Oak Ridge romps as region champ
Joins Edgewater, OCP, Evans, Windermere Prep
Oak Ridge senior Jordan Tillery didn’t want to miss out on making his fourth consecutive Florida High School Athletic Association state tournament trip.
He and his teammates made sure nothing derailed that plan as they steamrollered district rival Olympia 76-41 on Friday night to wrap up an impressive run through what was rated the toughest region in Florida high school basketball, per FHSAA power rankings.
The Pioneers (26-3) dominated defensively and turned the running clock on with a 60-24 lead in the third quarter of the Class 7A Region 2 final, which turned into an Oak Ridge dunk show for a big crowd in the Pioneers gym.
“This means everything,” Tillery said after dunking three times and scoring 14 points. “But it means the job’s not finished.”
He played his freshman and sophomore years with Dr. Phillips’ 2021 state-title team and 2022 runner-up squad, then started as a junior on Oak Ridge’s 2023 finalfour team, which lost a semifinal vs. Winter Haven on a buzzer-beater.
Tyler Johnson had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots for Oak Ridge.
The Pioneers will get a rematch against Winter Haven (27-1) in a state tournament semifinal that is two weeks away on March 8 at 3 p.m. at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Columbus, Winter Haven and Oak Ridge are 1-2-3 in that order in FHSAA rankings including teams in all seven classifications.
Oak Ridge opened its barrage Friday with 3s by Jalen Reece, Tyler Johnson and big man Amari Davis for a quick 9-3 lead. Olympia rallied into a 12-11 lead, but that was a first and only for the Titans, who were forced into miscues and missed shots by the Pioneers’ pressure.
Dunk contest judges would surely have given Tillery 10 points for his slam to end the first half. The 6-foot-5 Georgia Southern signee reached high above the rim to cup a missed shot and hammered the ball down for a 39-22 lead at the break. Tillery’s windmill dunk in the third quarter was also stunning.
Jamier Jones, a 6-6 Oak Ridge junior, wrapped the ball around his back to elude defenders on a fastbreak dunk. He later torqued to dunk the ball behind his back on a breakaway and elevated for another jam off a missed shot.
— Buddy Collings
Evans holds on: Evans staved off a late second-half push by Sanford Seminole and beat the ‘Noles 75-70 to win the 7A Region 1 title.
The Trojans (20-9) were led by junior guard Arosco Dubois and junior wing David Rushing, who dropped 23 and 20 points, respectively. Rushing had three of Evans’ four 3-pointers in the game, with all of them coming in the first half.
Sophomore forward Dewayne Dixon added 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the victory.
“We knew we had everything coming through Evans [with all five postseason games at home]. We knew we had an excellent chance of getting to Lakeland,” Trojans coach Lonza Morgan said. “This means a lot to the school, the community, to the team. Man, I’m just so proud of these guys.”
The Trojans will be the No. 4 seed and will play two-time defending state champ Miami Columbus (25-4) in a March 8 state semifinal at 11 a.m.
The home team held an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Seminole (22-8) made a valiant effort, cutting the lead to three in the final minute before running out of time.
Seminoles senior forward Quin’Darius Rumph led all players in scoring and rebounding with 26 points and 19 rebounds in addition to five blocks.
— Max Gamarra
No. 1 Edgewater wins: In a hotly anticipated rematch, 6A No. 1 Edgewater once again came out on top against Oviedo, winning 69-59 for the Region 6 title.
Junior center Myles Mayfield led the Eagles (22-7) with 16 points and added effective defense as his team had to fend off a late charge by the Lions (25-5) after leading by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Sophomores Donovan Williams Jr. and Jacari Lofton scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the homecourt win.
“The kids stayed locked in and focused all week,” said Edgewater coach Jon Mason. “We haven’t had an easy road to get here, but they played hard, played smart and were very attentive to what the game plan was.”
The Eagles’ defense was suffocating as they built a 30-19 halftime lead. Oviedo’s first basket came 4½ minutes into the game.
The Lions cut the deficit to 2 with three minutes remaining. Edgewater responded with a 7-1 run and clutch free throws by senior Fabian Taylor to put away the game.
Edgewater will be the No. 1 seed and will play Punta Gorda Charlotte (18-10) in a state semifinal on March 7 at 3 p.m.
— Chris Martucci
OCP wins on road: In a rarity, Orlando Christian Prep played as a rankings underdog in Lakeland against 2A No. 1 Victory Christian (25-5), but the Warriors were up to the challenge and scored a decisive 69-52 victory to win Region 2 and extend a nine-year streak of region titles and state tournament berths.
Darius Washington III and Jemah Jones each scored 14 points to lead balanced OCP (23-4). Isaiah Brown added 12 points and Ameer Ramadan and Joshua Theus each had 11 in the win.
The Warriors will be the second seed in the state tournament and will play SLAM of Tampa (23-7) in a state semifinal on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
OCP has a 53-1 regional record in a 17-year span dating to its first of 10 state-title seasons, 2008.
— Rick Staudt
Bass leads Windermere Sophomore guard Brandon Bass Jr. poured in a career-high 36 points and also had 6 rebounds for Windermere Prep in its 67-60 win vs. visiting Holy Trinity (21-7) in the 3A-2 final.
Sinan Huan, also a sophomore, just missed a triple-double with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 11 blocked shots for the Lakers (23-7).
Windermere Prep’s top seven scorers are underclassmen.
The Lakers will be the No. 3 seed and will play No. 2 Providence School (24-5) of Jacksonville in a state semifinal on Wednesday night at 7.