A pair of Palm Beach County teams will take the court tonight with regional championships on the line in boys basketball.
Wellington and Oxbridge Academy won their regional semifinals contests Tuesday night, and will play tonight for a berth in next week’s state semifinals in Lakeland.
Oxbridge Academy will take on Tampa Catholic for the third straight year in tonight’s Class 5A regional finals. (Andres Leiva/Palm Beach Post)
The Wolverines, who defeated Atlantic 68-65 in a Class 9A contest, host Deerfield Beach; while the ThunderWolves, who beat Coral Springs Charter 53-38 in a 5A matchup, travel to Tampa Catholic.
We preview those games below. Tipoff for both is set for 7 p.m.
Class 9A
Deerfield Beach (22-8) at Wellington (29-0): The Wolverines moved another step closer to earning back-to-back berths in the state semifinals, holding off Atlantic Tuesday in a regional semifinal contest. But Wellington will have to get past the Bucks first, and that won’t be easy. Deerfield Beach has won its past two postseason games by double digits – never an easy task in Class 9A – and earned a huge win Tuesday in the regional semifinals against perennial power Coral Springs. The Colts had beaten the Bucks on three previous occasions this season prior to Tuesday’s game. Deerfield Beach hits the road again tonight to face an unbeaten Wellington team that is looking for its 30th win this season. The Wolverines have had their hands full with Palm Beach County teams during regional play, but have found a way to win. They’ll hope for more of the same tonight.
Prediction: Wellington 61-58
Class 5A
Oxbridge Academy (20-8) at Tampa Catholic (25-5): The ThunderWolves will hit the road for the third straight year to play the high-scoring Crusaders, who are coming off a 16-point win over Cape Coral-Oasis in Tuesday’s regional semifinals. Tampa Catholic has hit the 80-point threshold 16 times this season, and has topped 90 points five times. Oxbridge, which allowed just 38 points to Coral Springs Charter in its regional semifinals win Tuesday, will be challenged to slow Tampa Catholic down. But the ThunderWolves are a veteran team, and with the exception of guard Keidron Smith – who has signed to play football – returns their entire roster from last season. Oxbridge has plenty of motivation to get past Tampa Catholic after two straight losses. It’ll be another long drive to Tampa, but expect the ThunderWolves to be ready to play.
Prediction: Oxbridge Academy 68-66