A Saturday showcase that originally had four games, including No. 1 Class 2A Orlando Christian Prep (19-0) playing at home vs. 3A No. 1 Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian (10-4), has been reduced to two matchups.
OCP shifted to virtual school only for all students and suspended all upper school extracurricular activities this week due to COVID-19 contract tracing concerns, according to Warriors coach Treig Burke. He canceled three games but said his team will be back in action next week for a Tuesday home game vs. Winter Haven.
Central Florida Christian Academy (13-7), which was lined up to play Windermere Prep (13-5) in a matchup of Sentinel Super 16 teams, also bowed out of “The Invitational”.
CFCA coach Andrew Gustafson said that decision was made because he and his assistant coach, Caio Santos, would be absent and several players also cannot play the game – which was a late addition to the Eagles schedule. .
That leaves “The Invitational” with just two games at OCP, both potentially good ones.
Dr. Phillips (14-3), ranked No. 2 in the FHSAA Class 7A power ratings behind Oak Ridge (16-2), is set to play at 4:30 p.m. against Class 2A Impact Christian of Jacksonville, which was 10-6 with six straight wins going into a Wednesday game.
Windermere (12-4), ranked third in 7A, matches up against undefeated East Lake (18-0) of Tarpon Springs, the top-rated team in 6A, in a 6:30 game that could turn into a sizzling shootout. East Lake made 175 three-point shots through its first 17 wins — more than 10 per game.
Attendance will be limited under COVID-19 guidelines.
Tickets are $10 per game and can be purchased online (AcessSports.TV). The Access Sports TV live and on demand stream cost is also $10 per game.
State rankings: Wednesday’s updated Florida High School Athletic Association power ratings say Orange County is the hot spot for Class 7A.
Five Metro Conference teams, Oak Ridge, Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Olympia and Apopka, are ranked 1-2-3-4-5 in that order atop the Class 7A rankings. West Orange is No. 7.
Next week’s ratings, scheduled to be unveiled on Wednesday, will determine seeding and the brackets for the following week’s district tournaments.
DP, Olympia, Apopka and West Orange are all in District 3 and only two teams per district can advance to region play.
Citing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on regular season schedules the FHSAA dropped its system of seeding by power rankings for this year and reverted back to its long-held former format that advances only champions and runners-up from each district to the regional rounds.
DP plays at Olympia on Friday night in a game that might impact seeding for the tournament, which will be hosted by the Titans.
A year ago, five teams from 7A District 3, dubbed the “District of Death”, reached the region playoffs thanks to the new rankings system.
The sixth-ranked team in 7A currently is Sarasota Riverview (15-5), which resides in Region 2 alongside of Oak Ridge and Windermere.
Edgewater (11-6) is ranked seventh in 6A and is a contender to reach the state tournament in Lakeland for that class.
Leesburg (10-4) has won seven of its past eight games to rise to No. 13 in 5A.
Lake Highland Prep (7-6), which was at the top of 4A early in the season, has struggled with injuries, COVID cancellations and a rugged schedule and is now No. 11 in its class.
The Master’s Academy (14-4) has won eight in a row and is up to No. 9 in 3A, followed by Windermere Prep.
CFCA is No. 2 in 2A behind OCP, which puts those teams in line to meet in a region final. They sit in the same region as seventh-ranked Mount Dora Christian (15-5), which is in the CFCA district, and No. 8 City of Life Christian (20-2), which is in the OCP district.
This story was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
