Boys basketball districts: Oak Ridge edges Windermere; Lake Mary stuns Seminole

Nationally-ranked Oak Ridge barely survived the “District of Death” on Thursday night, eking out a 74-73 boys basketball victory against Windermere High to protect its status as the most talented state championship contender in the Orlando area.

But in a Class 7A District 5 final where the lead changed hands 13 times, the Wolverines (19-8) made it clear that the Pioneers (23-3) don’t have an easy path back to the FHSAA state tournament in Lakeland.

Both teams advance to the eight-team Region 2 tournament, which opens with quarterfinals on Thursday. It’s a lock that Oak Ridge will be the top seed. But a region final rematch against district rivals Windermere or Olympia (18-8) is likely.

“Nobody thought we could play with them but it was a great game,” said Windermere senior Chalier Torres who scored 22 points. “We’ll see them for region finals. We’ll win that one.”

The Wolverines led 18-17 going into the second quarter, 38-36 at the half, and 60-58 going into the final quarter of a game that drew a big neutral site crowd at Olympia. Windermere was up 73-68 with only 1:32 remaining after 6-foot-7 junior TJ Drain scored on a tip-in and sophomore guard Nate Earl made a 3-point shot.

But Oak Ridge, No. 13 in the MaxPreps Top 25 national rankings, did not fold. Tyler Johnson, a senior signed by Virginia Tech, scored off an offensive rebound to close the gap. Oak Ridge forced a turnover with defensive pressure and made it a one-point game when Johnson drove to the rim and scored in traffic with 50.8 seconds remaining.

Then came a pivotal call. Torres, who had taken over the game with 14 third quarter points, made a strong dribble drive against man-to-man defense by Johnson. He banked his jumper in but was called for an offensive foul in what did appear to be push-off before the shot.

The whistle wiped out the basket with 34 seconds to go and allowed Oak Ridge to set up the game winning inbounds play off a time out.

Jamier Jones, a 5-star junior prospect who led the Pioneers with 22 points, passed to Jordan Tillery running to the rim and the Georgia Southern signee finished the play for the lead with 22 seconds remaining.

The Oak Ridge defense again stifled the Wolverines with time running out and the game ended with a desperation 3-point shot that fell well short.

“That was a good one,” Oak Ridge coach Steve Reece said. “We’re two teams that know each other very well. They’ve got a great coach (Mark Griseck). You can’t expect nothing less than this. We could see each other in the coming weeks.”

Johnson scored 18 points and Tillery and Jalen Reece both scored 13 for Oak Ridge.

Earl scored 11 points and Ta’Veon Jones had 15 for Windermere, which had won its previous nine games. Ben Bunnell added two keys 3s.

“We’ve been playing really well and we had our chances tonight,” Griseck said. “I’m really proud of our guys. I thought we competed our butts off. It’s going to be a fun region.”

Oak Ridge will be the top seed. Windermere beat Olympia in the district semifinal round and they could meet again in a region semifinal as they are assured to be the 2-3 seeds.

Four district champions and four additional at-large teams per region, based on Florida High School Athletic Association power rankings that will be updated, will be placed in the brackets. Those pairings are scheduled to be announced Sunday at 2 p.m. on the FHSAA YouTube channel.

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Lake Mary (15-13) pulled off the upset of the night, scoring a 48-46 road win against top seed Sanford Seminole (20-7) in the 7A-2 final. That ended a six-year streak of district titles for the ‘Noles and marked the first title for the Rams since the 1990s.

Edgewater (19-7) repeated as the 6A District 6 winner but it was far from easy. The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the latest FHSAA 6A power rankings (Dec. 29), needed a last-second basket to win 68-66 against visiting East River (16-10).

Sophomore Donovan Williams Jr. tipped in his own missed shot for the game-winning score.

Edgewater played without senior guard Zion Mitchell, who is no longer on the team according to Eagles coach Jon Mason.

“At this time he is not part of Edgewater basketball,” Mason said when contacted after his team’s afternoon victory.

Elsewhere

Montverde Academy improved to 26-0 with an 80-55 road win at Bartlett High (25-4), Tennessee’s No. 2 Class 4A team.

Top seed Evans (17-9) secured its first district title since 2019 with an 81-71 win vs. visiting Ocoee (19-9) in 7A-3.

Orlando University (21-5), a 20-win team for the first time in program history, won the 7A-4 title with a 37-32 victory against Winter Park (16-11).

Oviedo (23-4), enjoying its winningest season since a 2014-15 final four season, is the 6A-5 champ with a 50-36 victory against Lake Howell (15-10).

Class 2A No. 3 Orlando Christian Prep (21-4) wrapped up its eighth consecutive district title with an 80-37 romp past Faith Christian (16-11) in the 2A-7 final at home.

Top-ranked Lakeland Victory Christian (23-4) won the 2A-8 final 75-40 over Legacy Charter (14-10).

Class 4A No. 5 Lake Highland Prep (23-3) made its seven consecutive district titles with a 66-54 home win against Discovery (20-6) in 4A-7.

Windermere Prep (20-7), No. 4 in 3A, claimed its third consecutive district championship with a 62-51 win against The First Academy (15-12) in 3A-6.

Leesburg (16-4) secured its fourth consecutive district title, and seventh in a span of nine seasons, with a 73-62 homecourt win vs. Ocala Vanguard (15-11) in 5A-5. Jalen Brown scored 21 points and Angelo Morton added 15 for the Yellow Jackets.

Kissimmee Osceola (14-11), with three sophomores and two juniors as its leading scorers, won the 7A-6 title with a 60-58 win over top seed Harmony (21-6).

Jones (12-13) has had some rough patches in a rebuilding year but the Tigers won their third straight district championship with a 72-57 win against Kissimmee Gateway (11-12) in 5A-7.

The Master’s Academy (17-9) repeated as the 3A-4 district champ with a 54-36 home win against Father Lopez (19-6).

Mount Dora Christian (15-12) repeated as 2A-6 champ with a 65-59 win vs. visiting Halifax Academy (22-5).

Villages Charter (17-11) edged top seed Eustis 70-68 in 4A-6. The Panthers slip to 21-5).

Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.