APOPKA — Someone once said, “Success is born from persistence, refined through adaptation, and strengthened by teamwork.”
The No. 5 seeded Seminole High School boys basketball team (16-11) completed an incredible run through the 8-team Class 7A-Region 1 Tournament, using a big second half to romp past No. 2 seeded and homestanding Apopka (21-8), 54-32, Thursday night.
The Fighting Seminoles led just 19-16 at the half, but turned up the defensive pressure to build an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter en route to the 22-point victory in the regional final, sending Seminole to the state Final Four.
“I told them we needed to turn up our defense,” First-year Seminole Head Coach Shawn Ready told SHSnolessports.com. “It took everybody to match everyone else’s energy.
“Once we started feeding off each other’s energy, everything started flowing the way we wanted it to go.”
After the back-and-forth first half, the Tribe started playing the way Ready and his staff had hoped they would.
“We let our defense create our offense,” Ready said. “If our defense doesn’t create our offense, we have no chance.”
Seminole held the Blue Darters to 10 third-quarter points and took a 41-26 lead into the final quarter.
“That’s what we do in practice every day. We spend at least 20 minutes a day just on defense. We concentrate on defense, and that gets everything else popping.”
Jorden Pittman led the Noles with 19 points, six steals, four assists and four rebounds, while Rashad Rachel added 14 points, 8 rebounds and two blocked shots, Brayden Tarpley had eight points, six rebounds and an assist and Darvius Colyer had five points, four assists and three steals.
Seminole will have a little break before heading to Lakeland, where they will face 25-3 and national No. 1 Miami-Columbus on Friday, March 7, at 11 a.m. at the RP Funding Center.
Things did not go as well for other Seminole County programs as the Lake Howell and The Master’s Academy boys teams both fell in Regional Championship Games, while the Altamonte Christian girls were eliminated in the Regional Semifinals.
Here are the Regional results and State schedule for the Boys and Girls Basketball Tournaments:
Basketball Regional Tournaments
All Games at 7 p.m.
Boys
Class 7A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, February 12
(1) Creekside 75, (8) Lake Mary 53.
(5) Seminole 52, (4) Orlando-University 46.
(2) Apopka 57, (7) Colonial 54.
(3) Winter Park 46, (6) Lake Brantley 32.
Semifinals
Monday, February 17
(5) Seminole 59, (1) Creekside 56.
(2) Apopka 50, (3) Winter Park 39.
Final
Thursday, February 20
(5) Seminole 54, (2) Apopka 32.
Class 6A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, February 12
(1) Tocoi Creek 67, (8) Fletcher 54.
(5) Milton 62, (4) Oviedo 59, overtime.
(2) Lake Howell 71, (7) Oakleaf 42.
(3) Ocala-Forest 67, (6) Crestview 57.
Semifinals
Monday, February 17
(1) Tocoi Creek 68, (5) Milton 55.
(2) Lake Howell 42, (3) Ocala-Forest 31.
Final
Thursday, February 20
(1) St. Augustine-Tocoi Creek 58, (2) Lake Howell 40.
Class 2A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, February 12
(1) University Christian 89, (8) Maclay 56.
(4) Providence School 49, (5) Bishop Snyder 41.
(2) The Master's Academy 80, (7) P.K. Yonge 48.
(3) The First Academy-Orlando 67, (6) Faith Christian 43.
Semifinals
Monday, February 17
(1) University Christian 46, (4) Providence School 35.
(2) The Master’s Academy 50, (3) The First Academy-Orlando 48.
Final
Thursday, February 20
(1) University Christian 62, (2) The Master’s Academy 46.
Class 1A-Region 2
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, February 12
(3) Zephyrhills Christian Academy 63, (6) Altamonte Christian 49.
Girls
Class 7A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, February 13
(1) Ocoee 43, (8) Lake Mary 39.
(4) Spruce Creek 58, (5) Seminole 48.
Class 6A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, February 13
(1) Tocoi Creek 68, (8) Winter Springs 34.
(4) Lake Howell 76, (5) Ocala-Forest 56.
Semifinals
Tuesday, February 18
(1) Tocoi Creek 75, (4) Lake Howell 69.
Class 2A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, February 13
(2) The First Academy-Orlando 55, (7) The Master’s Academy 11.
Class 1A-Region 2
Quarterfinals
Thursday, February 13
(2) Mount Dora Christian Academy 56, (7) St. Edward’s 30.
(3) Altamonte Christian 72, (6) Merritt Island Christian 32.
Semifinals
Tuesday, February 18
(2) Mount Dora Christian Academy 55, (3) Altamonte Christian 44.
2025 FHSAA State Championships
At RP Funding Center
Lakeland, Florida
Boys
Class 7A
Semifinals
Friday, March 7, 2025
Seminole vs. Miami-Columbus, 11 a.m.
Windermere vs. Sarasota, 3 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Semifinal Winners, 1 p.m.
For more information, go to _ FHSAA.com _ and look for link to Specific Sport Page.
