Round 3 could be the District 7 final.

3 A REGION 1

1 Providence (23-1) D3 5 Master’s Academy (18-5) D4 Note: This region has 3A No. 1 Providence and defending state champ FSU High School (23-1).

3 A REGION 2

1. Windermere Prep (17-6) D6

8. Foundation (17-7) D6

9. The First Academy (16-8) D6 Note: Tuesday district semifinal matching Foundation Academy vs. TFA could be for a region ticket. Faith won 72-68 in overtime in their regular season matchup.

2 A REGION 2

1 Orlando Christian Prep (17-3) D7

3. CFCA (15-9) D7

4. Mount Dora Christian (18-5) D6

5. Legacy Charter (14-6) D8

6. Faith Christian (15-8) D7

Note: District 8 favorite Victory Christian (19-4) is No. 4 in 2A state rankings, second in this region.