There’s quite a bit of buzz in the Bay Area regarding the district races and what not. Entering last night’s action there were still a few questions to be answered, but many things were clearer once the dust settled this morning. Here are the 1st Rd. matchups for the Hillsborough and Pinellas County teams that have clinched, and the possible scenarios left to be determined later this week.
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2A
Safe to say that Canterbury has won their 2A-5 District. They’ve beaten Admiral Farragut, and they play a winless Northside Christian team this week. They will host the loser of the St. John Neumann (Naples) at Evangelical Christian game in Fort Myers. Admiral Farragut will travel to the winner of this game.
3A
Berkeley Prep and Tampa Catholic play this week. If the Crusaders pull off the upset there’s chaos, but if not expect the Buccaneers to host either Frostproof or Lakeland Christian who would be the runners-up to Fort Meade in 3A-6. If TC doesn’t win, then it’s CCC headed to Fort Meade on November 18th for sure.
5A
5A-8 is settled. It’s going to be Jesuit hosting Lake Nona, and Robinson will be headed to Bishop Moore in Orlando.
6A
In District 6A-7 it’s the Largo Packers crowned as District Champions. The runners-up are Lakewood Ranch. On November 18th, it will be Hillsborough at Largo, and Lakewood Ranch at Armwood.
7A
District 7A-8 is an absolute mess, and may continue to be a mess provided Plant City beats Newsome which is not a given at the moment apparently forcing a Monday tiebreaker. The Raiders are in a 3-way battle with Durant and Brandon. The winner of that district gets the winner Tampa Bay Tech and Gaither who happen to be playing this week. Across the bridge, Countryside has to beat St. Petersburg to clinch the 7A-9 Crown. They would get Venice at home while Pinellas Park would travel to Manatee in the 1st Rd.
8A
Plant are the winners of 8A-6. The will in all likelihood host Boone as long as Freedom doesn’t pull off the upset of Dr. Phillips. The runners-up are decided this week when Alonso hosts Wharton. The winner of that game gets Dr. Phillips in Orlando. (Again, assuming the Panthers don’t get upset this Friday.) On the Pinellas side, it’s East Lake vs. Palm Harbor University for the 8A-7 Championship. The winner of that game gets to host the winner of Vero Beach and Treasure Coast. The loser will travel to St. Lucie Centennial.
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Look for my complete breakdown of the statewide picture along with the potential paths beyond the 1st and 2nd Rounds for our Bay Area Teams coming in the next few days. Hillsborough and Pinellas both have teams in all classes that are more than capable of representing the Bay Area in Orlando.