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Girls high school hoops is back in action Thursday night as regional play continues. Class 1A continues the regional semifinals, while Class 2A, 3A and 4A are set to begin tournament play with the quarterfinals.
Class 1A Regional Semifinals
The 21-5 Newberry Panthers take on the 19-8 Hilliard Red Flashes at 7 p.m.
The Panthers ended their regular season with a 20-4 record, their best since 2012. The Panthers fell short in the district championship game against Hawthorne on Friday. Head coach Damien Hughes’ mindset going into the game is to “focus on his team.” He isn’t worried about learning Hilliard’s game plan, but rather focusing in on his players so he doesn’t miss anything.
In other class 1A semifinal games, the Madison County Cowboys face the Hawthorne Hornets at 7 p.m. The Cowboys finished their season at 13-5 and the Hornets ended with an 11-5 regular season record. Moreover, the Trenton Tigers take on the Williston Red Devils at 7 p.m.
Class 2A Regional Quarterfinals
The Oak Hall Eagles host the North Florida Educational Institute Fighting Eagles. Oak Hall finished their regular season with a 16-7 record. The Fighting Eagles ended their season with a 14-8 record, earning the No. 2 seed in region 1 of the tournament.
Class 3A Regional Quarterfinals
The P.K. Yonge Blue Wave are set to take on the Trinity Christian Academy Conquerors at home Thursday. The Blue Wave have shown resilience throughout the season, according to head coach Willie Powers.
“It’s one game at a time. You just want to come out one point better than the other team and get to the next game,” Powers said.
P.K. Yonge is the No. 2 seed in their region, while Trinity Christian Academy is No. 7. When speaking about his team’s regular season, he explained that he noticed the team’s intensity from the first two practices. Coach Powers has made his expectations for his players clear.
“With this group we have this year, they have been with me for a while, and they know what I expect. We just try to expect the best out of them every day,” Coach Powers said.
P.K. Yonge has a history of making a deep postseason run. Powers shows his players their wall of awards every year to motivate them and show them hard work pays off.
In other Class 3A quarterfinal games, Bradford will travel to the Providence School for a matchup starting at 7 p.m., and Florida State High School will host Trinity Catholic at 7 p.m. Florida State High School and Trinity Catholic both enter this game with a 16-10 regular season record.
Class 4A Regional Quarterfinals
The Niceville Eagles will travel to Gainesville tonight to face the Hurricanes at 6 p.m. The Eagles wrapped up their regular season with an 18-6 record, while the Hurricanes finished with a 14-7 record.
