Varsity Weekly: FHSAA basketball crowds; unbeaten spring sports teams

The FHSAA basketball season ended Saturday with a captivating Class 7A thriller, but talk on how to bring big crowds back to the state tournament continues. That and this year’s coed format, which spread final four games across two weeks, figure to be topics of discussion when the association’s basketball coaches advisory committee meets March 25.

“We want to find more ways to get fans in the stands to provide the “championship experience” that our members all speak about,” Ed Thompson, the FHSAA director of athletics for basketball, wrote in a reply to a Sentinel question.

That will be a challenge, as attendance for high school sports in Florida has waned at all levels, including regular season play. Students and families who flocked to football, basketball and baseball home games decades ago no longer have that as a priority when there are so many other entertainment outlets to look at.

Some say the ticket prices ($12 in advance) and parking cost ($10, which goes to the venue) keep fans away, but passionate fans don’t hesitate.

Thompson noted that the small community-based schools in this year’s Class 1A “Rural Division” brought more fans than many of the larger big-city schools.

Tickets sold for the past two week’s boys and girls combined state tournaments were down from last season but better than 2021 and 2022.

Here are the numbers for the past four years, provided by the FHSAA. Prior to this season, girls played one week and boys the next, but all of these seasons had 42 final four games played across seven classifications.

2024 – 16,783

2023 – 18,437

2022 – 15,066

2021 – 14,713

“I am of the opinion that matchups drive attendance in Lakeland,” Thompson said. “The casual fans that attend regardless of the matchup are fewer and fewer in number.”

Back-to-back Class 7A semifinal games that had Winter Haven’s girls and boys playing Orlando teams — Dr. Phillips’ girls and Oak Ridge’s boys — were this year’s biggest crowds. Those games set up Saturday night’s 7A championship twin-bill which matched two Orlando girls teams, Dr. Phillips and Colonial; followed by a showdown of nationally ranked boys teams, Miami Columbus and Oak Ridge.

That’s about as intriguing as you can get. The crowds watching DP and Columbus claim titles were decent, but nowhere near what we were seeing in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Dr. Phillips, Colonial clash to the wire in historic 7A girls basketball championship game

The first FHSAA championship Saturday I witnessed (as a young spectator) had two Polk County teams, Lakeland High and Bartow, playing close to home in 1979. Tickets were being scalped outside and more than 7,000 were jammed into what is now the RP Funding Center to see Martin County edge Lakeland to win 4A, then the biggest class; and Ocala Vanguard beat Bartow for the 3A crown.

That atmosphere isn’t likely to be duplicated in today’s world. Still, striving for it isn’t a bad idea.

Water polo No. 1s

The Seminole High girls water polo team is 21-0 and sitting atop the FHSAA state power rankings.

The ‘Noles played county and district rival Lake Mary (14-3), ranked No. 4, on Tuesday and won 11-7 in their campus pool to clinch their first Seminole Athletic Conference title since 2019.

Sophomore sensation Halle Zimlich led the way with goals. She’s the state scoring leader according to MaxPreps with 126 points (97 goals, 29 assists). Teammate Vivian Swain, also a sophomore, is third on that list at 107 (48 goals, 59 assists).

SHS is home against fifth-ranked Winter Park (14-4) on Thursday.

Dr. Phillips (22-2) tops the boys rankings and has the state points leader in senior Ryan Tannus with 101 goals and 81 assists. The Panthers broke a tie in the fourth quarter and won 14-12 against third-ranked West Orange (15-5) on Tuesday with sophomore Emanuel Pardo delivering 5 goals, 3 steals and 4 ejections drawn.

Football classic

Top-tier football programs Seminole and Jones will play a preseason game Saturday, Aug. 17, at 6 p.m. at Camping World Stadium. It’s the Legacy Classic game that Jones annually plays in the big house right down the street from campus.

Jones (10-4) lost a state semifinal 42-35 against 3M state runner-up Homestead last season. SHS (10-3) lost a region final 28-24 to 4M runner-up Mandarin.

Flag football

Horizon improved to 8-1 with an 8-6 win at Winter Park (5-2) on Tuesday.

The Hawks lone loss was 33-6 to Tampa Robinson (8-0), which won its eighth state championship and third in a row last season.

Winter Park also lost to Robinson, 33-0.

Track & field

Seminole swept the team titles at Saturday’s Lake Mary Invitational. The ‘Noles outscored the host Rams 120.5 to 114 on the boys side and 145 to 127.5 in the girls meet.

Ocoee’s boys won the Kowboy Invitational at Osceola High.

Montverde Academy’s Adaejah Hodge was the girls 200-meter champion in the New Balance Nationals indoors meet with a time of 22.96. She was also on a 4×400 relay that set a meet record (3:45.69).

Meets this weekend include the Charlie Harris Relays at Lake Brantley and the Falcons Spring Break Bash at East River, both Friday; and the Big D Relays at DeLand High on Saturday.

Boys volleyball

Lake Howell (8-0) won five matches in two days to take the title in the Seminole Cup tournament. The Silverhawks have yet to lose a set, much less a match, despite recently missing two starters due to injuries. They remained shorthanded on Tuesday but won 3-0 against Lake Brantley.

According to MaxPreps, Tyler Windt leads the state in kills and Slater Vach is tops in assists for Lake Howell.

Extra points

• Chloe Kitts, who finished high school at DME Academy but lists her hometown as Oviedo, averages 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds for South Carolina’s 32-0 national No. 1 women’s team. The 6-foot-2 sophomore has started 28 games.

• Hannah Kohn, a Hagerty grad, earned Southern Conference All-Freshman honors for a league champion UT-Chattanooga (28-4) team heading to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. She’s made 48% of her three-point attempts (67-of-140) and is 17-for-18 on free throws. Averages 19 minutes and 7.7 points per game.

• Foundation Academy scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to break a tie and snag a 6-1 baseball win at Horizon on Monday. The Class 2A Lions are 10-0 going into a tournament hosted by The First Academy next week.

• Trinity Prep (6-2) sophomore McKenna Hawley struck out 20 in a 6-0 softball win against Orangewood Christian.

• The 6-0 Eustis softball team takes a Spring Break trip to play at Key West on Thursday and Friday.

Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.