This region has some fantastic depth to it, with 6 of the 17 Top schools in 1A

Maybe not as much intrigue as far as district results making a big difference in who makes the brackets, but a lot of potential matchup changes within the bracket.

In some instances, teams will treat this like a warm-up instead of a need-to-win.

The #7 overall seed is the most interesting story for the week.

District 5

A strong District, as has been the case over the recent years, as three of these schools have advanced to a Regional final in past years, and further on. Lake Highland rebounded this year after a few years of middle-of-the-road with big wins over St Thomas and St Edward’s and have strong wins over both Montverde and Bishop Moore. The likely BM-Montverde semifinal should determine the 5/6 seed, with a possibility of moving higher if Holy Trinity slips up in District 8.

Trinity Prep is 5 slots behind West Shore for the last at-large bid, but Jensen Beach in D8 (much better thought of on LN) could also keep them from moving up.

District 6

The only real intrigue here, according to the rankings, is if All Saint’s can reverse the regular season score vs Windermere Prep. Either way, this is a one-bid district that likely loses badly to whoever the #1 seed is. A down year for this District.

District 7

An 8-team District, with a few stories to play out. The likely semifinal between 2/3 West Shore and Cocoa Beach likely decides if West Shore makes the bracket, as a win for them gives them two more wins before facing a much tougher Holy Trinity in the final. A loss in that semifinal might well see them out of the playoffs if Trinity Prep or Jensen Beach overperform.

Holy Trinity stepped up in class late in the season, but was not able to handle the second halves of those games, so they will see this District playoff as a good chance to regroup, as they are in no matter what happens here. They likely host as a #5 seed if it comes to that.

District 8

Jensen Beach is one of the school’s that LN favors more than FHSAA does (26 vs 35) and they have the misfortune of having both Benjamin and St Edward’s in this district to try to make their final case. It looks like another win in the first game and then how can they narrow the gap with SE enough to make their case. A sin and that should be it, but a long shot on that.

St Edward’s and Benjamin will likely play a final here and possibly another rematch in the Regional final. Both have played monster schedules and won a lot of games against it.