Note, the rest of the Boys 2A will be played today

I mentioned on one of the Morning Coffees this week that you should not be discouraged by a number of blowouts in the First Round. I went back to the 2019 NY State Championships (the last one held since they didn’t have one last year either) and found, in the four classes, that there were PLENTY of blowouts, in a state that is supposed to be so much deeper than ours. A number of those were in FINAL FOUR semifinals, so no complaints about why so many teams made the field!

Boys 2A

#2 Mitchell 18-3 over #7 East Lake

#2 Lake Mary 17-4 over #7 Oviedo

Girls 2A

#7 Lake Brantley 14-13 over #2 Lake Mary

#5 Oviedo 18-7 over #4 Niceville

#1 Bartram Trail 21-2 over #8 Buchholz

#5 Viera 17-13 over #4 East Ridge

#4 Gulf Coast 9-8 over #5 Plant

#6 Sickles 6-5 over #3 Riverview-Sara

#1 Vero Beach 16-0 over #8 Winter Park

#3 Ponte Vedra 21-6 over #6 Creekside

#2 Newsome 12-4 over #7 Manatee

#1 Steinbrenner 21-3 over #8 Wiregrass Ranch

#6 Stoneman 18-13 over #3 PB Central

#6 Windermere 16-15 over #3 Celebration

#2 Hagerty 19-2 over #7 Boone

One thing that stood out on the Girls side is that we had THREE #6 seeds defeat #3 seeds and even one #7 over a #2 (if you had listened to Morning Coffee, we had hinted at that one!). We’ll see if a similar thing happens on the Boys side . . .

Today

Boys 2A

#3 Vero Beach hosts #6 Boone

#3 Newsome hosts #6 Alonso

#4 Niceville hosts #5 Nease

#4 Boca Raton hosts #5 Western

#1 Winter Park hosts #8 Viera

#3 Columbus hosts #6 Wellington

#4 Gulf Coast hosts #5 Steinbrenner

#1 St. Thomas hosts #8 Dwyer

#2 Jupiter hosts #7 Palm Beach Central

#1 Ponte Vedra hosts #8 Flagler Palm Coast

#1 Plant hosts #8 Riverview-Sarasota

#3 Creekside hosts #6 Forest

#2 Windermere host #7 Timber Creek

#4 Lane Nona hosts #5 Martin County

If you had to look at one 2/7 matchup that could be an upset, it would be hard to do so. Windermere holds a 12-3 win over Timber Creek and Jupiter holds an 18-4 win over PB Central.

3 of the 3/6 games are possibilities, with Creekside vs Forest not likely to be a tough win for Creekside. Columbus and Wellington are right next to each other in the FHSAA ranking and Boone is actually above Vero in the Laxnumbers.com ranking. Look for at least one of these to occur.

I was able to watch some of the Celebration-Windermere Girls game and the SCHOOL BAND was in full throat all game long! Other schools? Take a hint!!!

The Gulf Coast Girls turned around a big loss to Plant in the regular season.

If we get Steinbrenner-Newsome in Region 3 Girls, tune into that one! Steinbrenner with a 2-goal win and a 1-goal win early in the season . . .

An interesting tidbit . . . According to the FHSAA calculations, the toughest schedule in the state was played by the Vero Beach Girls, followed by the Saint Andrew’s Boys. AH-Delray Girls, LHP Girls, Bartram Trail Girls and Bishop Moore Girls are next, before Jupiter Boys.

Interesting.

And another thing to delve into with Gainesville, if they are willing to engage.

Laxnumbers.com has AH-Delray Girls significantly ahead in SOS, which asks the question about out-of-state games and how they are considered. For those of you who are thinking about IMG for a young woman, take a look at the AH-Delray-IMG score.

On Saturday, the most interesting games to me are Gulf Coast hosting Steinbrenner, Vero Beach hosting Boone, Columbus hosting Wellington and Newsome hosting Alonso . . . those look to be the ones most likely to come down to the wire.