Here’s what to expect in top 10 tournaments
Edgewater likely to face tough challenge against 2nd seed Windermere
The boys basketball postseason unfolds this week with district tournaments tipping off across Central Florida.
To help hoops junkies map their travel plans, we’ve ranked the top 10 districts based on talent, depth and the potential for drama in semifinal elimination games. Champions and runners-up advance to Thursday, Feb. 21, region games against adjacent districts.
Admission is $6 for all district days.
Top 10 tournaments
No. 1 Class 8A, District 5 At Windermere High School Monday
No. 4 Ocoee vs. No. 5 Lake Minneola, 3:30
No. 1 Edgewater vs. No. 8 East Ridge, 5
No. 3 Ocala West Port vs. No. 6 Lake Howell, 6:30
No. 2 Windermere vs. No. 7 East River, 8 Wednesday 4-5 winner vs. 1-8 winner, 5:30 6-3 winner vs. 2-7 winner, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? Edgewater (19-6) and tourney host Windermere (21-4) both have a shot to win the 8A state championship and they played a classic two weeks ago, with the Eagles winning 95-89 in triple overtime. Plus, the 3-6 seeds all have winning records. Edgewater got a big boost when its leading scorer and rebounder, Michael Eads Jr., (18 ppg., 9.5 rpg.), returned after missing eight games due to injury.
Main Michael attractions Eads Jr., Edgewater, Trevon 6-5, Cason, Jr. Edgewater, 6-2, Sr.
Dakota Rivers, Windermere, 6-8, Sr.
Dante Love, Windermere, 6-1, Sr.
Jonathan Lawrence, Lake Howell, 6-9, Sr. No. 2 Class 7A, District 5 At Seabreeze High School Tuesday
No. 4 New Smyrna Beach vs. No. 5 Pine Ridge, 4:30
No. 2 Deltona vs. No. 7 Seabreeze, 6
No. 3 Atlantic vs. No. 6 Father Lopez, 7:30 Wednesday
No. 1 Mainland vs. NSB/ PR winner, 5:30
D/S winner vs. A/FL winner, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? Mainland (24-1), winner of 23 in a row since an overtime loss to Edgewater, is a leading state title contender alongside undefeated defending champ Doral Academy (25-0) of Dade County. Add in Atlantic (19-6) and Deltona (17-6) and this could be the toughest district in 7A. Main attractions
Johnny Brown, Mainland, 6-9, Sr.
Rodney Rhoden, Mainland, 6-5, Sr.
Kendall Bean, Atlantic, 6-1, Jr.
Marlon Bradley, Deltona, 6-4, Sr.
No. 3 Class 6A, District 13 At Leesburg Monday No. 4 Poinciana vs. No. 5 Tavares, 7 Tuesday
Monday winner vs. No. 1 Bishop Moore, 5:30
No. 3 Eustis vs. No. 2 Leesburg, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? Four teams have a shot in a league that produced the past three state champions (Poinciana, Leesburg, Leesburg in that order). Bishop Moore (20-4) won three district games by four points or less and split with Poinciana (15-8) and Eustis (18-7). Lance Erving is playing through pain (knee) for Leesburg (14-7). Eustis is playing without 6-5 junior Ricardo Wright, who transferred to Villages late in the regular season. Main attractions Hunter Cattoor, Bishop Moore, 6-3, Sr.
Lance Erving, Leesburg, 6-2, Sr.
Bradley Douglas, Eustis, 6-2, Jr.
Anthony Duncan, Poinciana, 6-7, Sr.
No. 4 Class 9A, District 2 Monday
No. 7 seed Orange City University at No. 2 Lake Brantley, 7
No. 6 Lyman at No. 3 Oviedo, 7
No. 5 Lake Mary at No. 4 Winter Springs, 7 Wednesday, at Seminole High School
OCU/Lake Brantley winner vs. Lyman/Oviedo winner, 5:30
Lake Mary/Winter Springs winner vs. No. 1 Seminole, 7 Friday, at Seminole High School Championship game, 7
Why so high? Defending champ Seminole (19-4) is on a 13-game win streak, and Oviedo (19-6) as a No. 3 seed says it all. The Lions lost four games by five points or less – including two one-point defeats vs. the Seminoles and an overtime loss to Lake Brantley (15-10). Brantley dealt Seminole its only district defeat, by one point. The ‘Noles became even deeper when Ladarron Cleveland (5-10, Jr.) moved back from Georgia. Main attractions
O’Shae Baker, Seminole, 5-11, Jr.
