On Jan. 24, I wrote about how tough Rural District 7 was for both girls and basketball teams in the area.

It held true to form as the two-time defending state champion Hawthorne girls basketball team was eliminated from the FHSAA state playoffs by a team in their district in last week’s Rural-Region 4 Semifinal.

The Lady Hornets (12-5), who lost at Williston, 57-44, on Feb. 6, in the Rural District 7 semifinals, had their season come to an end with a 70-60 loss at Williston, officially ending the high school careers of last year’s 1A Player of the Year De’Mya Adams and Jhalea Jackson, who were first team All Area selections last year.

Other players from this year’s team like T’Myrah Carter and Rhamani Sheppard-Rentz were on those back-to-back state championship teams, which became the first Alachua County girls hoops team to win consecutive titles.

But another team in that district, Wildwood, stands in the way of Williston reaching the final four.

Top seed Wildwood (22-0) will host No. 2 seed Williston (19-3) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Region 4 Final for the right to advance to the state semifinals next week in Lakeland.

The Wildcats, who defeated the Lady Red Devils, 68-40, in the Rural-District 7 title game on Feb. 8, advanced with an 85-39 win against No. 4 seed Marathon in the regional semifinals.

The other area team playing for a spot in the final four is Fort White.

The No. 2 seed Lady Indians (16-7) play at top-seed Hilliard in the Rural-Region 3 Final at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Fort White lost at home to Hilliard, 53-38, on Jan. 10.

The FHSAA Rural state semifinals are at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Wednesday, Feb. 26, followed by the state championship game on Friday, Feb. 28.

Other area teams with a chance to make it to the final four include Newberry in Class 3A and Gainesville High in Class 5A.

However, both teams are two wins away from doing so.

Newberry (17-6), which has two 1,000-point scorers, is the No. 3 seed in 3A-Region 1 and will travel to No. 2 seed Rutherford (Panama City) (21-3) in tomorrow’s regional semifinal.

The winner would either host No. 5 seed South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) or travel to top-seed Bolles (Jacksonville) on Friday for the regional final.

GHS (14-8), which defeated No. 7 seed Lincoln (Tallahassee), 66-28, in Thursday’s regional quarterfinals, is the No. 2 seed in 5A-Region 1 and will host No. 3 seed Beachside (St. Johns) (14-9) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the regional semifinals.

The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News with Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Hannah Mack (Color) calling the action beginning at 6:45 p.m.

The winner will either host No. 4 seed Ridgeview (Orange Park) or travel to top-seed Booker T. Washington (Pensacola) in Friday’s region final.

The state semifinals and championship game for 3A will be on Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, March 1, while 5A will be on Wednesday, March 5, and Friday, March 7.

Tonight at 7 p.m. in boys basketball, the two best teams in Rural-District 7, who are also the top two teams in the state in that classification, will go head-to-head for a spot in next week’s final four.

Two-time defending state champion Williston (16-11) is the No. 2 seed in Rural-Region 4 and will travel to top-seed Hawthorne (17-3).

On Feb. 7, the Red Devils defeated the Hornets, 55-50, to win the District 7 title. They advanced to tonight’s game after a 75-40 win against district foe Wildwood. The No. 4 seed Wildcats (20-8) were ranked 10th in the FHSAA’s final Rural classification rankings.

Hawthorne, which also lost at Williston, 66-54, on Jan. 17, is hoping the third time is the charm. The Hornets advanced with a 54-32 win at No. 4 seed Moore Haven.

Fort White is the other area team remaining in the Rural classification.

The No. 2 seed Indians (14-9) will play at top seed Hilliard (15-5), last year’s state runners-up, in the Rural-Region 3 Final on Tuesday at 7 p.m., as part of a doubleheader with the girls game.

The FHSAA Rural state semifinals are on Wednesday, Feb. 26, followed by the state championship game on Friday, Feb. 28.

Other area boys basketball teams with a chance to make it to the final four include Newberry in Class 3A, Santa Fe (Alachua) in 4A, and GHS in 5A.

Newberry (24-0), which advanced with an 82-77 win at home against No. 7 seed Bolles (Jacksonville) last Wednesday in the regional quarterfinals, is the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 seed Florida High (Tallahassee) (20-5) in the 3A-Region 1 Semifinals.

The game will be broadcast online (audio only) at Mainstreet Daily News beginning at 6:45 p.m. tonight with Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Hank Rone (Color) calling the game.

The winner will host No. 4 seed Marianna or travel to No. 1 seed Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) on Thursday for the region final.

Santa Fe advanced with a 53-51 win at home against No. 5 seed Liberty (Kissimmee) in the regional quarterfinals. The No. 4 seed Raiders (17-10) will travel to top-seed Eustis (19-8) tonight at 7 p.m. for the regional semifinals.

The winner will face either No. 2 seed Atlantic (Port Orange) or No. 3 seed North Marion (Citra) in Thursday’s region final.

GHS (21-7), the No. 3 seed in 5A-Region 1, will travel to No. 2 seed Ponte Vedra (19-8) for the regional semifinals. The tip is at 6 p.m.

The winner will either host No. 5 seed Leon (Tallahassee) or travel to top-seed Fleming Island (Orange Park) on Thursday for the regional final.

The 3A state semifinals are on Friday, Feb. 28, followed by the state title game on Saturday, March 1, while the 4A and 5A state tournament is the following week.

The 4A state semifinals are on Tuesday, March 4, followed by the title game on Thursday, March 6, and the 5A final four is on Wednesday, March 5, followed by the state championship on Friday, March 7.

There is only one area soccer team remaining in the FHSAA state playoffs, but they have a home match on Wednesday with a chance to get back to the state semifinals.

The P.K. Yonge girls, who defeated Maclay (Tallahassee), 5-1, in last Friday’s Class 2A-Region 1 Semifinal, advanced to their first final four in program history last year.

The top seed Lady Blue Wave (16-2-1), who won their sixth straight district title on Jan. 28, will host No. 3 seed Episcopal (Jacksonville) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the region final. The Lady Eagles (12-5-3) advanced with a 2-0 win at No. 2 seed Providence (Jacksonville) in Friday’s regional semifinal.

Last year in the 3A-Region 1 Final, senior Faith Hardy, who finished second in the voting for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 3A Player of the Year, scored a pair of goals as P.K. Yonge edged Episcopal, 2-1, to advance to the state semifinals, where they lost to nationally ranked Montverde Academy.

The winner will play in the 2A state semifinals at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand on Thursday, Feb. 27. The state championship game is on Saturday, March 1.