
The saying is “You can’t win them all.”
The Williston boys basketball team, the defending 1A state champs, have definitely been trying to disprove that theory.
But the Red Devils finally met their match on Friday night at the Kingdom of the Sun semifinals at Vanguard High School in Ocala.
Nationally-ranked Winter Haven went on a 15-0 run early in the third quarter to break away from a tie and held off a late rally to beat the Red Devils, 62-53.
Williston (12-1), who beat Hawthorne, 61-48, and host Vanguard, 42-30, in the first two rounds of the tourney, will play for third place tomorrow against Leto (Tampa). Leto lost in the late semifinal, 88-56, to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale).
Winter Haven (10-1), last year’s 7A state runner-up and ranked No. 56 nationally by MaxPreps, is trying to repeat as Kingdom champs in the title game Saturday evening against St. Thomas Aquinas.
For Williston, they went back-and-forth in the first half with Winter Haven. The Blue Devils led by as many as five points before the Red Devils edged ahead, 24-21, late in the first half.
Winter Haven hit back-to-back threes for a 27-24 halftime advantage.
After Williston’s Reggie White opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 27-all, Winter Haven went on a 20-10 run through the rest of the period for a 47-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Winter Haven led by double digits most of the early part of the fourth quarter, but Williston went on a 9-0 run to get back to within 57-53 with two minutes left.
But the Blue Devils worked the ball inside and hit a layup and a dunk to put the game away.
“They (Winter Haven) are a quality program year in and year out,” Williston coach Jim Ervin said. “That’s the kind of opponent we look forward to playing. Winter Haven played for the 7A state title last year and lost to Columbus (Miami).”
Despite being the defending 1A state champion, Ervin thinks a loss against a quality team like Winter Haven helps his team more than beating some other schools.
“Playing Hawthorne the other day doesn’t help us get ready for the playoffs,” Ervin said. “We usually don’t play well against 1A schools like Hawthorne because they aren’t quite at our level.”
Scores – Friday, Dec. 29
Lecanto 72, St. Francis Catholic 30
Union Grove (McDonough, GA) 58, Fort White 54 (OT)
Creekside Christian Academy (McDonough, GA) 85, Bell Creek Academy (Riverview) 78
Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach) 58, Eastside 43
Orlando Christian Prep 58, Central (Fort Pierce) 41
Santa Fe (Alachua) 43, Nease (Ponte Vedra) 35
Columbia (Lake City) 46, Buchholz 44
Oak Hall 51, South Dade (Homestead) 40
Saturday, Dec. 30
Noon – Fort White vs. Lecanto
1:30 p.m. – Union Grove (McDonough, GA) vs. Stranahan (Fort Lauderdale)
3 p.m. – Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach) vs. Creekside Christian Academy (McDonough, GA)
4:30 p.m. – Central (Fort Pierce) vs. Johnson (Savannah, GA)
6 p.m. – Bell Creek Academy (Riverview) vs. Orlando Christian Prep
7:30 p.m. – St. Francis Catholic vs. Eastside