Caleb “Sparky” Fabre, Lake Brantley, 6-0, Sr.
Aidan Knight, Oviedo, 6-0, Sr.
No. 5 Class 9A, District 3 At Wekiva High School Wednesday
No. 3 West Orange vs. No. 2 Evans, 5:30
No. 4 Wekiva vs. No. 1 Apopka, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? Apopka (22-3) is rated No. 1 in 9A by MaxPreps. But Evans (18-7) took the Blue Darters to double-overtime before falling and the 3-4 seeds aren’t cupcakes. Apopka won by just two at West Orange. Also, the Blue Darters finished the regular season with starters Zach Anderson (back), Nathan Louis (flu) and John Latimer III (stitches) sidelined. Main attractions 6-4, Nathan Sr. Louis, Apopka,
6-7, Zach Jr. Anderson, Apopka,
6-8, Andy Sr. Antoine, Evans, Terence 6-1, Sr. McClain, Wekiva,
Class 5A, No. District 6 6 At The First Academy Tuesday
No. 3 Lake Highland Prep vs. No. 6 Crooms, 6
No. 4 Trinity Prep vs. No. 5 Windermere Prep, 7:30 Wednesday
LHP/Crooms winner vs. No. 2 Jones, 6
TP/WP winner vs. No. 1 TFA, 7:30 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? A rematch between TFA (14-11) and Jones (15-10) has been percolating since the Royals topped the Tigers 66-63 three weeks ago. Lake Highland Prep (13-12) and Trinity Prep (17-8) could make the semifinals interesting. Main attractions
Kenan Blackshear, Jones, 6-5, Sr.
Fanbo Zheng, WP, 6-9, Fr.
Kanye Jones, TFA, 6-3, So.
Victor Brown Jr., LHP, 6-4, Jr. No. 7 Class 9A, District 4 At Colonial High School Tuesday
No. 5 University vs. No. 4 Boone, 5:30
No. 6 Lake Nona vs. No. 3 Winter Park, 7 Wednesday
LN/WP winner vs. No. 2 Colonial, 5:30
U/B winner vs. No. 1 Timber Creek, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? Any of the top four seeds could claim the title after a regular season filled with nail-biters. Timber Creek (20-5) had five district games decided by six points or less, including 58-56 and 65-60 wins against second seed Colonial (19-6) and a 40-38 loss to Boone (12-11). Main attractions:
Jonathan Berrios, Colonial, 6-0, Sr.
Cameron Hall, Timber Creek, 5-6, Jr.
Marlon Allen, Boone, 6-4, Sr.
Travarious Fluellen, Winter Park, No. 6-4, 8 Sr. Class Monday 9A, District 7 Ridge No. Community, 4 Gateway vs. 7 No. 5 Wednesday
Monday winner at No. 1 Osceola, 7
No. 3 Haines City at No. 2 George Jenkins, 7 Friday, at Gateway High School Championship game, 7
Why so high? Osceola (19-6) is going to have to work for its sixth straight district title. The Kowboys lost district games to George Jenkins and Haines City and had two tight games with Gateway. Main attractions
Isaiah Palermo, Osceola, 6-5, Sr.
Josh Marte, Osceola, 5-8, Sr.
