Tuesday night featured a matchup in Class 5A Regional Semifinals between Orange Park and Tallahassee Rickards. It would be a rematch of an early season game in which Orange Park won 56-52. This game had higher stakes as the winner would move on to the elite 8 and the season would be over for the loser.
Orange Park’s Eris Lester and Nia Brown had big numbers in that first game combining for 33 points and 16 rebounds, and it was clear that Rickards strategy was to not let that happen again as they came out in a triangle and two defense. It proved to be an effective strategy as Rickards held and early lead at 8-4 as Orange Park’s offense was thrown out of its normal flow for much of the first half. Orange Park was able to gain some momentum as they went to a two-post line up and started scoring in the paint. It was a clean first quarter as the lead went back and forth between the two teams. Orange Park led at the end of the first quarter 15-14.
Rickards did a lot of subbing in order to keep fresh bodies on defense to guard Orange Park’s two leading scorers and it worked for much of the first half as they limited their touches on offense. Orange Park got a huge lift from their point guard Piera Alexander as she doubled her scoring average in the first half to help keep her team ahead for much of the second quarter. Rickards switched to press late in the second quarter and regained the momentum as they forced a quick shot that missed and led to a layup for them and then forced two turnovers that would help them regain the lead at 28-27 heading into halftime.
Both teams started the second half with turnovers and struggled to score. Orange Park made an adjustment and inserted their 3-point shooters and caught fire from the 3-point line in the 3rd quarter. At one point they hit four 3-pointers in a row. Rickards was able to stay in the game off points in the paint and free throws as they were in the bonus in 3rd quarter. Orange Park was able to steadily increase their lead as one of Rickards leading scorers Mckenzi Lyons was in foul trouble for most of the second half. Mckenzi had been able to consistently score throughout the game and much of the offense went through her.
She would eventually foul out in the fourth quarter when Rickards was trying to make a final push at a comeback which would be derailed even more when their leading scorer Jakiyah Robinson went down with an injury. Orange Park would go on to win by double digits 69-59 after what had been a tightly contested matchup for most of the game. They advance to the Elite 8 to face Pine Forest on Friday, February 18, 2022. The game will be held at Orange Park High School at 7:00 pm.
Leading Scorers
Orange Park – Eris Lester 15, Nia Brown 14, Piera Alexander 14 and Haley Revak 9
Tallahassee Rickards – Genesis Henry 16, Jakiyah Robinson 15, Mckenzi Lyons 13, and Jariyah
Jordan 9
Game Notes:
This will be Orange Park’s first trip to the Elite 8 since 2010.
They celebrated Sophomore Eris Lester reaching 1000 points after the game.
Regional Semifinal Scores from Northeast Florida
Orange Park 69 Rickards 59
Nease 52 Navarre 48
Bishop Kenny 70 South Walton 33
Providence 40 Episcopal 30
St. Augustine 43 Fort Walton Beach 37
University Christian 58 Munroe 18
St. John’s Country Day 45 FAMU 53
Oakleaf 36 Colonial 44
Jackson 51 Rutherford 62
