Winter Park Wildcats gear up for Tip-Off

Winter Park’s boys basketball team had a good start to the holiday season with a 55-45 win over their first district rival, University, on Dec. 1.

The Wildcats (3-0, 1-0) are rolling into their first season after winning 66-64 in the 8A state championship game in overtime. In their first three games, they have three wins by double digits or more.

Now the Wildcats are heading into a tournament that haunted them last season. The Winter Park Rotary Tip-Off Classic saw the Wildcats lose two games in a field packed with soon-to-be state champion teams.

Can Winter Park make an impact this time? They’ll field a team of taller players, with a pair of 6-foot-6-inch tall seniors in JeQuante Davis and Kevin Reiz, who didn’t factor in much in the team’s championship game last season. Austin Goodluck did, as did senior speedster Elijah Farley, who returns for his final Tip-Off.

It’s a stacked field again, with reigning state champs and potential title winners up and down the eight-team field. Admission only costs two cans of food for charity, or $5.

Winter Park girls basketball

On the girls’ court, the Wildcats finally lost a game after starting off the season on a nine-game win streak. They fell 77-62 to Lake Highland Prep (7-1) on Dec. 2, despite Alexis Siler’s 13 points for the Wildcats (9-1).

Edgewater boys basketball

The Eagles boys basketball team (2-3) lost two in a row, but came roaring back with a blowout of Eau Gallie.

Edgewater dropped its second straight with a 76-36 blowout loss to Dr. Phillips on Dec. 2. Anfernee Simons tried to carry the Eagles with 11 points on his own.

But that didn't seem to matter when they met Eau Gallie (3-2) and James Eads dropped 32 points in the basket to blow them out 76-52. They host Jones at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5.

Edgewater girls basketball

A 64-63 heartbreaker felled the Eagles on Dec. 1 against Jones, but then they bounced back big Wednesday night. The Eagles had started the season with an eight-game winning streak before the one-point loss.

The 70-20 trouncing of Eau Gallie Wednesday helped numb the pain though, with Tiara McMillan leading a starting five into double digits with 18 points of her own.

They host East River at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9.