Upsets occur in sports, it’s apart of the game. Yet upsets are never fun when your team is on the losing end of one. Unfortunately for two teams, the second round is where they would experience the sting of defeat by virtue of losing to a lower seeded team. It’s tough in the playoffs and two of the toughest teams advance to the next round, while five met tough defeats.
Class 6A Semifinals
#4 Creekside-61 vs #8. Mainland– 68
Maddie Lippy led the team with 21 points and junior Taylor Gardner chipped in with 13 points in the 68-61 loss. It was predicted that Creekside would need to rebound better in the next round to match up with Mainland, and that unfortunately was the case. The Lady Bucs out-rebounded the Lady Knights 43 to 25. Mainland’s Isys Grady led Mainland with 22 points and Delayna Gillard scored 20 points. Creekside and Coach Cashwell exit their incredibly successful season with a 16-9 record and a regional semifinal appearance.
Class 5A Semifinals
#1 Middleburg -65 vs #4 Rickards -71
Middleburg’s run came to an end against Tallahassee Rickards 71-65. The upset saw Rickards frustrate the Broncos early on, fouling out Britany Range, the talented star for Middleburg in the fourth quarter. Range ends a superb senior season averaging 19.8 ppg. Ma’ria Davis 11.6 ppg also capped off a great senior year for the play-maker. Junior Skylar Baltezegar (12.8ppg, 12.3 rpg) will return, giving Coach Michael Hayward fire power to work with next season.
#2. Pine Forest– 48 vs #3. St. Augustine– 45
It was a close one but in the end, the St. Augustine Lady Yellow Jackets fell by five to Pine Forest in the second round of the playoffs. Danielle Luckey led Pine Forest with 14 points in the win. Tahnyjia Purifoy suffocated the Jackets with 6 steals on night, as the Eagles defense swarmed. St. Augustine’s leaders Brooke Reed, and De’aryl McDuffie depart as seniors, but they return 9 players next year, including 4 seniors which should make Coach Eric Hancock very excited about the team’s future.
Class 4A
#5. Ribault vs #1.Raines <—- Click here for story
#2.Bishop Kenny 74 vs. #3.Pensacola 57
Junior Jasmyne Roberts had the game of her life, scoring 36 points, securing 8 rebounds, along with 8 blocks to lead Bishop Kenny to a 74-57 victory over Pensacola in the second round of the playoffs. Roberts was unstoppable, going 15 of 22 from the field and knocking down two big three pointers in the contest.
Cara McCrthy’s 10 assists set up the offense , while Maddie Miller chipped in 14 points. Next up for Kenny is a date with #1 Raines. Both teams made it to Lakeland last year in different classes. However, this year only one can advance.
Class 2A
#1. University Christian -50 vs. #5. NFEI-35
Tied at 24 at half time, both NFEI and University Christian looked to battle to the end for the right to advance to the third round of the playoffs. Yet a 14-2 run by UC in the fourth quarter decided the outcome as the Christians defeated the Eagles 50-35. NFEI ‘s junior Sheyla Aguilar scored 17 points and sophomore Jady Mejia chipped in with 11 points in the loss. UC’s sophomore Brittany Long has led the Christians this year averaging 20 ppg. while Rhianna Youman’s 16.1ppg has also contributed to UC’s offensive output this year. Taijshia Baldwin’s 13.9 ppg and Nigeria Harkless 11.3 ppg make them a tough team to outscore and #2 Florida A&M will try to slow down the team of talent.
