- April 20, 2024
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FPC will play at Paul J. Hagerty 7 p.m. Feb. 16, in the Class 8A state regional quarterfinals.
Flagler Palm Coast was forced to play outside its game plan Feb. 11, eventually losing to Sandalwood, 61-38, in the District 1-8A championship.
Sandalwood got a triple-double out of senior center Bradley Hayes, and the Bulldogs had no response. FPC was forced to shoot mostly outside jumpers and 3-pointers.
“We struggled to find a rhythm with adjusting to their changing defenses,” FPC coach Gary McDaniel said.
Despite the dominant inside play by Hayes through the first half, FPC got exceptional guard play by Tyler Hopkins and Jimmy Belle. The two guards combined for six of FPC’s seven 3-pointers — three each.
The Bulldogs were down three, 27-24, at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, Sandalwood got two inside buckets to stretch the lead to 29-24. With Hayes continuing to stymie any FPC drives to the basket, Sandalwood went on a 7-2 run to close out the third quarter, leading 44-32.
The fourth quarter was more of the same, as FPC continued to force shots from behind the arc. The Bulldogs made six 3-pointers in the first half, but converted only one in the second half.
With about 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, FPC trailed, 53-38.
FPC (21-5) was led in scoring by Hopkins, who finished with 13 points. Belle added 11 and Malik Maitland had five.
The Bulldogs won the two regular season matchups by a combined four points. Hayes scored a combined 24 points in the first two games.
“We relied on three-point shooting, which wasn’t the primary game plan,” McDaniel said.
Sandalwood (21-6) was a matchup nightmare for the Bulldogs, with Hayes inside and several athletic players on the Saints’ roster. Because of the mismatches, McDaniel said game plan design was important.
“After the game, I reminded the guys that we practiced extremely well only to go out and play the game nothing like the rehearsal,” McDaniel said.
This week, McDaniel said he will dedicate practice to making adjustments.
“There is no doubt that my guys will not quit,” he said. “We want to believe that we just had a bad night. We still believe.”
FPC will travel to play Paul J. Hagerty (Oviedo) 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Class 8A regional quarterfinals. Hagerty (20-7) won the District 2-8A championship over Seminole.
Wins by FPC and Sandalwood Thursday night would pit the two teams together for a fourth matchup, likely to be played Tuesday, Feb. 14.
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