Fifteen Palm Beach County teams took the court Thursday for the first round of boys basketball regional play.
Heading into tonight’s second round, just six remain.
Suncoast hosts Fort Lauderdale-Stranahan tonight in a Class 6A regional semifinal game. The Chargers are coming off a 55-53 win over Plantation-American Heritage in Thursday’s quarterfinals. (Damon Higgins/Palm Beach Post)
Wellington and Atlantic (Class 9A); Dwyer (Class 8A); Suncoast (Class 6A) and Oxbridge Academy (Class 5A) will play regional semifinal contests tonight, while Benjamin (Class 4A) will play a regional championship game.
The winners of tonight’s big schools semifinals will advance to the regional finals on Friday. If the Bucs win, they will head to the state semifinals in Lakeland next week.
Below is our preview of all five games involving Palm Beach County teams. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Class 9A
Atlantic (17-10) at Wellington (28-0): The Wolverines kept their record-setting unbeaten streak intact Thursday with a 51-49 win over Boca Raton in the regional quarterfinals. Four different Wolverines’ players scored in double figures in the game, and Wellington will need a similar effort to get by a talented Eagles team that won its regional quarterfinal over John I. Leonard by 29 points. Atlantic, which came out of tough District 10-9A as the champion, has been surging of late. The Eagles have won eight of their last nine games dating to Jan. 23, with their only loss during that stretch coming in double overtime to Palm Beach Lakes – a 2017 state semifinalist. Expect a battle tonight.
Prediction: Wellington 63-60
Class 8A
Pompano Beach-Blanche Ely (20-8) at Dwyer (26-1): The Panthers and Tigers are longtime postseason rivals, with Ely getting the best of Dwyer in recent years. The Tigers have knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, with last year’s Ely win coming in overtime. Dwyer will be eager to end that streak, and has plenty of momentum heading into this game. The Panthers have won 13 in a row since sustaining their only loss of the season – a 66-62 set back to nationally ranked Fort Lauderdale University Jan. 6. The Panthers are talented and deep, but the Tigers – coming off an overtime win over Forest Hill Thursday – are as well. This will be one to watch.
Prediction: Dwyer 64-61
Class 6A
Fort Lauderdale-Stranahan (19-6) at Suncoast (18-6): The Chargers won a close game against Plantation-American Heritage Thursday night, and face another tough Broward County team tonight in the Mighty Dragons. Stranahan, which defeated Port St. Lucie by 21 points in its regional quarterfinal, has won 10 of its last 12 games, with both losses during that span coming to a 25-win, state-ranked Miramar team. Suncoast had a tough closing stretch in the regular season, but has a talented group of guards that can take over a game. They face an uphill battle against Stranahan, but will have the home court advantage.
Prediction: Stranahan 60-52
Class 5A
Coral Springs Charter (20-6) at Oxbridge Academy (19-8): The ThunderWolves have overcome injuries and a challenging schedule to advance to the regional semifinals for the third year in a row. They face a tough opponent in the Panthers, who have won eight in a row, including a 49-44 win over Inlet Grove in Thursday’s regional quarterfinals. Oxbridge, ranked 60th in the state by MaxPreps – Coral Springs Charter is No. 33 – has won 13 of its past 14 games, with its only loss during that span coming to St. Andrew’s in overtime Jan. 20. The ThunderWolves are tremendously balanced on offense, and demonstrated that in their 66-59 win over Saint John Paul II Academy on Thursday. Expect more of that in what should be a close game tonight.
Prediction: Oxbridge Academy 59-56
Class 4A
Benjamin (19-10) at Fort Lauderdale-Westminster Academy (21-6): This will be the second meeting between these teams in less than a month, with the Lions winning a Feb. 1 contest 68-61. Westminster is stocked with talent, and features a three-star point guard in senior Zach Scott, who has committed to Florida Gulf Coast. But the Bucs counter with highly regarded junior forward Ben Lubarsky, a 1,000-point plus career scorer who has come back strong from a midseason foot injury. He scored 23 points in the Bucs’ win over Miami Country Day in the regional semifinals. He has a strong supporting cast, and that group could give Westminster a big challenge on the road.
Prediction: Westminster Academy 64-57