Three Pensacola area girls basketball teams won district titles and three local soccer teams advanced to the regional semifinals on Friday night.
A busy week of high school postseason sports is almost over, but not before some of the biggest games on the calendar. Feb. 6 was a busy day, featuring basketball district championships and soccer 4A-7A regional quarterfinals.
See which local teams brought home hardware and which others moved one step closer to a state championship.
Girls Basketball
District 1-5A championship
No. 1 Booker T. Washington 48, No. 2 Pine Forest 22
Booker T. Washington girls basketball’s celebration would be delayed, not denied.
Booker T. had gone to its logo to celebrate, while Pine Forest players walked in the same area to get to their locker room. Pushing and shoving ensued as coaches, admnistrators and spectators swarmed the court to try to deescalate the incident.
So after all fans left the gym, the Wildcats walked out of their locker room with the way to the court lined by friends and family. One final “Who We Be” chant to celebrate another district title and a 14th straight win.
“I thought we played phenomenally well,” Booker T. head coach Jade Brown said. “I thought we defended with a purpose. I thought everybody that got in contributed. And again I’m not gonna allow that situation to take away from our third district championship in a row.”
Before the post-game chaos, the Wildcats (19-3) defense dominated.
Both teams looked like they were playing each other for the third time, and Booker T. executed its defensive game plan to perfection. The Wildcats used their length to prevent easy driving lanes for Pine Forest (15-9) guards, then contested shot after shot in the paint.
The Eagles scored their fewest points in a game this season.
“As soon as you put pressure on them, they’re gonna go by you,” Booker T. senior forward Chamiah Francis said. "So we just sat back on them and we forced them to make half court decisions, which they can’t do. They don’t run an offense, so we take away the big and they don’t have anything.”
The Wildcats defensive intensity carried over to the whole game. In their previous two wins over Pine Forest this season, they started fast but had lulls.
Booker T. started fast again in this one leading 15-5 at the end of the first quarter and 23-7 at halftime. Pine Forest only got within 14 in the second half.
The Wildcats hunted points off turnovers in the third quarter. Then Francis, a Florida State signee, and Pine Forest transfer Ch’miya Bivins-Goldsmith scored 14 of Booker T.’s 17 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve had some games, where we’ve played three, played three and a half and played two,” Brown said. “And tonight we played four quarters of basketball. So that’s something we’ve been working for and we’ve got to continue to do that in order to accomplish some goals we want this year.
Francis scored a game-high 14 points, while Jada Clardy added nine and Kalyn Thomas and Bivins-Goldsmith scored eight points each.
Laila Snow and Amoni Lewis scored five points each to lead Pine Forest. The Eagles will likely be a top four seed in the Region 1-5A tournament, but will wait to see if they’re home for the regional quarterfinals when the brackets are released Monday afternoon.
Booker T. will likely be the No. 1 seed in Region 1-5A for the third straight year, looking for a different result after two straight regional championship losses. Last year, the Wildcats didn’t have a fully healthy squad, with Francis tearing her ACL before the district tournament and missing the entire playoff run.
But the Wildcats have a full squad this year and plenty of playoff experience as they try to chase their first state semifinal appearance since 2001.
“We had a great team last year,” Francis said. “But I feel like we got an even better team now. I just plan on keeping my teammates head straight, and we’ll win it.”
District 1-6A championship
No. 2 Niceville 52, No. 1 Navarre 44
Niceville pulled away late after the game was tied 37-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles led 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and 27-25 at halftime.
Niceville (21-7) automatically qualifies for the Region 1-6A playoffs and is all but guaranteed a home game in the regional quarterfinals. The Eagles entered the district tournament the No. 3 team in the region.
Navarre (22-4) will likely be a top four seed in the region but will have to travel if it faces a district champion.
Both teams in regional playoffs, probably top four seeds.
District 1-4A championship
No. 1 Fort Walton Beach 40, No. 2 Pensacola 34
Both teams in regional playoffs. Pensacola entered district tournament as No. 5 seed in Region 1-4A.
District 1-1A championship
No. 1 LEAD Academy 57, No. 2 North Florida Christian 10
LEAD Academy in regional playoffs, could clinch No. 1 seed with win.
Rural District 1 Championship
No. 1 Jay 45, No. 3 Laurel Hill 33
Jay already in regional playoffs, likely clinches homecourt advantage for regional semifinals and finals with win.
