The long drawn-out Regional portion of the Postseason in FHSAA Basketball still proved to be a good one for Seminole County programs as the squads from Lake Mary and Lake Howell high school’s recently won Regional Championships and are headed to Jacksonville to compete in the 2026 FHSAA Boys Basketball Championships at the University of North Florida.
The No. 2 seeded Rams (23-7) had dominated at home, easing past Atlantic Coast (21-7), 57-33, in a Class 7A-Region 1 Semifinal and had to make the short trip to Winter Park to battle the top-seeded Wildcats (22-8).
As has most of Winter Park’s games of late, the contest turned into a low scoring, defensive slugfest, and it was Lake Mary’s defense that preserved a 34-33 victory.
Holding that 1-point lead with just a 1/2-second (0.5) showing on the clock, the host Wildcats had a throw-in on the sideline near free throw line extended.
An attempted pass into the paint was tipped by the Rams and by the time the hosts could recover and make a shot the clock expired.
Fans for both teams stormed the court thinking their respective quintets had won, but a review showed that the clock had expired and Lake Mary had won its first-ever Boys Regional Championship in Boys Basketball.
Owen Cenoya led the Rams with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Tyler Schenck was right behind with nine points and nine rebounds and Jacoby Osbourne added eight points.
Also contributing for the winner’s were Justice Bracero with five points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist and Jamarius Jones with two points, three rebounds and four blocked shots.
Homestanding and top-seeded Lake Howell (25-5) had to survive a marathon in the Class 6A-Region 1 Semifinals, outlasting Tocoi Creek (23-5), 82-77, in double overtime.
Sophomore Johnas Maurice II had 36 points, five assists and four rebounds, Ethan Diaz added 14 points and seven rebounds and Isaac Buckley contributed 13 points and nine rebounds for the Silverhawks, which avenged a 2025 playoff defeat at the hands of Tocoi Creek.
Lake Howell also didn’t have a walk in the park in the 6A-Region 1 final either, falling behind Gainesville-Buchholz (21-8) by 15 points early in the second period and staying more than 10 points in arrears until tying the game at 42-42 as then final horn sounded in the third quarter.
The Silverhawks then dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bobcats, 22-9, to win going away, 64-51.
Maurice II again led the way for Lake Howell with 24 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals, while Diaz had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot, Hayden Dzenutis added 11 points and two rebounds, Jaydon Samuels six points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal, Isaac Buckley four points, four rebounds and Sami Atari four points and three rebounds.
The Silver Hawks will take on Orlando rival Evans (22-7) in a Class 6A Semifinal tomorrow (Thursday) at 9 a.m. at the CSI Companies Court at UNF Arena on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The other 6A semi will have Fort Lauderdale-Saint Thomas Aquinas High School (26-4) facing Tampa-Sickles High School (26-4) at 1 p.m.
The Class 6A Championship Game is set for Saturday at noon.
Lake Mary will take to the court in a Class 7A Semifinal on Friday at 1 p.m. and will the enviable task of challenging 4-time defending state champion Miami-Columbus High School (24-6), which knocked out Seminole last year. The other semi will have defending state runners-up Oak Ridge High School (20-9) from Orlando tackling Sarasota High School (24-6) at 3 p.m.
The semifinal winners will square off in the Championship Game at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Check FHSAA.com and look for the Basketball pages for more information.
Here are the basketball Regional results and State Final 4 schedule:
REGIONALS
Class 7A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Saturday, February 14
Game 1 _ Winter Park 62, Seminole 43.
Game 2 _ Apopka 52, Lake Brantley 45.
Game 3 _ Lake Mary 33, Hagerty 31.
Game 4 _ Atlantic Coast 56, Flagler Palm Coast at 43.
Semifinals
Saturday, February 21
Game 5 _ Winter Park 29, Apopka 25.
Game 6 _ Lake Mary 57, Atlantic Coast 33.
Finals
Saturday, February 28
Championship _ Lake Mary 34, Winter Park 33.
Class 6A-Region 1
Quarterfinals
Saturday, February 14
Game 1 _ Forest 57, Mainland 55.
Game 2 _ Buchholz 44, Milton 41.
Game 3 _ Lake Howell 86, Nease 54.
Game 4 _ Tocoi Creek 54, Oviedo 47.
Semifinals
Saturday, February 21
Game 5 _ Buchholz 57, Forest 39.
Game 6 _ Lake Howell 82, Tocoi Creek 77 (double overtime).
Finals
Saturday, February 28
Championship _ Lake Howell 64, Buchholz 51.
FHSAA STATE FINAL 4
at CSI Companies Court at UNF Arena
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
Class 6A
Semifinals
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Game 1 _ Evans (22-7) vs. Lake Howell (25-5), 9 a.m.
Game 2 _ St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4) vs. Sickles (26-4), 1 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Final _ Semifinal winners, 12 p.m.
Class 7A
Semifinals
Friday, March 13, 2026
Game 1 _ Columbus (24-6) vs. Lake Mary (23-7), 1 p.m.
Game 2 _ Oak Ridge (20-9) vs. Sarasota (24-6), 3 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Final _ Semifinal winners, 5 p.m.
