FHSAA GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Spruce Creek, Mainland eliminated in regional semifinals

The Volusia-Flagler area's two remaining girls' basketball state championship hopefuls exited the playoffs on Tuesday night.

Spruce Creek lost on its renovated home floor for the first time all year, while Mainland suffered a fifth defeat to Wekiva over the course of the last two seasons.

Both the Hawks and the Bucs reached the Elite Eight in 2019-20. With their defeats, the season draws to a close locally.

Here are recaps from both games.

Oakleaf 65, Spruce Creek 52

PORT ORANGE — Three-point shooting woes, an inability to track down rebounds and yet another stellar performance from one of the country's top sophomores doomed the host Hawks.

Taliah Scott, a four-star prospect according to ESPN, had 21 points, and Kaylah Turner added 20 as Oakleaf qualified for its first regional final in program history. The Knights (23-2) will host Orlando Timber Creek at 7 p.m. Friday for a spot in the Class 7A Final Four.

Spruce Creek finishes its campaign with a 18-6 record. A team that rotates just seven varsity players, the Hawks were shorthanded further as senior guard Richainti Harrell missed out due to an unspecified illness, Head Coach Kelvin Hamm said.

"This is what they brought me over here to do," said Frederick Cole, Oakleaf's first-year head coach who spent the previous eight years at neighboring Orange Park. "I'm fortunate. I've got a great group, and they have bought in quickly, which is sometimes hard to do.

"This is uncharted territory for me, as well. … I woke up this morning, and I was nervous as all get-out. My wife told me to settle down and just do what I do, and we did."

Oakleaf stretched its lead to 10 by halftime as Scott heated up from the field. She had 16 of her points in the opening two quarters.

"We made her make tough shots, and she made them," Hawks Head Coach Kelvin Hamm said. "She's the No. 14 player in the country for a reason. I told my kids if they think they're a Division I kid, just look at Taliah Scott."

Fantasia James battled foul trouble but pulled down 11 of the Knights' 25 rebounds.

Kacie Oelkers led the Hawks with 21 points, Emma Perna scored 15 and Tyja Beans chipped in 11. Beans broke out for 31 in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Ponte Vedra Nease.

Hamm said his girls did not shed tears post-game behind closed door, believing they gave it everything they had. Oelkers wiped a few away, though, when friends and family cheered her just outside the gymnasium.

"It's very emotional just thinking about the past four years," Oelkers said. "We worked our butts off, and it paid off. We just didn't get that last push."

Wekiva 65, Mainland 53

APOPKA — Mainland coach Brandon Stewart said the Buccaneers had to focus on protecting every possession to solve Wekiva. 

The Bucs committed seven turnovers during Wekiva’s opening 12-0 run Tuesday in the Mustangs’ 65-53 Region 1-6A girls' basketball semifinal victory. 

Wekiva (22-3) will move into Friday’s region final against Wednesday’s Navarre-Gainesville Buchholz winner. 

The clash of top-5 Class 6A teams was a rematch of the teams’ District 4-6A final, won 69-55 by Wekiva on Feb. 5. They also met last year in a region final, won by Wekiva 76-59.

Wekiva made a concerted effort to slow down Mainland senior guard Isys Grady. The UNC Greensboro commit had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucs (20-3), doing most of her damage in the second half. Several times, the Mustangs threw triple- and even quadruple-teams at her to force other Bucs to beat them. 

“Their guards were very aggressive, and it was definitely a fight to keep competing against them, especially since it was our second time playing them,” Wekiva senior guard Shadaria Smith. “We made sure we closed in on the gaps. We tried to send (Grady) to one side. Every time she got the ball, we always tried to close in on her to make sure she didn’t get easy ways to score.” 

The Mustangs threw a steady half-court defense at the Bucs, forcing 21 turnovers overall. They also hit Mainland in waves. Guard Jada Eads scored 10 of her 12 points in the first quarter for Wekiva, while forward K’Nari Holliday scored 17 of her game-high 21 in the second half. 

“I think we started to notice what they were doing, and we tried to adjust to that, and make the plays we made based on where they had defensive breakdowns,” Stewart said.

Freshman guard Tia Dobson gave the Bucs a spark, getting five assists to go with her 12 points. 

Several of those assists came on drives into the lane, where she’d pass to center Hailee Brennan. The 6-1 Mainland junior scored eight of her 14 points in the second half. 

Wekiva answered with depth, especially after losing Madelyn Touze to ejection in the second quarter and Eads to an injured elbow early in the third. Smith and junior Shaniyah McCarthy each had 10 points for the Mustangs. 

Stewart challenged the Bucs to increase their ferocity next season. 

“We just want to learn how to fight harder in games like this,” Stewart said. “We’ll be seeing teams like this all next year. Wekiva’s going to be a good team again next year, so we have to be ready to fight.” 

Contributing: Chris Boyle, Lynn Ramsey.