- April 25, 2024
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For many, the Metro vs. Florida Challenge, which will be held for the fifth time on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday this week, is simply a great opportunity for teams to see where they’re at early in the season.
The event, which now spans three days for the first time and will be held at Apopka High School, brings together every member of the Metro Conference in Orange County and several respected and promising squads from elsewhere around the state.
But for Ocoee coach Rob Gordon, who played in the Metro Conference during his own prep career with the Evans Trojans, it means just a little more.
“I’m old-school — I’ve played in this conference,” Gordon said. “I really have a strong nostalgia for what the Metro Conference really means.
“To me, we’re defending our county, our conference and all the history that that represents.”
Gordon’s Knights (3-0) will get their opportunity to defend the conference’s honor at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, when they take on Deltona.
Deltona is a highly regarded team in Central Florida behind UCF commit Chad Brown, and Ocoee last played the Wolves two seasons ago.
“It’ll be interesting to see not only how far have they come but also where is our program at this time, too,” Gordon said.
The event has become a staple of the beginning of the hoops season in Central Florida and is always good for some high-profile matchups.
“It’s great for us because we know that we’re always going to get a good test, we’re always going to play somebody really good,” Dr. Phillips coach Anthony Long said. “They do such a good job of running it. We always know we’re going to get great competition against some people that we don’t normally play.”
For the Panthers (2-0), the Challenge will present two chances to play against quality teams, including a matchup at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday against Spruce Creek and an inter-coverage area duel with Windermere Prep at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The schedule for the 2014 Metro vs. Florida Challenge, which will be held at Apopka High School on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday is as follows:
Wednesday
11 a.m.: Jones vs. Orlando Christian Prep
12:15 p.m.: University vs. Father Lopez
1:45 pm.: Ocoee vs. Deltona
3:30 p.m.: Dr. Phillips vs. Spruce Creek
5:15 p.m.: Apopka vs. Liberty
7 p.m.: Evans vs. Bartow
8:30 p.m.: Edgewater vs. Lake Highland Prep
Friday
11 a.m.: Jones vs. Heritage
12:15 p.m.: West Orange vs. Leesburg
1:45 p.m.: Colonial vs. The Master’s Academy
3:30 p.m.: Timber Creek vs. Winter Springs
5:15 p.m.: Freedom vs. Auburndale
7 p.m.: Wekiva vs. Osceola
8:30 p.m.: University vs. The First Academy
Saturday
10 a.m.: East River vs. Poinciana
11:15 a.m.: Boone vs. Eustis
12:45 p.m.: Wekiva vs. Haines City
2:15 p.m.: Olympia vs. OCP
4 p.m.: Dr. Phillips vs. Windermere Prep
6 p.m.: Apopka vs. Lake Brantley
8 p.m.: Winter Park vs. Oviedo
