- Hawthorne boys basketball won its third state title in program history by defeating Crossroad Academy 59-38 in 2025.
- The University of Florida men’s basketball team won its third national title by rallying to beat Houston, 65-63.
- Buchholz baseball set school records with 21 straight wins and 122 stolen bases while reaching a second straight state final.
- Robby Pruitt became the first high school coach to win 200 games in two states, totaling over 400 career wins.
Editor’s Note: Mainstreet’s 2025 year-end recap includes the area’s top news stories, top feature stories, top high school sports events, our most-viewed website stories and our Community Impact Report.
The year of 2025 was once again filled with many great moments.
As I’ve said in the past, it is difficult to put together a top 10 list for the year without excluding some great accomplishments. That’s a tribute to all the great athletes and teams in our area.
My top 10 does not include individual accomplishments, and there were many, nor does it include every first-time moment. Also, keep in mind that my top 10 only includes sports stories that we have covered.
In my opinion, a state championship trumps all, and a final four appearance might make the list, but here are a few that didn’t make my top 10.
The Newberry softball team won its first district title in 25 years, the Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball team was district champions for the first time in program history, Branford softball made its third straight state semifinal appearance, Trenton baseball advanced to its second straight final four, and the Buchholz football team made a fifth straight state semifinal appearance.
Plus, the Gainesville Juniors 14U volleyball team brought home a national title.
Swimmers Eric Gong and Eva Whitehead, a University of Alabama signee, and Gainesville High’s Tayeshawn Rochelle (track), were just a few of the individual state champions in 2025.
It’s hard to believe it has almost been a year since my first big moment of 2025, when Hawthorne boys basketball won its third state title in program history.
Hawthorne, which defeated Crossroad Academy (Quincy), 59-38, in the FHSAA Rural State Championship Game, won its first state title since 2020. At the time, it was Hawthorne’s seventh state championship (two football, three girls basketball, and two boys basketball) in the past six years.
The road to Lakeland wasn’t easy as senior guard Decarion Debose had to make two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to give Hawthorne a 45-43 win against two-time defending state champion Williston in the FHSAA Rural-Region 4 Final.
The Gainesville High girls basketball team advanced to its first final four in almost 40 years.
The No. 2 seed Hurricanes defeated top-seed Booker T. Washington, 64-57, in Pensacola in the FHSAA Class 5A-Region 1 Final to advance to Lakeland.
GHS and its dynamic duo of Louisiana Tech signee Jayden Terry and University of North Florida signee Jamison Cardwell helped lead the ‘Canes to a 54-52 win against Northeast (Oakland Park) in the FHSAA Class 5A state semifinals.
However, they were denied their first state title in over a century with a 56-49 loss to top seed New Smyrna Beach in the state championship game.
Heading into the year 2025, the University of Florida men’s basketball team wasn’t a serious national championship contender.
They eventually became a team of destiny, rallying from a 12-point second-half deficit in the national championship game to beat Houston, 65-63, to win their third national title in program history.
They became the 10th program to win at least three titles and the first SEC team since Kentucky in 2012 to win the title.
Florida, which rallied from nine down to beat Auburn in the national semifinals, is the only national champion over the last 20 seasons to overcome 9+ point deficits in their final three NCAA Tournament games.
The Buchholz baseball team set a couple of school records on its way to a second straight state championship game appearance.
The Bobcats had a school-best 21-game winning streak to start the season, set a school record with 122 stolen bases, won 26 straight games at home, and finished with a program-best and state-best 33 victories.
The new best-of-3 regional playoffs format worked in their favor.
After dropping the first game of the series to Pace in the 6A-Region 1 Final, Buchholz routed the Patriots, 11-2, to even the series, and then beat the nationally ranked Panthers on the road, 5-4, in eight innings to advance back to Fort Myers.
They defeated Wharton (Tampa), 3-0, in the Class 6A state semifinals, followed by an 8-3 loss to nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) on May 17 in the 6A title game.
The Trenton softball team won its second straight state title.
Sophomore pitcher Addison Allaire tossed a one-hitter, and the No. 4 seed Tigers (19-6) pounded out 14 hits in an 11-1 win against No. 2 Northview (Bratt) to repeat.
They also cruised to a 9-2 win against top-seed Liberty County (Bristol) in the FHSAA Rural State Semifinals.
The next big moment came in September when former Williston football coach Robby Pruitt reached a national milestone.
The new Union County (Lake Butler) football coach became the first high school football coach in the country to win 200 games in two different states.
Pruitt, who won his 400th game overall last year, won 209 games in Georgia and has 206 wins in the Sunshine State.
A little over a month later, Gainesville volleyball advanced to its first final four since 2011.
The No. 2 seed Hurricanes swept No. 4 seed Legacy (Port St. Lucie), 25-5, 25-20, 25-20 in the FHSAA Class 5A-Region 2 Final to advance. The victory also secured a 20-win season.
The Lady Hurricanes’ first trip in 14 years ended with a 3-1 loss to Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale) in the Class 5A state semifinals.
For the second straight year, the Buchholz boys cross country team won a state title.
On Saturday, Nov. 22, at the FHSAA state championships in Tallahassee, Buchholz was in ninth place after the first mile and then rose to second place before earning gold in the final mile.
Seniors Demetrie Meyers (15 minutes and 29.8 seconds) and Samuel Freas (15:34.2) earned third and fourth-place finishes to help the Bobcats repeat.
Buchholz coach Patrick Douma was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year. The Bobcats won the Class 4A title by placing three runners among the top seven finishers for a team score of 58 points, 45 points ahead of runner-up Oviedo High School.
The third time was the charm for the Branford volleyball team.
The Bucs and the Sikes family were back in the final four, but this time it was daughter Lachelle, an assistant coach on last year’s state runner-up team, who led Branford to its first state title in program history.
Following a sweep of Williston in the state semifinals, top-ranked Branford defeated No. 2 Chipley 25-13, 11-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-9 to win the FHSAA Rural state championship.
Buchholz football could have easily made the top 10 list. Once again, the Bobcats were on the doorstep of their first state championship game appearance since winning the Class 4A state title in 1990.
But rounding out the top 10 is Hawthorne football.
With a 36-6 win at home against Chiefland in the FHSAA Rural State Semifinals, the Hornets advanced to their sixth straight state championship game.
The Hornets then won the FHSAA Rural state title on Dec. 5 with a 24-8 win against No. 1 Blountstown.
It was the third state title in the past four years for the Hornets, who have the talent to do it again in 2026, along with a great way to end what was a remarkable 2025.
