Wildcats fall, Eagles soar into regional final

Winter Park romped its way into the regional semifinal round in a quest to defend its state championship, but couldn’t hold off an old rival from its home district.

The Wildcats (19-10) had edged Oak Ridge 52-51 two games ago in a hard-fought Class 8A District 5 championship game that went down to the last second.

Then they trounced Treasure Coast 78-40 on Feb. 12 as a re-introduction to the statewide playoff season, pulling one of the biggest blowouts of the opening round.

But to make it to the final four, they needed to do something they hadn’t done all season — beat Oak Ridge (22-7) twice in a row.

At one point in the second half the Wildcats were up 43-34 after blowing through Oak Ridge on a wild 25-6 scoring run. But the Pioneers came roaring back, with a packed team of soon-to-be college players battling back in the final seconds to steal away a Wildcats win.

Austin Goodluck’s 19 points and Elijah Farley’s 17 wouldn’t be enough, as the Wildcats, unlikely state champs last year, were bounced out of the postseason.

Edgewater boys basketball

Just as Winter Park was losing its spot in the playoffs, Edgewater (24-5) was in the fight of its life. The Eagles battled Winter Haven to a 64-63 edge-of-your-seat win.

James Eads may have led the Eagles with 17 points, but it was Francois Lewis who carried the drama, tying and then winning the game from the free throw line with less than 10 seconds left.

The Eagles will face off against a Deltona (25-4) team that had a dramatic 41-39 win of its own on Tuesday night. Edgewater will get the home court advantage for its 7 p.m. Feb. 21 tip off.