DeLand to host soccer finals
The Florida High School Athletic Association announced that next month’s state soccer championship games for boys and girls will move to Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand after four years in Melbourne.
The format also changes with the longstanding final four setup abandoned and girls and boys finals squeezed into the same week. The championship series will have title games for all five classes, 1A through 5A, for girls and boys played Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 15-18.
Semifinals will now be hosted by one of the two schools involved on Friday, Feb. 10.
Scott Waisanen, coach of reigning 5A girls champion Oviedo, was a critic of the finals-only state tourney formats of 2012 and 2013 and has not changed his thinking on the subject.
“I've expressed my opinion on this to the FHSAA and didn't help. Horrible for this to happen again,” Waisanen said in a text to the Sentinel. “Semifinal at another school is not special for the teams and a huge advantage for the home team.”
For decades, state tournaments brought the final four teams in each classification to a nuetral site, with girls finals played a week ahead of the boys’. The FHSAA has had to adjust in recent years as it has found it more difficult to find venues willing and available to host tournaments spread over consecutive weeks.
Winter Park boys coach Tom Traxler said it is a plus that state finalists will now get at least five days off between the semifinal and title games. Last season his Wildcats lost the Class 5A final a day after winning a semifinal.
“I think I will miss the current format because going to state is and was big in the players eyes but I do think it may produce a better final games,” Traxler said. “The (previous) format doesn't leave enough time between games for players to adequately recover from what is usually a physically and emotionally tough match the night before. In our case last year we had about 18 hours turn-around and that is tough.”
Tuesday night’s Sunshine Independent Athletic Association showdown between West Oaks and Downey Christian featured some of the most prolific scorers in Central Florida.
But, it was the Flame that scorched the nets at host Downey Christian.
Led by the backcourt of Sylvain Francisco, who scored 19 points, and Robert Thomas, who added 13 points, West Oaks (10-1 overall, 3-0 SIAA) coasted to a 69-45 victory. Both schools feature a number of college prospects.
Francisco, a 6-foot-2 point guard from France who goes by the nickname of “Frenchie”, and Thomas led a speedy transition game that caused fits for Downey Christian (13-5, 0-3) all night.
Cold-shooting Downey Christian could manage only one field goal in the second quarter and struggled after guard Zavian Smith got into foul trouble early. Standout ninth grader Julian Newman scored 10 points, but seven came on free throws. Andres Czechowicz had 12 for Downey.
“West Oaks is known for its guards,” said Flame coach Kenny Gillion. “The biggest thing is our press defense, which feeds into our transition game. I thought the guards did a great job harassing their guards.”
Apopka (11-4) sits at the bottom of the Class 9A, District 3 boys basketball standings but is riding a six-game winning streak going into a made-for-TV district doubleheader at Wekiva tonight.
The unranked Blue Darters, who are 0-3 in the district, play Sentinel Super 16 No. 13 West Orange (11-5) at 5 in the opener on Spectrum Sports (Ch. 47 and HD1147). No. 4 Wekiva (13-4) faces Evans (10-4) at 7.
Wekiva, West Orange and Evans are locked in a tie for first at 2-1 in district play.