In one of the tightest final rankings to date, Columbia ended up with a familiar opponent for the opening round of the playoffs.
The Tigers (16-10) finished as the 6-seed in Region 1-5A and will travel to 3-seed Gainesville, which won the District 3 title, for a regional quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday. It’ll be the third meeting this season between the district rivals, with the Hurricanes (20-7) winning the previous two (50-41 in Lake City on Dec. 3 and 60-50 in Gainesville on Jan. 23).
The final ratings were tight from the 4-seed all the way down to seventh. St. Augustine (18-7) finished fourth with a 15.075 rating and will host Leon (18-7), which finished with a 14.327 rating that was barely ahead of Columbia’s final mark of 13.309. Booker. T. Washington (19-7), meanwhile, finished as the 7-seed at 14.066 even after winning the District 1 title Friday night.
Gainesville finished with a 19.410 rating and was just edged out for the 2-seed by District 4 champion Ponte Vedra (18-8), which finished at 19.776 and will host Booker. T. Washington. District 3 champion Fleming Island (22-5) ended the season with a final rating of 21.394 and will host Lincoln (16-8), which finished at 13.472 and comfortably ahead of Mosley’s 10.362 mark for the region’s final playoff spot.
Fleming Island, Ponte Vedra and Gainesville are ranked third, fifth and sixth overall in Class 5A.
FORT WHITE GETS 2-SEED
Thanks to winning the District 6-R title Friday night, Fort White was rewarded with the 2-seed and a home game in the Region 3-R semifinals.
The Indians finished the season with an 8.542 rating — sixth highest in Class Rural — and will host 3-seed Madison County on Wednesday after defeating Trenton 45-44 in the district championship. That was enough to propel Fort White ahead of Madison County, which ended the year with a 7.377 rating — seventh highest in Rural — after losing to Hilliard in the District 5 championship.
Hilliard is the 1-seed with a 13.605 rating — third highest in Rural — and will host 4-seed Trenton, which finished the year at 5.169 to edge Union County’s mark of 4.538 for the region’s final playoff spot.