- April 21, 2025
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Now that the 2024-25 high school basketball season has come to a close in West Orange and Southwest Orange, it’s time to take a moment and reflect on an incredible season for the area’s boys and girls teams and players on the hardwood.
With two teams reaching their respective state-championship game, four teams winning regional championships, seven advancing to the regional finals and 14 teams in total earning playoff bids, it’s safe to say the area is a hotbed for high-level basketball and this season proved it once again.
To celebrate the achievements of the area’s top teams and players, it’s time to meet the 2024-25 All-Orange Observer boys and girls teams, players of the year and coaches of the year.
FIRST TEAM
Player of the Year: T.J. Drain, Windermere, Forward
Averaging 18.8 points, 10 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting an incredible 63% from the field, Drain was the driving force behind Windermere High’s 26-6 season and run to the Class 7A state championship game.
Drain, a 6-foot-9 big man signed to play college ball at Liberty University, did everything that was asked of him on and off the court for the Wolverines. As one of the few returning starters from last season, Drain not only led the team on both sides of the ball — as a focal point on offense and anchor on defense — but also was one of the team’s most important leaders.
The Wolverines’ senior also broke the program record for most points in a single game, crossed the 1,000-points-scored mark and was named to the All-Metro First Team.
Brandon Bass Jr., Windermere Prep, Wing
One of the top college basketball recruits in the area, Bass Jr. finished the season with 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the Lakers.
Julian DeClou, Central Florida Christian Academy, Wing
After transferring from Hagerty High, DeClou quickly adapted to the Eagles and led CFCA with 15.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while also averaging 3.6 assists. The 6-foot-5 junior helped his team reach the regional title game and was named the district player of the year.
Sean Owens, Windermere, Guard
In his first season as part of the Wolverines backcourt, Owens, a Olympia High transfer, was one of the vital cogs that helped Windermere reach the state-title game for the first time in program history. The senior averaged 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 39% on a team-high 217 attempts from three-point range (6.78 3PT attempts per game).
James Nowells, Olympia, Guard
Under first-year coach Justin Shipp, the 6-foot-2 sophomore combo guard was a legitimate scoring threat from all three levels, leading the new-look and young Olympia Titans in scoring. Nowells averaged 13.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 39% on 142 three-point attempts.
SECOND TEAM
Coach of the Year: Albert Settles, Central Florida Christian Academy
In his first season as a head coach, Central Florida Christian Academy’s Albert Settles engineered a massive turnaround for the Eagles program — seeing their record flip from 6-19 in 2023-24 to 21-9 this season.
Under Settles’ leadership CFCA also reached the Class 1A, Region 2 championships game and won the 1A, District 7 title.
What might be most impressive about the former The First Academy player and assistant coach’s first season in charge of Eagles hoops was his ability to not only incorporate key new players, such as Julian DeClou and Alexander Dipaolo, into the program but also earn the trust of returning players from the previous season and retaining them on the roster in this transfer-heavy era of high school sports.
FIRST TEAM
Player of the Year: Dakara Merthie, Ocoee, Guard
In her first season as a member of the Ocoee Lady Knights, junior guard Dakara Merthie led the program to heights it had never seen before after transferring to the West Orange County school from Lake Mary High.
Merthie not only led the Lady Knights in points and steals per game, with 23.9 ppg and 3.7 spg — while also adding 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists on average — but also her production helped Ocoee win its first regional title and advance for the first time to the Final Four.
The junior sharpshooter also helped the Lady Knights capture its third consecutive district championship and finish the season with a 25-4 record, the most wins in the program’s history in more than two decades.
Bianca Hall, The First Academy, Guard
Despite being just a sophomore, Hall’s 74 games played is more varsity experience than most seniors, so it’s no wonder why she’s improved even more this season under her coach and father, Kevin Hall.
From the point guard spot, the 5-foot-7 floor general had career high averages at 19.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game, while dishing out 3.5 assists a game.
Joba Oyedeji, Windermere Prep, Forward
At 6-foot-1, the physically dominant Lakers forward surely doesn’t look like a freshman when she steps on the court, and with a team-high 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, Oyedeji definitely doesn’t play like its only her first season competing on the high school varsity basketball level.
Kendall Perry, Dr. Phillips, Guard
Despite missing eight games this season, the junior guard continued to cement herself as the area’s top college basketball prospect in her first season leading the Dr. Phillips backcourt. Perry averaged 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Jamila Ray, Dr. Phillips, Wing
After only playing in eight games as a sophomore, Ray took advantage of her opportunity as a junior and became a crucial part of the Lady Panthers run to the state-title game — averaging 12.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
SECOND TEAM
Coach of the Year: Anthony Jones, Dr. Phillips
It’s often said that one of the most difficult things to do in sports is win consecutive championships but if you’re looking at Dr. Phillips Lady Panthers coach Anthony Jones’ track record, you might start to think it’s not that difficult considering he’s not only led DP to back-to-back state titles before, he’s led the program to a three-peat of state crowns on two separate occasions (2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13; and 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24).
Although Jones and his Panthers didn’t repeat as champions this season, finishing as Class 7A state runners-up with a 20-10 record might have been the best coaching performance Jones has had in his nearly two decades in charge of the program.
What makes this season so impressive is Jones not only had to deal with the loss of two star players from last season’s state-title-winning team — Trinity Turner, arguably the greatest girls basketball player in school history who led the Georgia Lady Bulldogs in scoring as a freshman, and fellow D-I player Leah Bullard, who played in 22 games for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies — he also had to guide his team through one of the most ludicrous schedules ever assembled.
Dr. Phillips’ schedule included six state-championship-winning teams — Miami Country Day (FHSAA 2A champions), Cardinal Mooney Catholic (FHSAA 3A champions), Palm Bay High (FHSAA 5A champions), Winter Haven High (FHSAA 7A champions), Sacred Heart Academy (Kentucky champions) and River Ridge High (Georgia 5A champions) — 14 opponents ranked within the top 25 of their state’s MaxPreps rankings, nine ranked in the top 10, eight top-five teams, six top-three teams, three No. 1 teams and two of MaxPreps’ top 25 teams in the nation.
Throw in the fact that Jones had to deal with his best player — junior guard Kendall Perry — missing eight games in the middle of the season with a hand injury and the incorporation of a budding star in transfer guard Ciara Hayes into his well-oiled and tested team in the final 13 games of the season, and you realize just how impressive winning a fourth consecutive regional championship, capturing their district and West Metro Conference titles and reaching a fourth-consecutive state championship game really was and why this might have been Jones’ finest season yet.
