- April 25, 2024
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To say last season for the Wildcats was a disappointment may be an understatement, but new head coach Stevan Colletes is looking to right the ship.
After a decade of dominance during which Winter Park won at least 20 games in seven of the last 10 seasons, including state titles in 2010, 2011, and 2013, the Wildcats struggled through a rough 10-16 (2-3) season.
The end of the season also saw head coach Don Blackmon step down, as he looked to focus on the academic side of his job as the coordinator of the International Baccalaureate program at Winter Park.
The head-coaching job was given to Colletes, a former University of Bridgeport and Seminole Community College assistant, who had been the Wildcats’ assistant coach the last two season.
With his two years on the Wildcats’ coaching staff, Colletes should transition smoothly into his new role, although he will face some challenges — the biggest being the loss of the team’s top two scorers Wyatt Wilkes (14.5 ppg) and Kevin Buckley (13 ppg).
Edgewater is coming off a solid 2015-2016 campaign during which the Eagles went 23-9 (4-2 in district play) and had a solid run all the way to the state-title game. There, they fell 75-43 to a strong Dillard squad.
It was also a season that had the Eagles go through multiple seven-plus game winning streaks.
The Eagles kicked off the season with a seven-game win streak, before hitting a rough 13-game stretch during which they went 5-8. They finished the regular season with another seven-game win streak before making their run through the state playoffs.
A key contributor to last year’s team was point guard Anfernee Simons, a senior on this year’s squad. Last season, Simons averaged nearly 24 points per game through 20 games played, as well as 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He also averaged almost two steals per game.
Despite a difficult season during which the Edgewater girl’s team went 16-15 overall, the Eagles managed to pull off a perfect 6-0 record in district play thanks in part to the play of then junior Emari Bell
The 6-foot scoring machine averaged 15.9 points per game through only 14 games played, and her total of 223 points made up a little over a quarter of the team’s overall 823 points.
With basketball not being a one-woman game, Bell also will have help from fellow senior Keaynna Tolbert and junior Eriana Taylor.
Last season as a junior, Tolbert averaged a little more than 13 points per game through 14 games, while Taylor averaged nearly 11 points per game through 13 games.
Last season was another strong season for the Lady Hornets of Bishop Moore, who went 22-5 (8-3) and made it into the state playoffs, but it wasn’t without a disappointing end.
After finishing the regular season with 20-plus wins for the third time in the last four seasons, the Hornets fell 58-50 to Leesburg in the Class 6A, District 13 title game, before they made their way into the state playoffs.
There, the Hornets knocked off Rockledge 59-48 in the first round of the state playoffs, before falling once against to Leesburg — this time in the 6A regional semifinal by a score of 67-55.
Behind the coaching prowess of head coach Dave Boehm, and the play of team captains Reilly Boehm, Maggie Joyce and Taylor Brennan, the Hornets are looking to come back with a vengeance this year as they seek to make it back to the state finals for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
