Wildcats, Eagles in regionals

The Winter Park Wildcats are headed to Port St. Lucie for the boys basketball regional quarterfinals Thursday, thanks to a runner-up performance in the district tournament.

The Wildcats (17-10, 5-0) trounced the Colonial Grenadiers (5-19, 1-5) by a score of 57-39 to start their tournament play. But against the University Cougars, who with a 15-11, 3-1 record still managed to be a thorn in the sides of the Wildcats, it was a different story.

The Cougars jumped out early and never looked back as the Wildcats struggled to find the basket, with only sophomore Austin Goodluck scoring in double digits. The team would finish with only 35 percent of their shots sinking.

That 60-45 loss may have ended the Wildcats’ tournament on a bad note, but they had already punched their ticket for the regional tournament. They travel all the way to Port St. Lucie to face host Treasure Coast High School in the quarterfinal round. The Titans have an 18-5 record overall with a narrow overtime win over Vero Beach in their own district final propelling them into the regionals.

In that game the Titans spread the ball around, with three players reaching double digits and the team nabbing 32 rebounds in the process, 17 of them coming from senior Garrett Kent, who also had four blocks in the game.

They hit the court at 7 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, looking for better luck than the girls team. The Lady Wildcats lost to Treasure Coast 50-29 in their own regional quarterfinal matchup Feb. 7.

The Edgewater boys team (22-4, 8-0) will have a matchup of its own Feb. 14 at home, hosting Bayside for a regional quarterfinal showdown. That tips off at 7 p.m. also. The Eagles smashed Seabreeze and Deltona to take the regional championship.