Eagles complete big turnaround

The Eagles boys basketball team (17-10, 7-1) completed a shocking turnaround over last season with a 70-59 throttling of Mainland to win their district championship on Feb. 11. The win was also sweet revenge for Edgewater, whose only district loss had come at the hands of Mainland on Jan. 24.

With the win the Eagles avenged one of the worst seasons in school history, when they went 1-25 last season. The Buccaneers will now host Palm Bay for the first round of regional action, tipping off at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.

Winter Park

The momentum from a surprise win over East River on Feb. 7 wasn’t enough to carry the Wildcats to a second straight district victory against Timber Creek, as they fell 64-48 on Feb. 8.

The loss quickly put the brakes on an improbable playoff run by the struggling Wildcats (6-21, 0-5), who hadn’t won a district game all season before unexpectedly derailing East River’s (14-11, 1-2) shot at going deeper into the postseason.

Against the Wolves (18-9, 3-0) they were in an equally tough position, facing one of the strongest teams in the district while facing elimination from the postseason altogether. With one more win, they could have been set for regional action.

But the Wildcats found themselves overwhelmed from the start by a rapid fire Timber Creek offense that put up 20 points in the first quarter alone. The Wildcats more than kept pace in the second quarter, out-shooting the Wolves 15-8, but they lost momentum in the second half. As their defense waned in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats let the Wolves again pile on the points, hitting 22 in the final quarter.