Twenty-two wins and a trip to the regional final highlighted Jay’s 2022-23 boys basketball season.

The Royals’ season ended with a 63-52 loss to Chipley, and that loss is one head coach Hank Hullett has kept in mind when making a schedule.

Joey Nieves has already seen a lot of promise and potential out of his Milton boys basketball team.

The Panthers went unbeaten in the preseason and won their first two games of the regular season, including a victory over Pine Forest.

CJ McKinley dribbled a few times before creating separation to knock down a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

The shot gave Milton a six-point cushion in the headline game of the night of this EscaRosa Challenge here at Pensacola Catholic Tuesday, the Panthers squaring off against Pine Forest in a matchup that lived up to the hype.

Pace’s girls basketball team fell short of a district title a season ago, finishing as a runner-up to Crestview, but did still make the regional where its season ended with a 67-36 loss to Oakleaf.

That has left the Patriots motivated heading into the 2023-24 campaign.

Jay’s girls basketball team won nearly 20 games last season and made it to the doorstep of state, reaching the regional championship game.

This edition of the Royals has the potential to be just as successful. Perhaps even a little more.

There is no shortage of familiar faces on the Central girls basketball team with players like Autumn Boutwell, Lakin and Lily Mathews, Sasha Hatcher and Gracelynn Jernigan all back in the fold.

But there is a new coach on the bench, and that’s Wes Mathews, who also coaches the boys team.

Milton girls basketball coach Keith Cone joked after a preseason game against Jay two weeks ago that he’s still learning his roster a little bit.

“It’s a brand-new team. I barely know some of these girls’ names,” Cone said with a laugh.

Dreams of an NCAA Division II national championship run faded fast for the University of West Florida football team Saturday afternoon at McCool Stadium in Mississippi.

In an opening round playoff battle against Delta State that was expected to be competitive, the Argos never got on track, falling behind 35-0 at the half and losing 49-14 as their 2023 campign ended in heartbreak.

Four Santa Rosa County girls basketball teams tipped off their season this week in a preseason event at Pace.

The host Patriots wrapped things up Thursday with a 48-32 win over Jay while Milton edged Central 36-34 in a tightly contested nightcap.

Former Milton Panther Raymond Cottrell announced Sunday that he would be entering the college football transfer portal.