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FLN Boys Class 2A Top 15 – Week Ending 3/26/23!

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in , , , .

Two weeks to go in the regular season, and game results continue to roll in that effect both this polling AND the FHSAA power rankings.

If you haven’t watched any Who’s In/Who’s Out broadcasts on Varsity Sports Network, please do so. It will surprise you if you haven’t been paying attention.

It’s been playing on the network at Noon and 5:00pm, so check it out!

Here’s last week’s Poll:

FLN Boys 2A Top 15 Poll – Week Ending 3/19/23

1) Lake Mary (10-0)

2) Ponte Vedra (9-2)

3) Winter Park (8-1)

4) St. Thomas (6-2)

5) Jupiter (8-4)

6) Plant (5-4)

7) Nease (6-3)

8) Steinbrenner (7-1)

9) Viera (9-2)

10) Mitchell (9-3)

11) Western (7-1)

12) Bartram Trail (6-3)

13) Columbus (5-4)

14) Newsome (7-2)

15t) Gulf Coast (10-1) / Niceville (9-1)

Also Considered: Windermere (8-3), Forest (6-4), Lake Brantley (5-4), Creekside (8-3), Lake Howell (8-2), Vero Beach (4-4)

Lake Mary continues to roll, ascending to #1 in the USA Lax Magazine Top 10 South Poll. They travel tomorrow to LHP and host SJP II, then finish with two easy games the last week. It would take a lot to knock them off the #1 seed.

Ponte Vedra struggled this week with the loss of their former player and went 1-2 against very high end competition. Losses to Dublin Jerome and Lucy Beckham but rebounded for a big win over #3 Winter Park to cap off the Rivalry on the River event. They travel to Jesuit on Wednesday and end with another out-of-state game. It’s all about the Region 1 final now.

Winter Park went 2-1 on the week and are locked into the #1 seed in Region 2; a trip to Bolles on Saturday is a great tune up for both schools.

St. Thomas went to Long Island and came away with a huge win over Massapequa. Although I tend to underweight out-of-state games, this one really means something since it’s so rare to beat a Long Island power up there. The season ends with 3 high-end challenges on the road, at St. Edward’s and Jupiter this week and finishing with the rivalry game with SA. The Jupiter game is likely to be for the home game in the Region 4 final, but the FHSAA approach doesn’t guarantee that. You could see a win over Jupiter plus two losses failing to get them there.

Jupiter still has Benjamin to finish the season after STA. They had a simple 1-0 week with a shutout, and should be rested for the final stretch with all four remaining games at home.

Plant just missed a huge win over Benjamin, falling in OT and followed up with a nice win over Newsome. Mitchell on Wednesday is the last test left. Time for their inexcusable FHSAA ranking to rectify itself.

Nease with a couple of wins, one by 2 over Creekside, and face road games with Bartram Trail and Holy Trinity this week. Just like Plant, the FHSAA ranking is absurd, but they are right behind moving up more.

Steinbrenner keeps rolling and only has Newsome left to challenge them. Time to find away to upgrade the schedule next year. There used to be a saying that the only person who could hold Michael Jordan under 20 PPG was Dean Smith; right now, the biggest thing holding Hillsborough schools back from taking the final steps is Hillsborough County itself. If it was football, they’d probably understand better.

Viera went 1-2 on the week, dropping two close games to Vero and Holy Trinity, and that likely will cause them a shot at a high seed, and maybe even a first-round home game should they get upset in any of their final four games.

Mitchell won their out-of-state game last week and has their showdown with Plant on Wednesday before finishing with Jesuit the final day. Although the #3 seed last week, they could end up out of the Top 4 and not have a home game.

Western comes off a lengthy break and has 3 games remaining with AH-Plantation, Gulliver and Wellington; all 3 are winnable and a #3 seed is within reach.

Bartram split with Bolles (a bad loss) and St. Augustine and faces Nease and Creekside this week. There is still plenty of possible movement in Region 1 with so many teams bunched together.

Columbus fell to both STA and Pine Crest this week and travel to SJP II on Tuesday. I saw the first half of their PC loss; there’s plenty of talent but there’s also a learning curve against a very tough schedule and it is showing.

Newsome split the week, falling to rival Plant. Steinbrenner is the last test. Right now, it’s about getting ready and who they will play in the bracket.

Gulf Coast suffered a major hiccup yesterday vs SJP II and the remaining schedule is full of teams desperate for wins to make the brackets. They’ll be tested.

Niceville earned their way here with the win over Gulf Breeze and they still have Pensacola Catholic on Tuesday and a big game with Leon the following week (how would that have sounded if I mentioned it preseason?). Thanks to the FHSAA wackiness, the Leon game might well determine if Niceville even gets to the bracket!

Of the previous week’s ‘also considered’, Vero had the best week, with wins over Viera and AH-Plantation, while everyone else tread water or took a loss. Boca Raton and Spanish River are an interesting study in contrasting approaches, as Boca is coming on strong after a weak start against tough teams, while Spanish River has a strong record against a mediocre schedule. Boca goes to Jupiter on Tuesday for a final big game.

FLN Boys 2A Top 15 Poll – Week Ending 3/26/23

1) Lake Mary (12-0)

2) Ponte Vedra (10-4)

3) St. Thomas (9-2)

4) Winter Park (11-2)

5t) Jupiter (9-4)

5t) Plant (7-5)

7) Nease (9-3)

8) Steinbrenner (10-1)

9) Mitchell (10-3)

10) Western (7-1)

11) Viera (10-4)

12) Newsome (8-3)

13) Bartram Trail (7-4)

14) Niceville (10-1)

15t) Gulf Coast (12-2) / Vero Beach (6-6)

Also Considered: Windermere (9-4), Lake Brantley (7-5), Creekside (9-4), Lake Howell (10-2), Leon (10-1)

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