A county-record six teams made the playoffs last year — Osceola came up one game short of the state tournament, district runner-up St. Cloud reached a regional semifinal, and Harmony won a district title.
The big question heading into 2025-26 is whether the Kowboys can take it a step further and reach their first 7A Final Four since winning it all in 2017 and ’19. Off a 25-4 season, this year’s edition may be even more formidable.
Coach Steve Mason returns a ton of talent, including two-time county Player of the Year Luke McCrimon (18.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.8 apg). They also have all-county point guard Jordan Mason (13.4 ppg, 4.3 apg) and scrappy forward Helio Quinlan (5.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) back.
And although Osceola graduated all-county standout Jordan Isaac (17.4 ppg), they welcome 6-9 transfer Kaiden Zenkfer from Discovery to be the rim protector the Kowboys lacked last season.
“Two years ago the sophomore class came in and started. They were young and made mistakes. Last year they started to mature and had an outstanding season. They are now seniors and are ready to take this thing to the next level,” Mason said.
By the time the playoffs start, Osceola will be a battletested unit as two high-level tournaments and regularseason games against playoff teams Olympia, Centennial and Edgewater dot the schedule.
Here’s a look at the rest of the county:
CELEBRATION (10-18 record last season): Third-year Coach Michael Van Hooser returns All-OBC 2nd team Edson Oliviera da Silva (10.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and senior guard Braden Plaisted (8.2 ppg), who made 51 three-pointers last season. Depth returns including Dai-Dai Blackman (G), Nick Edouard (G), Michael Motta (F) and Adan Nahi (G); as the Storm return 61% of it scoring and 65% of its rebounding from a season ago “In an age of transfers and looking for quick fixes, we return a group of juniors and seniors truly dedicated to changing the perception of Celebration basketball,” Van Hooser said. “These returning players have fought through tough times in building our program and it is their time to see results of those efforts.”
GATEWAY (11-12, playoffs): Joseph Roy is the new head coach taking over for longtime Coach Travis James, who remains the Panthers’ athletic director. Solid players returning to help him in his inaugural campaign including experience underclassmen Maxwell Garcon (F), Steffon Radcliff (G) and Landon Curry (PG).
“With a young team, our goal is to be competitive every game,” Roy said. “We will need to take it one game, one possession at a time, play hard for all 32 minutes and hopefully get the entire team to buy-in.”
HARMONY (19-9, district champs): Coach Duke Leonardo stepped down last summer to take a position at Satellite High School. Former Leonardo assistant Adam Ojeda takes over and inherits a major rebuilding job.
“We lost nine players, including the entire starting lineup. Even though we have just three players returning (forward Jaden Smith, guards Lincoln Smith and Daniel Mena) our goals remain the same: try to repeat as district champions and make it back to the OBC Championship game,” Ojeda said. ”Our JV team went 13-1 last year, so we are counting on those guys stepping right in and contributing right away.”
JV promotions Quianel Reyes (G), Jeremiah Pacheco (F) and Benjador Edmond (F) are expected to make an impact.
LIBERTY (16-6, district runner-up): New Coach Steve Ross turned the Chargers program around last year with its first winning record in nine years and an OBC and district factor. But eight starters or reserves graduated. Camry Irvin (5.5) is slated to return, as is senior Julian Sora (5.5). Transfers Shawn Dufine (Oak Ridge) and Shawne Dadzie (Poinciana) should help.
“In spite of only having three returning players, we’re expecting to have a very good season,” Ross said. “Irvin has a chance to be one of the best players in the county and newcomer will help our depth.”
POINCIANA (16-11, playoffs at-large): Coach Richard Morgan takes over for the Eagles and will have a massive rebuilding job in front of him as four underclassmen transferred. Morgan has had success at previous stops, including winning conference Coach of the Year at Lakewood (NJ). Senior guard Jahmel Hill (8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg) is the top returning player.
“Although extremely young, this team has shown a lot of commitment and great energy during off-season workouts,” Morgan said. “Our goal is to be competitive in every game as we build the foundation for our future.”
ST. CLOUD (24-5, regional semifinalist): Coach Tommy Billiteri has turned the program into a winner with 43 wins in two seasons. Although All-County players Josiah Cotto and Alex Springs graduated and three others have transferred, the Bulldogs return experienced talent like guards Elias Torres and four-year starter Diomar Ortiz. Guard J.J. Barrett will see considerable action as should promoted JV players Nate Thompson, Julian Nunez and Jadiel Fontanez.
“Our goal was to build a lasting, competitive program at St. Cloud and the last two years have put us in the right direction,” Billiteri said. “Even though several players left our program, I am 100 percent confident that the players we have will be able to compete. We are hungry and eager to prove to the doubters that this can be a good team.”
TOHOPEKALIGA (5-16): Coach Jesus Merced said the goal this year is for his team to “finish” games.
“We were in a lot of games in the fourth quarter last year and simply were not able to finish at the end,” he says. “We have a group of solid young players who are working hard to change that mindset.”
Guards Derrick Lewis (8 ppg) and Manuel Portilla (5 ppg) return as well as forward Jonas Merced. Look for sophomore Nicolas Murillo (up from JVs) and freshman Jaxen Powers to contribute.
Next week: A preview of the Osceola County girls teams.
