Regional playoffs begin Tuesday in boys volleyball and flag football, some of the last remaining games of the 2021-22 sports calendar, and Osceola County is represented, with teams hosting games.
Celebration and St. Cloud will reprise a District 11 rivalry when the Storm hosts their sectional playoff game at 7 p.m. in the 64-team state tournament.
During a decisive fourth set, Celebration used a 7-1 run at the end of the game to wrap up the district title with a 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22 road win at Tohopekaliga Thursday to earn its home game. The Bulldogs (18-7) are in as a wild card, as are the Tigers, who will travel to undefeated Tampa Bay HEAT (23-0).
Those winners will meet on Friday.
The Storm's win Thursday lifted them to 20-2 on the season, with their only two losses coming to 12th ranked Lake Brantley (18-8) and 10th ranked and Tampa Bay HEAT (23-0).
“Overall I thought we played well against a really good Tohopekaliga team,” Storm coach Pedro Davila said. “After winning the first two sets, I think we got tentative and were just waiting for Toho to make mistakes and that also carried over to the first half of the fourth set. They are way too good of a team to count on that happening however. We didn’t help matters with three straight service errors in that fourth set but we finally recaptured the momentum and were able to close them out.”
Celebration grabbed the two-set lead behind the play of middle hitter Yael Maisonet (10 kills, three aces in the match) and junior outside hitter Darion Graham-Roldan (11 kills on night). But Tohopekaliga rallied in the third set, jumping out to leads of 4-1 and 15-9 before closing out the set on a 4-0 run that included two points on back-to-back blocks at the net by Jevon Andrew-Brown.
For a while, it would look like Tohopekaliga would take Celebration to its first fifth set of the season as it jumped out to an early 7-3 lead and later went up 16-11 with that run being spurred by two more blocks at the net by Andrew-Brown.
But trailing 21-17 after their third consecutive service error, the Storm came roaring back in a big way. Celebration would score the next five points to take a 22-21 lead before an Elial Salva spike knotted the set at 22-22. Graham-Roldan would then make a heady play, gently pushing a cross court shot over the Toho front line and Lucas Nieves followed with a thunderous spike to make it 24-22. On match point, Salva’s block attempt went sideways out of bounce to give the Storm the district crown.
“Really proud of the way we fought back tonight,” Tohopekaliga coach Eric Capestany said. “We had our chances to get them into a fifth set and just could not close the deal down the stretch. I think we are sitting pretty good for an at-large playoff spot, but we really wanted to win this match.”
Salva had five kills and two blocks at the net, Elijah Foster had three kills, two blocks and an ace.
As district champions, Celebration will host a first round game on Tuesday night – most likely against District 9 runner-up Lake Nona (15-10) if the rankings remain the same. Tohopekaliga (12-7) should garner one of four at-large spots; while St. Cloud (18-7), which defeated Poinciana in three sets but lost to Tohopekaliga (3-1) in the district tournament, also has a chance for a wildcard slot.
HARMONY TAKES FLAG TITLE — Relying on his stingy defense and the outstanding performance of a pair of freshmen, the Harmony Longhorns defeated Poinciana, 32-7, to capture the Class 2A, District 9 championship on Thursday night. The win lifted the Longhorns to 15-2 record as they swept through the district tournament winning close contests over Lake Nona (7-6) and St. Cloud (14-7) before dominating the Eagles.
Harmony will host Park Vista (14-1), undefeated before losing its district championship to Spanish River on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The winner will play the Martin County-Centennial winner on Thursday.
“Our two freshmen have been outstanding all season,” Coach Paul Strauch said about quarterback Martha Edwards and WR/DB Kinzie James. “Kinzie dropped a touchdown pass in the first quarter and then just came back to play a dominating game.”
James finished the game with three interceptions, one she returned for a pick-six, and two touchdown receptions. Edwards accounted for four touchdowns on three scoring passes and one rushing touchdown.
Strauch also paid tribute to his defense; including rusher Arianna Ross and linebackers Aubrie White and Alexandria Caballos-Means. “Aubrie and Alexandria never seem to be out of position and Arianna provided incredible quarterback pressure both in the district tournament and throughout the season. She really has a great technique and she makes the quarterback throw before their receivers can finish their routes.”
Solid all season, the Longhorns have allowed just 75 points in 16 games -- just 4.68 points by game, which includes seven shutouts. They have given up double digits in just two games. “My brother Drew is the defensive coordinator and he and my other coaches have done a great job with that side of the ball,” Strauch added.
The Longhorns move on to the Class 2A, Region 2 quarterfinals, where they will host a first round game on Tuesday night against an at-large team that will be announced this weekend. Poinciana, who defeated Liberty (38-8) and upset second-seeded Cypress Creek by an 18-12 score, dropped to 10-4 on the season, which ended when the Eagles did not get a 2A wild-card berth.
Strauch says the getting a first round regional home game is huge. “Our region is spread out and had we lost we probably would have got in but we would have been looking at a 2-3 hour bus trip. We get to stay at home and that certainly is a big advantage.”