Boys Basketball
District 1-1A championship
No. 2 FAMU DRS 73, No. 1 L.E.A.D Academy 57
Both teams likely into regional playoffs already, loser definitely on road
Boys Soccer
Region 1-6A quarterfinals
No. 5 Buchholz 3, No. 4 Tate 2
The Bobcats led 2-0 at halftime and made a nearly 700-mile road trip a success by advancing to the Region 1-6A semifinals.
Buchholz (16-1-1) will host No. 8 South Lake in the Region 1-6A semifinals on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. South Lake upset Niceville in penalty kicks. The Eagles beat Tate three times this season.
Teague McNeal, Carlos Cadet and Daniel Prieto scored goals for the Bobcats, while Christian McDaniel recorded two assists.
Tate (18-5-2) is eliminated and its season is over. The Aggies won their most games in a season in at least a decade.
Region 1-5A quarterfinals
No. 4 Gulf Breeze 3, No. 5 Fleming Island 2
The Dolphins (14-5-4) led 2-1 at halftime and are going home happy after a 700-plus mile road trip to Clay County to defeat the District 3-5A champion Golden Eagles (10-4-3).
Gulf Breeze will host No. 8 Booker T. Washington in Region 1-5A semifinals on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats routed two-time defending state champion Arnold 4-0 in the regional quarterfinals.
Gulf Breeze has won two of the three meetings against Booker T. this season, but the Wildcats beat the Dolphins 3-1 in the District 1-5A championship on Jan. 29.
No. 8 Booker T. Washington 4, No. 1 Arnold0
The Wildcats (9-5-3) stunned the two-time defending state champions, handing the Marlins (14-2-2) their worst loss since a 5-0 loss to Choctawhatchee in Dec. 2015.
Ian DeBoer scored the opening goal with assists from KeAndre Hernandez and Brenden Boyer, then added another to double the lead. Leo Lawall scored off a feed from Landon Rhymer to extend the lead to 3-0, then Rhymer buried one off a pass from Jace Tran for the final goal.
"We had a very good week of preparation," Wildcats head coach Felipe Lawall wrote in a text message to The Pensacola News Journal. "We watched a lot of film and knew they were very heavy on set pieces and we had to be ready for those and our defense was perfect!! Ian De Boer came (up) big, scoring a goal to give us the go-ahead and we never took our foot off the pedal. Ian scored again on a set piece and in a counter attack Leo got the third goal and gave us the security we need(ed). Fantastic performance and effort by the team!!"
Arnold beat Booker T. Washington in the previous two Region 1-5A finals. The Wildcats returned just two starters from last year's team, and had to win the District 1-5A tournament this year just to qualify for the state playoffs.
Booker T. will play at No. 4 Gulf Breeze in Region 1-5A semifinals on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
Region 1-4A quarterfinals
No. 2 Wakulla 7, No. 7 West Florida 0
The War Eagles led just 1-0 before pouring it on in the second half. Wakulla will host No. 3 Bishop Kenny in the Region 1-4A semifinals on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
West Florida (5-12-2) is eliminated and its season is over.
Girls Soccer
Region 1-6A quarterfinals
No. 3 Pace 1, No. 6 Mandarin 0
JACKSONVILLE - Not a 700-mile round trip dragging on for more than 10 hours. Not a howling wind in her face.
Nothing was going to stop Pace goalkeeper Zoey Mattes in her playoff opener.
"We kept the energy high the whole time," she said. "I just think it really helped us push through this game."
Mattes recorded a shutout in the net and Sydney Crow struck the game-winner to lift third-seeded Pace past host Mandarin 1-0 on Feb. 6 in the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-6A girls soccer playoffs.
Senior forward Crow pounced on a mix-up at the back from Mandarin (14-5) three minutes before halftime for the only score on a blustery, chilly night.
Mattes, supported by a starting back four of Allena Ashpaugh, Katelyn Borchik, Lilah Seifert and Avery Bucher, held the Mustangs at bay from there.
Mattes repeatedly burst from her goal line to snuff out promising chances for Mandarin's top scorer, Alabama A&M signee Isabella Rutherford, and denied the Mustangs on several late set plays.
Pace (12-5) isn't through with the Jacksonville area. Next up is a Feb. 11 trip to Bartram Trail, FHSAA champion in four of the last six years.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola area FHSAA basketball and soccer playoff scores for Feb. 6.
Category: General Sports
