Spruce Creek, Mainland lead eight area qualifiers as FHSAA releases girls basketball brackets

Chris Vinel, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·2 min read
Mainland's Jordan Boddie battles for the ball with Spruce Creek's Yanija Lawson during a game at Mainland High School, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
Mainland's Jordan Boddie battles for the ball with Spruce Creek's Yanija Lawson during a game at Mainland High School, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.

The Volusia-Flagler-St. Johns area is left with an Elite Eight.

The Florida High School Athletic Association released the brackets for the girls basketball state playoffs Sunday afternoon, and eight teams from the area qualified. Two received automatic bids after winning district championships, and six earned wild-card berths.

All first-round contests will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday. The postseason will continue for two-plus weeks after that, culminating in the state semifinals and finals Feb. 22-25 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

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Spruce Creek wrapped up a top seed in Class 7A by breezing through its district tournament. The Hawks beat Seminole and then Lake Mary — each by at least 14 points — to claim the title. They rank 11th in the state at 21-5.

The second local district winner, Mainland, secured a No. 1 seed at the 5A level. The Buccaneers took down Deltona and St. Augustine in their successful pursuit of the district crown. At 16-8, they sit 19th in the latest statewide poll.

St. Augustine didn’t win its district, but as a No. 4 seed in Class 5A, it will host a first-round regional playoff game against a five seed.

The other five area teams — Beachside, Nease, Ponte Vedra, St. Joseph and Trinity Christian — will all hit the road for opening matchups. Ponte Vedra and Trinity Christian advanced to their respective district championships but lost there. Beachside, Nease and St. Joseph fell in the semifinals.

Region 1-7A

  • No. 1 Spruce Creek (21-5) vs. No. 8 Mandarin (14-9)

Region 1-6A

  • No. 5 Ponte Vedra (15-9) at No. 4 Crestview (20-7)

  • No. 2 Nease (20-6) at No. 7 Land O’Lakes (18-4)

Region 1-5A

  • No. 1 Mainland (16-8) vs. No. 8 Ed White (14-10)

  • No. 4 St. Augustine (18-7) vs. No. 5 Pine Forest (15-11)

Region 1-4A

  • No. 7 Beachside (17-6) at No. 2 Rutherford (23-1)

Region 1-2A

  • No. 8 St. Joseph (15-8) at No. 1 St. Johns Country Day (16-5)

Region 2-2A

  • No. 7 Trinity Christian (14-5) at No. 2 Faith Christian (11-11)

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Girls basketball: FHSAA releases state brackets, 8 local teams qualify