Area High School Girls Basketball Region Playoffs Set

After an exciting end to the high school girls basketball district tournaments, the state playoffs start Thursday with regionals. Gainesville area schools have their work cut out for them. Here is the updated schedule for each remaining school:

Gainesville

After breezing through the Tallahassee Lincoln Trojans (15-9) 64-41 in the district championship on Saturday, the Gainesville Hurricanes (13-8) face the Trojans in a rematch in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Purple Palace. For the Hurricanes, they will be looking to keep up the good work after already beating the Trojans by more than a 20-point margin Saturday.

Eastside

The Eastside Rams (12-10) joined the Hurricanes as district champions Saturday in a close win against Dunnellon 45-36. After the big win, the six seed Rams face the three seed Mulberry Panthers (17-2) in the Class 4A regional quarterfinals this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Eastside.

The Girls Basketball team (12-10) won at Dunnellon, 45-36, tonight to make it back-to-back District titles! Coach Turner and the team await the playoff pairings to be released tomorrow to find out who and where they will play the Region 2 Quarterfinals on Thursday.

— Eastside High School Athletics (@RowdyEHSRams) February 9, 2025

Newberry

The three seed Newberry Panthers (16-6) will host the six seed Jacksonville Andrew Jackson Tigers in the 3A regional quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m. The Panthers will hope to use the momentum from their six-point win over the Bradford Tornadoes in the district championship last Saturday. Seven seed Bradford also advances and will play at Panama City Rutherford.

Hawthorne

The three seed Hawthorne Hornets (12-4) face a similar situation to the Hurricanes this week, as the Hornets face a district championship rematch in the semifinals of the Rural Class regionals. After losing to the Williston Red Devils (18-3) last Saturday in the Rural Class district championship, the Hornets face the host Red Devils again on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Hornets will be back with a vengeance after losing 57-44 last time out.

Looking Ahead

The winners of Thursday’s games in the high classifications advance to the region semifinals Feb. 18, while the winners in the lower classifications advance to the region finals that same night.

P.K. Yonge

The season ended in disappointment for the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave (6-20) after falling to Ocala Trinity Catholic by 52 points in the district championship Saturday. Despite the upset over Oak Hall in the district semifinals, the Blue Wave could not make more magic happen. They won’t be competing in the state playoffs this season.