Tyreek Robinson, Gateway, 6-6, Sr. No. 9 Class 9A, District 6 At Oak Ridge High School Monday No. 5 Freedom at No. 4 Olympia, 7 Wednesday, at Oak Ridge
Monday winner vs. No. 1 Oak Ridge, 6
No. 3 Cypress Creek vs. No. 2 Dr. Phillips, 7:30 Friday, at Oak Ridge Championship game, 7
Why so high? Defending state champ Oak Ridge (15-5), with four senior D1 prospects, is a highlight reel waiting to happen. Pioneers won their four district games by an average of 52 points — including a 102-78 rout of second seed DP (11-13). Main attractions:
C.J. Walker, Oak Ridge, 6-8, Sr.
Niven Glover, Oak Ridge, 6-4, Sr.
Kaleb Coleman, Oak Ridge, 6-7, Sr.
Emmanuel Adedoyin, Oak Ridge, 6-3, Sr.
Rakeem Perry, DP, 5-10, Sr.
No. 10 Class 3A, District 3 At Mount Dora Christian
Monday
Life Legacy Christian, Charter 5:30 vs. Real
Faith Christian vs. Foundation Academy, 7 Tuesday
FC/FA winner vs. No. 1 Orlando Christian Prep, 5:30
LC/RLC winner vs. No. 2 Mount Dora Christian, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Why so high? OCP (19-5) starts zero seniors but has the talent to make a run at its third consecutive state crown. Host MDC (21-4) is a top 10 team in 3A. Main attractions Eric Butler, OCP, 6-3, Jr. Ven-Allen Lubin, OCP, 6-6, Fr. Other tournaments Class 8A, District 6 Tuesday
No. 8 Viera at No. 1 Melbourne, 7
No. 7 Lake Tohopekaliga at No. 2 Hagerty, 7
No. 6 Liberty at No. 3 St. Cloud, 7
No. 5 Harmony at No. 4 Celebration, 7 Wednesday, at Hagerty
V/M winner vs. C/Harmony winner, 5:30
LT/Hagerty winner vs. L/SC winner, 7 Friday, at Hagerty Championship game, 7
Buzz: Melbourne (21-4) is favored. But Hagerty (15-10) has the home court and red-hot freshman phenom Jah Nze, who scored 40, 32 and 32 in three games last week. Class 5A, District 5 At Trinity Catholic, Ocala Monday No. 4 South Sumter vs. No. 5 Umatilla, 7 Wednesday
No. 2 Villages Charter vs. No. 3 Mount Dora, 5:30
No. 1 Trinity Catholic vs. Monday winner, 7 Friday Championship game, 7 Buzz: Villages has the Xfactor with UF signee Tre
Mann (6-4, Sr.). Class 4A, District 3 Monday
No. 6 New Dimensions at No. 3 Orangewood, 7
No. 7 Circle Christian at No. 2 The Master’s Academy, 7
No. 5 Lakeland Christian at No. 4 Cornerstone Charter, 7 Tuesday, at Lakeland Christian School
CC/TMA winner vs. ND/O winner, 5:30
LC/CC winner vs. Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic, 7 Friday, at Lakeland Christian School Championship game, 7 Buzz: Master’s (18-7) has won six straight since its 71-69 loss to top seed Santa Fe (18-7). Class 3A, District 2 At Warner Christian, South Daytona Monday
No. 4 Deltona Trinity Christian vs. No. 5 Warner, 5:30 Tuesday
DTC/Warner winner vs. No. 1 Jacksonville Christ’s Church, 5:30
No. 2 Lake Mary Prep vs. No. 3 St. Francis Catholic, 7 Friday Championship game, 7
Buzz: Lake Mary Prep (16-9) will go as far as senior point guard Michael Gavin (28.8 points per game) can carry it. Class 2A, District 5 At Victory Christian, Lakeland Monday
No. 3 Lake Wales Vanguard vs. No. 6 Kingdom Prep, 5:30
No. 4 International Community vs. No 5 City of Life Christian, 7 Tuesday
No. 2 Central Florida Christian Academy vs. V/ KP winner, 5:30
No. 1 Victory Christian vs. IC/Life winner, 7 Friday Championship, 7
Buzz: CFCA (14-10), led by 6-5 senior Jordan Preaster, will have to avenge a regular-season loss at Victory Christian to take the title.