FHSAA lacrosse regionals: Bolles boys win epic; Episcopal, BT girls qualify for final four

In the biggest game of his junior year at Bolles lacrosse, the sudden-death overtime rules were the last thing on Jack Cox's mind.

Then ball left stick, ball hit net and in a flash, he realized his next play in competition will be coming in the opposite corner of the Sunshine State.

"I wasn't even thinking it was overtime," Cox said. "I just saw that I could score that ball and that's what I did."

The junior attacker blasted the first shot of overtime to keep the Bulldogs' title dreams alive in a Saturday night epic, outlasting Gainesville Oak Hall 9-8 for the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-1A boys lacrosse championship.

Only 24 seconds after Bolles (21-2) secured the overtime faceoff through senior Bryce Hogan, taking the place of sophomore faceoff specialist Greer Boree after a second-quarter injury, Cox surged down the center, took aim at the net and fired for his 31st goal of the season — and undoubtedly the biggest.

"I just saw the matchup and I was like, 'I've got to take it,'" he said. "[Assistant] Coach Reid [Smith] over there told me the move, I did the exact thing and it worked."

Oak Hall (17-4) gave the Bulldogs all they could handle, conducting the attack with patience through senior midfielder Andrew Jimenez and junior attacker Pierce Montes.

Down 4-1 early, Oak Hall stormed back with four unanswered goals in the third quarter as crisp passes from Montes, Jimenez and Dominic Moreschi punished Bolles penalties. With eight minutes to go, Bolles — unbeaten all year against Florida opponents — was on the ropes.

"Some teams would have panicked, would have hit the alarms and put themselves in a situation that we could have taken advantage of them," Oak Hall coach Jonathan Montes said. "But they had no panic in them, they held in there and they made some plays."

Bolles scored three times in fewer than two minutes: Bryce Hogan off an Eagle turnover, Parker Kane moments after the ensuing faceoff and then Lee Krotee at the 5:32 mark. But when the Bulldogs turned over while trying to drain the clock, Jimenez pounced at the 1:07 mark to tie the score. Oak Hall won the next faceoff, but Bolles goaltender Will Martell denied an Oak Hall shot as time expired.

The prize is a return trip to the FHSAA semifinal at noon Thursday against Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples, one year after Bolles lost a heartbreaker in the final to St. Andrew's.

"They came ready to play," Bolles coach Tom West said. "It took everything we had to win."

REGION 1-2A BOYS

State-ranked Lake Mary had too much firepower for Ponte Vedra, defeating the Sharks 12-3 in Saturday night's regional final.

Lake Mary (22-1) swept the Battle of the Bridge rival pair, after downing Nease by 19 goals in the previous round.

The Rams grabbed a 4-1 lead in the first period and snuffed out any chance for a Ponte Vedra comeback with five unanswered goals in the final quarter.

The Sharks, who include five senior college signees from the November signing period alone, close at 15-7.

REGION 1-1A GIRLS

From the moment the ball nestled into Brooke McCoy's stick just outside the four-minute mark, the Episcopal midfielder transformed into a guided missile to the goal.

"I saw the opening, and I was like, 'Why not go for it?'" she said.

With one surge toward the net, McCoy scored seconds after a restart for the go-ahead goal to lift Episcopal past Ponte Vedra 14-13 in a classic, back-and-forth Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-1A girls lacrosse final.

Riding a superb draw performance by Lilly Melograna and tenacious chasing from McCoy and Georgia Tuttle, Episcopal erased a three-goal hole and drained the clock with composed passing and movement.

Never before had the Eagles (13-7) beaten Ponte Vedra in the Shark Tank, a run that stretched back into the 2000s. Now, Episcopal's reward is a trip to Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples at 2:30 p.m. Friday for the final four, the second state semifinal visit in school history, where they'll play No. 1 seed Delray Beach American Heritage.

Ponte Vedra (13-8) had seized an 8-5 lead entering halftime through the attacking combination of seniors Lily Toole and Lily Mosser and junior Lamb Toole, ending the period on a 4-1 run, before the Eagles tweaked their approach off the draw.

"We had a different look to give them [after halftime]," Episcopal coach Krista Crittenden said. "We made some adjustments on the draw and they just executed it beautifully."

The Eagles outscored Ponte Vedra 7-2 in the period, grabbing their first lead when Payten Cree battled through contact to score, but the Sharks didn't go away. Midfielder Aubrey Schmidt sparked the Sharks, setting up Lamb Toole for a goal and then tying the score with 4:16 to play.

From there, McCoy — a top-20 cross-country runner in the Class 2A state meet in November, and a district 800-meter champion on the track — chased down the ball and zoomed forward to score only 12 seconds after Ponte Vedra's score. Melograna again won the ensuing draw, and Ponte Vedra never regained possession.

Lamb Toole netted five goals for Ponte Vedra, while McCoy and Cree each scored four times to lead Episcopal.

"This has been years in the making, of me telling them and believing in them," Crittenden said. "And I think, tonight, they finally believed."

REGION 1-2A GIRLS

The three-peat dream lives on.

Two-time defending state champion Bartram Trail survived on home turf, winning a 13-12 nail-biter in overtime against visiting Lake Mary (16-6).

The Bears (16-5), FHSAA champions in 2022 and 2023, retain their hopes of becoming Northeast Florida's first-ever team to go back-to-back-to-back in lacrosse.

Bartram Trail jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Rams rallied and snatched the lead on Lauren Arigo's goal with under three minutes to play. But the Bears tied the score quickly afterward and netted the OT winner to keep their season going.

They'll play at 5 p.m. Friday against Vero Beach in the Class 2A semifinals in Naples.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA high school lacrosse 2024: Jacksonville regional final results