Looking at the final score of Pace’s District 1-6A quarterfinal game against Gulf Breeze from Tuesday night, it doesn’t appear as if it was ever close.
The Patriots were beaten 66-41, but head coach Houston Ramsay said his team didn’t just roll over against the Dolphins on the road in a win or go home situation.
Milton head coach Keith Cone can’t fault his girls basketball team for the effort it gave against Gulf Breeze in a District 1-6A quarterfinal Monday night.
The Panthers played their style of ball, slow-down, scrappy basketball, and went into the final minutes with a chance to win.
Central’s girls basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the District 1-1A tournament with a 33-31 win over Baker Monday night.
The third-seeded Jaguars trailed 11-7 after one and went into halftime down 14-12 before outscoring the Gators 21-17 in the second half.
Northwest Florida will be well represented at the 3A FHSAA state weightlifting meet next Friday in Lakeland. The meet begins at 1 p.m. EST that day.
Reigning state champ Pace has 14 lifters in Olympic and 17 in traditional, including regional champs Lani Bennett (110), Shannon Bryan (139) and Ireland Grimes (169).
Pace’s girls soccer team is headed to the Region 1-6A tournament for the second consecutive year and will play in Tallahassee against Chiles on Feb. 13 in the quarterfinal round.
The Patriots were the District 1-6A runner-up and are facing off against Chiles for the second time this season.
Pace claimed the Region 1-3A crown in traditional for the second consecutive season and tied rival Navarre for the title in Olympic at Flagler Palm Coast last Thursday.
The reigning state champion Patriots won 57-53 over Navarre in the traditional competition and ended up in a 42-42 tie with the Raiders in Olympic.
It’s been more than a decade since Pace’s boys soccer team has put together a winning season — head coach Rick Carroll noted at least 14 years – and the Patriots are pleased with the strides they have made.
Central took eight lifters to the District 1-1A meet earlier this month. Seven punched a ticket to the regional.
That alone is impressive, what makes the accomplishment even more noteworthy is that the Jaguars are only in their second year as a program, and just their first being eligible to compete in the postseason.
In the moments after Pace’s girls soccer team lost 2-0 to rival Navarre in the District 1-6A championship game last Tuesday night, there was emotion. Some tears, too. And pain as well.
The Patriots were hoping this was their year to claim a district title, a title that would have been their first since 2014, but it wasn’t in the cards.
District tournaments for area girls and boys basketball teams get rolling on Monday, with Milton’s boys basketball team and Jay’s girls basketball team going in as No. 1 seeds in their respective tournaments.
