District Tournaments Preview (5A-7A)

January 22nd was the last game day for district tournament seeding, and this Saturday (1/29) is the last day of the regular season. District Tournaments start up the week of 1/31 and all of the seeding has been announced. Some of these districts are loaded, and some are lighter than others. There are 16 districts per class (only 8 in 1A), each district winner will be seeded 1-4 in their Region based on FHSAA ranking. The next four highest ranked teams will receive at-large bids and receive their 5-8 seeding. That means there are four Regions with 8 teams in each regional (32 total teams in classes 2A-7A). Seed 1 will play 8, 2 will play 7, 3 will play 6, and 4 will play 5. The only exception is 1A who only has 8 districts, so only 16 teams make it to Regionals. Here is a proper link to look at district tournament schedules: <a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/basketball/girls/playoffs/">https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/basketball/girls/playoffs/</a> Let’s break it down by class here: 7A Who has the toughest district? I’d say District 8 and District 10 are the two toughest in 7A. District 5 is deep, too. District 8 has two of the top four teams with undefeated Riverview Sarasota and Gulf Coast who is on a roll. Whoever gets the 4 seed in their region will be in for a rude awakening with having to face whichever one of these teams loses their district. District 10 has three of the top 15 teams with Vero Beach (7), Palm Beach Lakes (14), and Centennial (15). Here is my prediction for what 7A will shape out to be following the District Tournaments: Region 1 <ol> <li>Colonial (D3)</li> <li>Spruce Creek (D2)</li> <li>Apopka (D4)</li> <li>Oakleaf (D1)</li> <li>Oak Ridge (D4)</li> <li>Mandarin (D1)</li> <li>Hagerty (D3)</li> <li>Ocoee (D4)</li> </ol> I think Timber Creek may get snubbed by the ranking system of FHSAA even with how difficult their schedule was. Region 2 <ol> <li>Dr. Phillips (D5)</li> <li>Plant (D6)</li> <li>Gulf Coast (D8)</li> <li>Durant (D7)</li> <li>Riverview Sarasota (D8)</li> <li>Haines City (D5)</li> <li>West Orange (D5)</li> <li>Venice (D8)</li> </ol> Districts 5 and 8 could have three teams in the regional. Region 3 <ol> <li>Vero Beach (D10)</li> <li>Spanish River (D12)</li> <li>Wellington (D11)</li> <li>Freedom (D9)</li> <li>Palm Beach Lakes (D10)</li> <li>Centennial (D10)</li> <li>Coral Springs (D12)</li> <li>Palm Beach Gardens (D10)</li> </ol> District 10 could have four teams in the regional. Region 4 <ol> <li>Miami (D15)</li> <li>Western (D13)</li> <li>South Broward (D14)</li> <li>Palmetto (D16)</li> <li>Flanagan (D14)</li> <li>Doral Academy (D15)</li> <li>Cooper City (D14)</li> <li>South Dade (D16)</li> </ol> District 14 could have three teams in the regional. Overall, I think Regions 2 and 1 are the toughest followed by 3 and 4. 7A Top Players to Watch - [player_tooltip player_id="248320" first="Trinity" last="Turner"], [player_tooltip player_id="91573" first="Kalea" last="Rainey"], [player_tooltip player_id="243892" first="Carmen" last="Richardson"], [player_tooltip player_id="243934" first="Milan" last="Santos"], [player_tooltip player_id="91599" first="Reese" last="Tremitiere"], [player_tooltip player_id="166163" first="Madelyn" last="Leslie"], [player_tooltip player_id="91571" first="Katie" last="Ambrose"], [player_tooltip player_id="243961" first="Janay" last="Quinn"], Daimelys Morena, [player_tooltip player_id="346835" first="Jaida" last="Civil"], Yanija Lawson, [player_tooltip player_id="91657" first="Tyja" last="Beans"], Samaire