Jacksonville FL- “Working on the weekend like usual” are Impact Christian Academy and Jackson as they return to Lakeland for the second straight year, for a chance to win a state championship. Joining them this year will be West Nassau, whose incredible season just keeps rolling. Their “Future” is in their hands, like a pen in the hands of recording artist “Drake”. Lets see how they got there as we check out the scores from the Regional Finals below.
Regional finals
Class 1-2A Impact Christian 79, St. John Paul II 57
Impact heads to the Final 4 for the third time in four years. They have achieved state runner-up status twice. Impact Coach Benjamin Jones should purchase an investment property in Lakeland Florida he seems to be down there every year. What a masterful job he’s done with the Lions. Against St. John Paul II, Impact led by 18 points in the fourth quarter. Calvin Johnson and Ivan Lawson have led the Lions all year. However, on Friday freshman Taylor Thompson hit five 3-pointers in the game scoring 21 points .
Impact Christian Academy (19-8) will face Southwest Florida Christian (17-11) in the state semifinal.
Class 1-3A Jackson 69 Trinity Prep 47
Jackson returns to Lakeland for the third straight year, an amazing accomplishment by head coach James Collins. The Tigers made short work of Trinity Prep (9-9) controlling the most of the game. Javon Bennett scored 22 points for Trinity Prep, but that wasn’t enough for the deep bench for Jackson. Led by Jackie Simmons III 13 points, Jackson played stellar defense and controlled the boards.
Jackson (19-6) faces Bishop Mc Laughlin (21-6) in the state semifinal
Class 1-4A West Nassau 72 Marianna 70
West Nassau (20-11) is headed to the Final 4 after defeating Marianna 72-70. Dallan “Deebo” Coleman lead all scorers with 34 points, and 10 rebounds in the game, including two free throws late to seal the deal. West Nassau has won 14 games in a row and are the hottest team in Northeast Florida. Their team approach has seen them overwhelm opponents. In the regional final four players scored double digits (Jye Thompson 13pts, Leon Whitley 11pts, Simeon Womack 10 pts). West Nassau make the second consecutive team from Nassau county to make it to Lakeland (Hilliard 2020).
West Nassau (20-11) faces Santa Fe (19-5) in the state semifinal.
Class 1-5A Choctawhatchee 74 Lee 60
Jarrion Smith scored 17 points and Tarence Guinyard scored 12 points for Lee in their 74-60 class 5A regional final loss to Choctawhatchee (25-2). Lee finishes the season 19-10 and displayed incredible effort and resolve to make it this far. After losing star guard Alex Fudge who signed with LSU in January to early enroll in college, Lee still reeled off six straight wins.
Choctawhatchee will face Leesburg (16-4) in the state semifinals.
