St Johns Fl- Tocoi Creek high school was established in 2021. It took just four years from its first class of students for their boys basketball program to make it to the FHSAA State Semifinals in Lakeland. What head coach William Wilson and staff have been able to do in such a short amount of time is remarkable. Considering there are schools much older whom never been to the Final 4. Yet he’s achieved it through experience and trust.
A former star point guard at Sebastian River High School in Sebastian, Florida (South of Melbourne, Fl), Wilson is no stranger to directing an offense. So as head coach, it should be no surprise that he’s directed his Tocoi Creek Toros to over 100 victories in his span as head coach, and a 27-3 record this year.
They’ve faced some of the toughest teams in the area including Jackson, Fleming Island, Raines, Bishop Kenny, and Creekside. Of those teams only Jackson and Creekside got the best of them.
The Toros have ridden a 9-game winning streak into and through the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in Northeast Florida. They defeated Matanzas in the district championship 65-58 to advance to the playoffs as the #1 seed. Led by freshman King McFadden’s 19 points, the Toros took down Fletcher 67-54 in the first round.
Marc Mitchell scored 12-points and Javares Rickerson scored 15 versus Fletcher. 6 foot 6 Tyson Gilbert grabbed 15 boards and had 3 blocks. On the year McFadden averages 12.5 ppg, Rickerson 11.8ppg, Gilbert 11.7ppg, and junior guard Daniel Figueroa rounds out the double digit scorers with 10.0ppg
Mid-Season Highlights! pic.twitter.com/VFuFXsooL1
— Tyson Gilbert🏀 (@SaviorTyson) December 26, 2024
Tocoi hosted #5 Milton on Monday in the Sweet 16 and handled business again 68-55. McFadden scored 20-points, Gilbert complimented him with 19 points of his own. Rickerson rounded out the scoring with 15-points to help send the Toros to the Elite 8.
It was Lake Howell who was next up for Tocoi, but by halftime the Toros had a 7-point lead. They extended that lead thanks to a Marc Mitchell 3-pointer that put them up 33-26 in the third quarter. Gilbert and Rickerson also got in on the action, knocking down big shots to balloon the lead over 10-points. Tocoi would stampede Lake Howell 58-40.
The task before Wilson and company now is to slow down an Orlando Evans squad that went 24-6 this year. Arosco Dubois leads the Trojans in scoring averaging 20.7ppg. Then there’s 6 foot 3 David Rushing (14.9ppg) who recently scored a career high (32 points)and Antonio Pollard (10.2ppg) who lead the charge for Evans.
Antonio with with the tip, Arosco with the finish!!! Mayhem and Madness last night as the Trojans defeat the Silverhawks 62-61 with 1.4 remaining on the clock.@AroscoD 31 points,@David_Rushing11 11points@antoniopollard_ 10 points
— Evans High Basketball (FL) (@EvansHS_Hoops) January 25, 2025
DeWayne Dixon 10 points pic.twitter.com/WDUIYwZorS
Tocoi Creek will take the court March 6th at 3pm at RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. For the chance to make history again in the same year as the first team in school history to advance to the state championship game.