Slusarek, Krystal Montas, [player_tooltip player_id="166173" first="Tanner" last="Strickland"], [player_tooltip player_id="91647" first="Morgan" last="Sieper"], [player_tooltip player_id="91586" first="Aly" last="Avrach"], [player_tooltip player_id="153108" first="Taja" last="Stephens"], [player_tooltip player_id="217662" first="Jamesha" last="Card"], [player_tooltip player_id="219936" first="Mariah" last="Mckenzie"], [player_tooltip player_id="91660" first="Fantasia" last="James"], [player_tooltip player_id="166160" first="Kaylah" last="Turner"], [player_tooltip player_id="220009" first="Amya" last="Patterson"] <hr /> 6A Who has the toughest district? I’d say District 14 is the toughest in 6A. They have three of the top six teams: STA (1), Blanche Ely (3), and Dillard (6). Here is my prediction for what 6A will shape out to be following the District Tournaments: Region 1 <ol> <li>Fort Walton Beach (D2)</li> <li>St. Augustine (D4)</li> <li>Navarre (D1)</li> <li>Gainesville (D3)</li> <li>Nease (D4)</li> <li>Crestview (D2)</li> <li>Ponte Vedra (D4)</li> <li>Fleming Island (D3)</li> </ol> District 4 is going to be a battle. District 3 as well. Region 2 <ol> <li>Wekiva (D5)</li> <li>Winter Haven (D7)</li> <li>St. Cloud (D6)</li> <li>Heritage (D8)</li> <li>East River (D5)</li> <li>Edgewater (D5)</li> <li>Winter Springs (D5)</li> <li>Lake Howell (D5)</li> </ol> District 5 could have five teams in the regional which is the most possible. Region 3 <ol> <li>Bloomingdale (D11)</li> <li>Land O’ Lakes (D9)</li> <li>Tampa Bay Tech (D10)</li> <li>Fort Myers (D12)</li> <li>Braden River (D11)</li> <li>East Bay (D11)</li> <li>Lennard (D11)</li> <li>Armwood (D10)</li> </ol> District 11 could have four teams in the regional. Region 4 <ol> <li>St. Thomas Aquinas (D14)</li> <li>Seminole Ridge (D13)</li> <li>Lourdes Academy (D16)</li> <li>Everglades (D15)</li> <li>Blanche Ely (D14)</li> <li>Dillard (D14)</li> <li>Martin County (D13)</li> <li>North Miami (D15)</li> </ol> District 14 could have three teams in the regional. Overall, I think Region 4 is the toughest followed by 2,1, and 3. 6A Top Players to Watch - [player_tooltip player_id="151282" first="Alancia" last="Ramsey"], [player_tooltip player_id="91572" first="Breanna" last="Gustave"], [player_tooltip player_id="91641" first="Karina" last="Gordon"], [player_tooltip player_id="248694" first="Nyla" last="McFadden"], [player_tooltip player_id="221678" first="Kamryn" last="Corporan"], [player_tooltip player_id="219942" first="Reina" last="Green"], [player_tooltip player_id="154841" first="Jada" last="Green"], [player_tooltip player_id="243885" first="Jada" last="Eads"], Rylan Moffitt, K’Nari Holliday, [player_tooltip player_id="353522" first="Shaniyah" last="McCarthy"], [player_tooltip player_id="219925" first="Janessa" last="Kelley"], [player_tooltip player_id="91568" first="Zaria" last="Blake"], [player_tooltip player_id="91563" first="Mya" last="Kone"], [player_tooltip player_id="91561" first="Michiyah" last="Simmons"], [player_tooltip player_id="219988" first="Charisse" last="Martin"], [player_tooltip player_id="217668" first="Gianna" last="Corbitt"], [player_tooltip player_id="243930" first="Ashleigh" last="Battle"], [player_tooltip player_id="353478" first="Aspen" last="Johnson"], [player_tooltip player_id="154898" first="Ashley" last="Thornton"], [player_tooltip player_id="156588" first="Khyala" last="Ngodu"], Ny’keria Flowers, [player_tooltip player_id="154867" first="Samantha" last="Sherer"], Madison Snowden, [player_tooltip player_id="91588" first="Janiyah" last="Jackson"], [player_tooltip