Wildcats fall short of Tip-Off Classic championship

Winter Park’s boys basketball team won its first and second games by dramatically close scores before walking onto the court against Lake Minneola and falling in an 86-65 blowout in the Winter Park Rotary Tip-Off Classic championship.

But in such a high scoring game, how the previously undefeated Wildcats managed to lose so convincingly to a team two school size categories below them may have come down to defense.

Lake Minneola (6-1) used trademark high-pressure defense that hadn’t given up more than 62 points in any of the team’s wins to edge Winter Park. The team’s typically high-scoring offense took care of the rest.

Winter Park had beaten Lake Highland Prep 80-75 to start the tournament Dec. 4, and then edged Evans in a 59-58 nail-biter to make it to the championship round of their home tournament.

But the Winter Park Rotary Classic’s stacked roster of current and former state champions and runners up served up more than the Wildcats could handle in the final round.

Wyatt Wilkes would lead Winter Park with 20 points, with Malik Foy not far behind with 16.

Winter Park (5-1) travels to face reigning state 8A champion Hagerty at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Hoops with a Heart tournament at Oviedo High School.

Winter Park girls basketball

The Wildcats’ nine-game undefeated streak ended on the court at Lake Highland Prep Dec. 2, as the girls fell 77-62. The loss came after the team had gone 9-0 in a streak that saw all but two games won by a double-digit scoring differential.

The loss came despite a late surge that saw the Wildcats outscore the Highlanders 21-13 in the final quarter.

Coming up, the Wildcats (9-1) travel to Cypress Creek for a 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 tipoff.

Edgewater boys basketball

After losing two in a row to bookend Thanksgiving, the Eagles grabbed two wins in a row to start December. They smashed Jones 76-48 on Dec. 5 to start their positive streak, butting them at 3-3 on the season.

They face Palm Bay’s Heritage (7-1) at 7 p.m. Dec. 11.

Edgewater girls basketball

The lady Eagles faced East River Dec. 9, and will be off for the holidays, returning to the court Jan. 8.