Mike Ridaught
For the second straight night the Newberry and P.K. Yonge boys basketball teams advanced to the next round of their respective holiday tournaments.
Newberry cruised to a 98-25 win against Tavares in the semifinals of the Bronson Holiday Classic.
Kingston Brannon had 14 points to lead the Class 1A No. 1 Panthers (9-1), who will play Hilliard for the title at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Hilliard (9-3) advanced with an 88-70 win against Keystone Heights in the other semifinal.
Meanwhile, Branford defeated Bell, 69-44, in the consolation semifinals. Senior Kaden Reed led the Bulldogs (3-10) with 21 points in the loss.
Branford (7-4), which lost to Newberry, 76-55, on day one of the tournament, will play for the consolation championship at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Chiefland (4-4) defeated Bronson (4-8), 69-34, and will face Branford in the consolation championship.
P.K. Yonge advanced to the Kingdom of the Sun semifinals with a 53-46 win at tournament host Vanguard (Ocala). Senior Moses Horne led PKY with a game-high 20 points.
The Blue Wave, who improved to 5-4, will play Olympia (Orlando) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Olympia (9-0) defeated Covington Catholic, which is ranked second in Kentucky, 61-54, in the quarterfinals.
In the consolation quarterfinals, North Marion (Citra) edged Hawthorne (1-2), 38-37. The Hornets (1-2), who were led by CJ Ingram with 23 points, will play Valdosta (GA.) at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The Panthers and the Blue Wave were two of six Alachua County teams to win on Wednesday night as tournament action continued around the state.
In Orlando, Buchholz bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Cypress Creek (Orlando) with a 51-49 win against Trinity Prep (Winter Park) at the Jim Clark Classic at Bishop Moore. The Bobcats (6-5) will play Lake Buena Vista (2-9) for fifth place on Thursday at noon.
Gainesville defeated 2A state semifinalist First Baptist Academy (Naples), 64-58, at the Holiday Hoopfest in Naples, while Eastside and Santa Fe posted wins at the Hitchcock’s Challenge.
Boys Basketball scores – Wednesday, Dec. 28
Branford 69, Bell 44!
Buchholz 51, Trinity Prep (Winter Park) 49#
Chiefland 69, Bronson 34!
Eastside 50, Steinbrenner (Lutz) 43^
Gainesville 64, First Baptist Academy (Naples) 58%
Hilliard 88, Keystone Heights 70!
Newberry 98, Tavares 25!
North Marion (Citra) 38, Hawthorne 37*
Oakleaf (Orange Park) 62, Bradford (Starke) 50 (Girls)&
P.K. Yonge 53, Vanguard (Ocala) 46*
The Rock (regional team) 56, Mater Academy Charter 51^
The Rock (national team) 73, Hillcrest Prep (AZ) 55
Santa Fe (Alachua) 68, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 30^
Plant City 54, Williston 44$
*Kingdom of the Sun at Vanguard (Ocala)
^Hitchcock’s Classic at Santa Fe (Alachua)
!Bronson Holiday Classic
$Nature Coast (Brooksville) Holiday Tournament
%Holiday Hoopfest at Golden Gate (Naples)
#Jim Clark Classic at Bishop Moore (Orlando)
&Jarvis Williams Holiday Tournament at Palatka
@Chick-Fil-A Classic (Columbia, SC)