player_id="243958" first="Sydney" last="Gomes"], [player_tooltip player_id="91592" first="Kayla" last="Smith"], [player_tooltip player_id="91590" first="Kamryn" last="Bullock"], [player_tooltip player_id="91639" first="Keyara" last="Bromley"], Rachel Leggett, [player_tooltip player_id="91584" first="Na’Haviya" last="Paxton"], [player_tooltip player_id="91654" first="Tyra" last="Brown"], [player_tooltip player_id="349385" first="Jadah" last="Toombs"], [player_tooltip player_id="352557" first="Uniyah" last="Franklin"], Nyla McKnight, [player_tooltip player_id="221695" first="Jazlyn" last="Laguna"] <hr /> 5A Who has the toughest district? I’d say District 7 is the toughest in 5A followed by District 1. District 7 could get 5 of their teams in the regional which is the most possible and all 5 are ranked in the top 21 of 5A. District 1 could get 4 teams as they are all ranked within the top 27. Here is my prediction for what 5A will shape out to be following the District Tournaments: Region 1 <ol> <li>Orange Park (D3)</li> <li>Rickards (D1)</li> <li>Mainland (D4)</li> <li>Ribault (D2)</li> <li>Arnold (D1)</li> <li>Pine Forest (D1)</li> <li>Ridgeview (D3)</li> <li>Choctawhatchee (D1)</li> </ol> District 1 could have four teams in the regional. Region 2 <ol> <li>Bishop Moore (D7)</li> <li>Wesley Chapel (D6)</li> <li>Vanguard (D5)</li> <li>Robinson (D8)</li> <li>Auburndale (D7)</li> <li>Lake Wales (D7)</li> <li>Gateway (D7)</li> <li>Jones (D7)</li> </ol> District 7 could have five teams in the regional which is the most possible. Region 3 <ol> <li>Charlotte (D11)</li> <li>Boca Ciega (D10)</li> <li>Clearwater (D9)</li> <li>South Fort Myers (D12)</li> <li>Barron Collier (D12)</li> <li>St. Petersburg (D10)</li> <li>Mariner (D11)</li> <li>Cape Coral (D11)</li> </ol> District 11 could have three teams in the regional. Region 4 <ol> <li>American Heritage (D14)</li> <li>Okeechobee (D13)</li> <li>Norland (D15)</li> <li>Northwestern (D16)</li> <li>Northeast (D14)</li> <li>Archbishop McCarthy (D15)</li> <li>Rockledge (D13)</li> <li>TERRA Environmental (D16)</li> </ol> There’s a chance no district could have more than two teams in the regional. Overall, I think Region 4 is the most top heavy. The rest should all be battles to see who can dethrone American Heritage. 5A Top Players to Watch - [player_tooltip player_id="118146" first="Ta’Niya" last="Latson"], [player_tooltip player_id="91566" first="Joey" last="Delancy"], [player_tooltip player_id="91565" first="Emani" last="Theodule"], [player_tooltip player_id="91644" first="D’Yanis" last="Jimenez"], [player_tooltip player_id="151272" first="Aryana" last="Hicks"], [player_tooltip player_id="331745" first="Eris" last="Lester"], [player_tooltip player_id="91582" first="Nia" last="Brown"], [player_tooltip player_id="346836" first="McKenzie" last="Neal"], [player_tooltip player_id="91567" first="Olivia" last="Delancy"], [player_tooltip player_id="248460" first="Alexis" last="Staton"], [player_tooltip player_id="331750" first="Karimah" last="Nix"], Jameria Robinson, [player_tooltip player_id="166169" first="Olivia" last="Fuller"], [player_tooltip player_id="166161" first="Ava" last="Stoller"], [player_tooltip player_id="91562" first="Addison" last="Potts"], Karen Jones, [player_tooltip player_id="91600" first="Marissa" last="Brown"], [player_tooltip player_id="91603" first="Tahnyjia" last="Purifoy"], Gianna Gras, [player_tooltip player_id="166172" first="Ace" last="Sturdivant"] Outside of all of this opinion and speculation, there is a reason we play the game! Let’s see how it plays out.