FHSAA Playoffs: Predicting 6A

FHSAA Playoffs: Predicting 6A By Michael Wholey 2/2/22 11:00 AM EST The district tournament starts this week in Florida and over the next 3 weeks, the top teams in Florida will compete for a coveted state championship concluding February 23-26 in Lakeland at the RP Funding Center. Let’s look at the top teams in 6A and who we predict to win it all! FLORIDA PLAYOFF INFO District Tournament: February 1-4, 2022 (at host school) Regional Tournament: February 10, 12, 15, and 18th (at host school) State Championships: February 23-26 (at RP Funding Center)   PREDICTING 6A <ol> <li>Thomas Aquinas</li> <li>Wekiva</li> <li>Blanche Ely</li> <li>Seminole Ridge</li> <li>Fort Walton Beach</li> <li>Dillard</li> <li>Augustine</li> </ol>   Make your own prediction for who you think will be the 2022 FHSAA 6A State Champion in Girls Basketball. *Voting closes 2/15 https://poll.fm/11033410   <img class="size-medium wp-image-314983 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/08/IMG_2825-e1628434546136-206x300.jpg" alt="" width="206" height="300" />St. Thomas Aquinas took home the championship in 6A in 2021 and are the favorites to do it again this year! In order to do it again, they will likely have to go through Wekiva, who they defeated 62-60 in last year’s championship game to take home the 2021 FHSAA 6A State Championship. The Raiders are as talented and deep as any squad in the state. They are big inside led by Junior [player_tooltip player_id="151282" first="Alancia" last="Ramsey"] and Richmond signee [player_tooltip player_id="154841" first="Jada" last="Green"] and they are long, athletic and deep on the perimeter with Seniors [player_tooltip player_id="220011" first="Maya" last="Williams"] and Bre Gustave, Juniors [player_tooltip player_id="219942" first="Reina" last="Green"] and [player_tooltip player_id="91641" first="Karina" last="Gordon"], and Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="248694" first="Nyla" last="McFadden"]. St. Thomas Aquinas finished the regular season 20-4 and their three in-state losses are to the American Heritage, DME Academy and Miami Country Day. They play in the toughest district in the state, 6A district 14 and will have to play both Dillard and Blanche Ely in both the district and regional tournament. They beat Ely 45-44 on November 30 and a re-match is likely to happen twice in the next two weeks. In order for St. Thomas Aquinas to make it back to Lakeland, and win the 2022 FHSAA 6A State Championship, they will likely have to beat Blanche Ely two more times! We predict that to happen and St. Thomas Aquinas be crowed State Champions again in 2022! <img class="wp-image-382922 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_3171-e1643674157650-292x300.jpg" alt="" width="140" height="144" /> Wekiva has fallen short each of the last two years. They fell short against Blanche Ely in 2020 and then lost the championship game in 2021 to St Thomas Aquinas at the buzzer. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="243885" first="Jada" last="Eads"] is their go-to player and is an elite athlete who can drop buckets in a bunches! She is averaging 20.4 points per game and has the ability to drop 30+ in any given game and will have to throw her squad on her back to take down St. Thomas.   <img class="wp-image-382926 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/2-e1643674368967-190x300.png" alt="" width="126" height="199" /> Blanche Ely is 15-8 on the season. They have played as tough of as a schedule as any team in the state. They knocked off Westminster Academy and SLAM! in December, and Mater Lakes, Miami Country Day, and Dillard in January. All five wins are a preview of what they are capable of. They won the 2020 State Championship and fell to St. Thomas Aquinas in 2021 regional finals. The district of Blanche Ely, Dillard, and St. Thomas Aquinas is as tough of a district as there is in the state. Whoever makes it out of district 14, is the favorite to win the 6A state championship. In order for that to be Ely, the Tigers will need big performances from James Madison signee [player_tooltip player_id="91563" first="Mya" last="Kone"], 5’8 guard [player_tooltip player_id="91561" first="Michiyah" last="Simmons"], 6’1 Wing [player_tooltip player_id="91568" first="Zaria" last="Blake"], and Sophomore sensation 5’9 guard [player_tooltip player_id="219925" first="Janessa" last="Kelley"]. Those four are an elite group of players that can go head-to-head with anyone in 6A. <img class=" wp-image-296688 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/Aspen-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="178" height="238" />   Seminole Ridge is 12-1 and has four players averaging double digits. [player_tooltip player_id="154898" first="Ashley" last="Thornton"] and [player_tooltip player_id="353478" first="Aspen" last="Johnson"] are the teams’ Senior leaders, while the Suprius sisters Iasiah Suprius and [player_tooltip player_id="248412" first="Janiah" last="Suprius"] are long, active perimeter players. They got hit hard by COVID and missed almost three weeks of the season but have two quality wins over Palm Beach Lakes and an impressive win’s vs Kings Academy and Westminster Academy! Fort Walton Beach finished the regular season 17-4 and a perfect 4-0 in district play. 5’9 Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="154867" first="Samantha" last="Sherer"] is averaging 21.7 points per game and is a dynamic scorer who can fill it up in the stat sheet. If Fort Walton Beach makes a run to Lakeland, they will need to jump on Sherer’s back and follow her lead! <img class=" wp-image-296108 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/495A2749-scaled-e1623248807989-233x300.jpg" alt="" width="129" height="166" />Dillard will likely get a shot at both Blanche Ely and St. Thomas Aquinas. [player_tooltip player_id="156588" first="Khyala" last="Ngodu"] is their go-to player and is averaging 17.0 points and 11.4 rebounds to go along with 3.3 blocks per game. At 6’2, she is a big presence inside and can cause issues on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor for opposing teams. 8th grader Teriyah McFadden and Freshman Ny’keria Flowers are the teams second and third leading scorers and are quick and explosive with the ball in their hands, taking their defenders off the dribble. They are 0-2 vs St. Thomas and 0-1 vs Blanche Ely but it is tough to beat a team three times in a season, could Dillard pull off the upset? Stay tuned we will find out in the next 2 weeks.   Maxpreps has St. Augustine ranked # 7 In 6A and they are the only undefeated team entering the playoffs. Their schedule has not been as challenging as the other teams in 6A but a perfect regular season record is impressive and shows they know how to get into the win column. J Jackson and E McIntosh are their go to players and have been in the top of the state’s individual stat leaders all season with [player_tooltip player_id="91588" first="Janiyah" last="Jackson"] averaging 15.6 points and 14.4 rebounds to go along with 4.1 blocks while fellow Senior [player_tooltip player_id="219949" first="Emily" last="McIntosh"] is averaging 12.4 points, 7,1 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game. The inside-out combo are capable of leading St. Augustine all the way to the championship. Will they get it done? It all comes down to the next 3 weeks!   Michael Wholey is the lead scout for Florida Prep Girls Hoop Florida and a former division one Assistant Coach at American University, University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech. Wholey and the rest of the Prep Girls Hoop staff, seek to cover the entire state of player, keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news. Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information. If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.