Since the first day of tryouts, many have dreams and aspirations of getting to Lakeland but only a few are actually able to make it to the Final Four.
With University Christian and North Florida Educational Institute having already punched their tickets last Tuesday, Paxon, Jackson and Fleming Island, Columbia and Palatka were looking to join them.
In what was expected to be an All-Big Bend party in Lakeland will turn out to be a First Coast party in Lakeland as five area teams will convene in Lakeland, tying a record set two years ago.
Fleming Island 67, Tallahassee Lincoln 58
TALLAHASSEE- Fleming Island wasted no time jumping on host Lincoln (20-10) outscoring the Trojans 22-5 in the first quarter and never looked back to advance to its first ever Final Four.
Gianfranco Grafals led the Golden Eagles with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Aaron Brown chipped in 14 points and 6 rebounds while Sebastian Astor added 14 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds.
Subsequently, the Golden Eagles would close out the first half of the game leading 38-21. Lincoln would fail to make the cut in the third quarter being overpowered by Fleming Island to end the third quarter trailing 49-34.
Fleming Island (22-2) will play Bradenton Lakewood Ranch (23-6) Friday at 2 p.m. in the Class 8A state semifinals at the RP Funding Center.
Andrew Jackson 61, Florida High 46
TALLAHASSEE- Andrew Jackson (24-6) would pick up a ticket as well eliminating host Florida High (18-12) 61-46 in the Florida Class 5A Regional Finals.
Logan West and David Daniels would both lead Jackson both scoring 18 points each while Joshua Knox would score 12 points.
A tip off advantage for the Seminoles would allow them to score first over Jackson. The Tigers would answer back proceeding to become inclined with a point for point shoot out with Florida High.
Daniels and West would allow the Tigers to gain the scoring advantage needed to end the first quarter leading 13-8, which extended into the half with a 29-23 lead.
Strong defense and fouls would lead to both teams to score a total of 11 points each ending the third quarter as Jackson held on to a 40-34 lead.
Ultimately, the Tigers would send the Seminoles packing as they will advance to the Final Four to take on Tampa Catholic (24-7) Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the RP Funding Center.
Nature Coast 60, Palatka 53
PALATKA – A quest for a third straight trip to the Final Four for Palatka came to an abrupt haul as visiting Nature Coast stunned host Palatka 60-53 in the Region II-6A final.
Nature Coast, who was eliminated by Palatka in the same round last year, came out with a purpose and took a 29-15 halftime lead.
Palatka (25-5) spent the game playing catch up and cut the lead to 53-51 with 26 seconds left. However, the Sharks (24-5) closed it out with a 7-2 run to advance to the Final Four.
Robert Gomez would lead Nature Coast to victory with 23 points and 6 rebounds, Brandon Clark chipped in with 19 points, while Orien Adams contributed 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Mitchell McKinnon would lead Palatka with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 3 steals, while Wesley Roberts would contribute 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Crestview 66, Columbia 48
LAKE CITY – A 15-4 run by visiting Crestview allowed the Bulldogs to take control of the game and take the host crowd out of the game as well.
Columbia (17-14) spent the entire rest of the game trying to play catch up and dig itself out the deep hole.
Crestview maintained a double digit lead up 40-25 with five minutes left in the third, before a short run put Columbia back in the game down 40-33 late in third quarter.
However, the Bulldogs put it away going on a run themselves to close out the game leading by 14 with a little over a minute remaining.
The loss prevents Columbia from advancing to its Final Four since 1968 and ending a 50 year drought.
D’Marcus Purcell would lead Crestview with 15 points, Mason Cooper chipped in with 14 points while twin brothers Devin and Jaden Voison would each score 12 points.
TJ Jones would lead Columbia with 13 points while Jordan Smith contributed 10.
