-
Celebration boys soccer, Gateway girls basketball have reached the regional finals.
State playoff action for winter sports continues, as wrestling opens its district tournaments this weekend, the state soccer tournament rolls on and a large contingent of Osceola County athletes will contend for state championships in Lakeland this weekend as the FHSAA holds its state girls weightlifting finals.
Here is a look around the county:
BOYS’ SOCCER
Celebration’s regional semifinal game went to penalty kicks on Saturday afternoon, and Storm junior Christopher Hernandez made three sensational saves as the Storm (14-2-1) moved with a win over Spanish River, 3-2 in the kicks.
Celebration play top-seeded Boca Raton (21-40) Wednesday night for the right to play in the Class 7A Final Four.
“I’ve been telling people all year that Christopher is one of the top goalies in the state and lot of soccer people just rolled their eyes,” Assistant Coach/ Athletic Director Chad Boudreaux said. “But if those same people could have watched him tonight I think he would convince them.”
The Spanish River game was a physical, back-and-forth game where each team scored just one goal off the other’s mistake. After Spanish River’s defense had started pressing forward in the 35th minute, a careless pass was intercepted by Celebration leading to a 2-on-1 break. Junior Jose D’lima took a pass and rifled it past goalie Hallison Meira Filho for a 1-0 advantage.
In the 49th minute, Spanish River sent a long pass over Storm defenders. Hernandez hesitated for a second before coming off his line but Spanish River’s Ethan Schweiger beat him to the ball and tied the game.
“They have been scoring like that all season and did not surprise us,” Boudreaux said. “They are an extremely fast and athletic team, and they tried numerous times, but we made one mistake playing that type of pass and they took advantage.”
Neither team would score for the rest of regulation or the two 10-minute overtimes. In the penalty kicks, Hernandez stopped the first two attempts, and teammates Julio D’lima and Adriaan McColl connected as the Storm took a 2-0 lead. Up 3-2, Hernandez read Justin Ibrahim’ low-and-left shot and made a diving stop to secure the win.
GIRLS’ WEIGHTLIFTING
Osceola County is sending a large contingent to the Class 3A state weightlifting championships in Lakeland this weekend. Several St. Cloud lifters, including Ashley Aun, Kaitlyn Gallagher-Perez and Abigail Davis should be gold medal contenders in the traditional and Olympic style snatch events.
In addition, Harmony, Gateway, Osceola, Celebration and Tohopekaliga all qualified lifters for the state meet.
WRESTLING
County schools will be spread out at this weekend’s district tournaments. The top four finishers in each district weight class will advance to the regional round this weekend. Orange Belt Conference champion Osceola will host the District 3A-5 on Friday, where Celebration and Poinciana will also participate. Tohopekaliga will travel to Harmony, where the Longhorns are hosting 3A-9, while St. Cloud and Gateway go to Lake Gibson for the 2A-7 meet.
After winning the OBC, the Kowboys sent a select team to the prestigious Live Greco tournament in Tampa, which featured national power Lake Highland Prep and state powers Manatee and Southwest Miami. The Kowboys posted three individual champions: Cooper Haase (152), Gunner Holland (170) and Elijah VanSickle (220).
Harmony concluded its regular season with a thrilling come-frombehind victory over 2A 7th ranked Hagerty in a dual meet on Senior Night. Injury-riddled and without four starters, Harmony fell behind 22-0 before rallying for a 41-34 win. Case Roberts , subbing for injured Tyler McMorrow, put Harmony ahead 35-34 with a major decision before heavyweight Nelson Toro continued his undefeated season with a pin to complete the comeback. Head coach Vic Lorenzano expects his injured wrestlers to be back for districts, with the exception of senior Tanner Hinman (120), who suffered a seasonending shoulder injury in the OBC meet.
