Mike Ridaught
Aloha! Following a rare vacation this time of year visiting family on the beautiful island of Kaua’i in Hawaii, it’s great to be back.
And just in time.
The girls and boys high school basketball playoffs begin this week.
It’s March Madness in February.
Congratulations to the three area girls teams who won a district title last week: Hawthorne (1A-District 6), Countryside Christian (2A-District 4) and Eastside (4A-District 5).
The defending state champion Lady Hornets (18-3) are peaking at the right time.
Hawthorne, which is the top seed and will host No. 4 seed Hilliard in Wednesday’s 1A-Region 3 Semifinals, hasn’t lost in 2024 and has won 15 straight games.
Newberry, which lost to Hawthorne, 48-38, in last week’s district championship game, received an invite as the No. 3 seed. The Lady Panthers (15-8) will travel to No. 2 seed Madison County in the other regional quarterfinal.
In the 1A-Region 4 Semifinals, No. 2 seed Trenton will host No. 3 seed Williston.
Countryside Christian defeated top seed Oak Hall, 34-29, giving head coach Tambria Williams her second district title with the Minutemen (18-3). They earned the No. 5 seed in 2A-Region 1 but will host No. 4 seed Oak Hall in a rematch, since they were district champions.
A special shoutout to Eastside coach Lonna Turner, who won a district title in her first season as head coach.
The Rams (15-8) defeated Palatka, 52-37, in last Friday’s district championship game. They earned the No. 6 seed in 4A-Region 2 and will travel to No. 3 seed Dunnellon in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
According to P.K. Yonge girls coach Willie Powers, whose team received an at-large bid in 3A, Turner’s mom and dad also won district titles as coaches.
P.K. Yonge will host Bradford (Starke) in Wednesday’s 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals. The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m.
The other hottest team in the area is the Hawthorne boys.
They were one of five area teams to win a district title by edging Newberry, 76-74, in the 1A-District 6 title game.
The Hornets, who were in the final four last year, have won 12 in a row since a 66-60 loss at Hilliard on Jan. 4.
The boys basketball regionals begin on Thursday.
Hawthorne is the No. 1 seed in 1A-Region 3 and will host No. 4 seed Fort White, which lost to Hawthorne, 69-57, in the district semifinals.
Newberry is the No. 3 seed in that region and will travel to No. 2 seed Hilliard, setting up a rematch either way if Hawthorne advances.
The other area boys teams to win district titles last week include defending state champion Williston (1A-District 7), Oak Hall (2A-District 4), P.K. Yonge (3A-District 2), and Gainesville (6A-District 2).
Williston is the top seed in 1A-Region 4 and will host No. 4 seed Pahokee, while No. 2 seed Chiefland hosts No. 3 seed Trenton.
In 2A-Region 1, No. 5 seed Oak Hall travels to No. 4 seed Munroe (Quincy), while No. 8 seed P.K. Yonge travels to top seed Providence (Jacksonville).
In 5A-Region 1, No. 7 seed Columbia (Lake City) is at No. 2 seed Rickards (Tallahassee) for a rematch of the 5A-District 2 championship.
GHS (17-11) edged Buchholz, 48-46, on a shot by Cornelius White with 1.3 seconds to play to win its second straight district title.
The Purple Hurricanes will be at home as the No. 6 seed against No. 3 seed Oakleaf (Orange Park), while Buchholz is the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed Forest (Ocala).
All games on Wednesday and Thursday are at 7 p.m. except for the Buchholz game, which is pushed back to 7:30 p.m. to allow enough time to clear the floor since they are hosting wrestling districts during the day.
Girls Basketball
Wednesday, Feb. 14
1A-Region 3 Semifinals
4 Hilliard at 1 Hawthorne, 7 p.m.
3 Newberry at 2 Madison County, 7 p.m.
1A-Region 4 Semifinals
3 Williston at 2 Trenton, 7 p.m.
2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
4 Oak Hall at 5 Countryside Christian, 7 p.m.
3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 Bradford (Starke) at 4 P.K. Yonge, 7 p.m. – Game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m.
4A-Region 2 Quarterfinals
6 Eastside at 3 Dunnellon, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball
Thursday, Feb. 15
1A-Region 3 Semifinals
4 Fort White at 1 Hawthorne, 7 p.m.
3 Newberry at 2 Hilliard, 7 p.m.
1A-Region 4 Semifinals
4 Pahokee at 1 Williston, 7 p.m.
3 Trenton at 2 Chiefland, 7 p.m.
2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 Oak Hall at Munroe (Quincy), 7 p.m.
3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
8 P.K. Yonge at Providence (Jacksonville), 7 p.m.
5A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
7 Columbia (Lake City) at 2 Rickards (Tallahassee), 7 p.m.
6A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 Forest (Ocala) at 4 Buchholz, 7:30 p.m.
3 Oakleaf (Orange Park) at 6 Gainesville, 7 p.m. – Game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m.