Girls, boys basketball teams take home double district championships Boys basketball captures

district title from Colonial 39-36

With one minute left in the district championship, Hagerty led Colonial 38-34. Sweat dripped in his eyes as senior Aiden Cilladi dribbled the ball preparing for the free throw. He took a deep breath as it went in, giving Hagerty the last point needed to win the championship.

On Feb. 10, the boys varsity basketball team traveled to Colonial for the district championship game. They won 39-36, sending the team to regionals.

During halftime, Hagerty was down 27-19, but in the third quarter, Hagerty was able to pull ahead by two points. For the last two quarters of the game, the score was extremely close.

game for two years,” Barr said.

Since transferring from Oviedo High School, this was Barr’s first time playing in the district championships.

“I was really proud when we were able to cut the lead back after being behind in the second quarter,” Barr said.

“I’m happy the guys played so hard and smart— they deserved the win. The seniors were on a mission, and it made a huge difference,” Kohn said.

As their biggest goal was to be able to host regionals, the team had been working a lot on their techniques at practices. They have been doing the best they can to improve their communication and shooting skills by doing scrimmages. They also spent a lot of time watching films, going over plays and studying their opponents so that they were prepared for anything.

and play been waiting for another chance at this game for two years.

Senior Dawson Barr was the lead scorer with 21 points, but defense played a bigger role in the game.

This was the lowest scoring game they have had all season by eight points. According to basketball coach Josh Kohn, the defense that the team played was designed to slow Colonial down. It succeeded while also slowing Hagerty down, which made scoring tougher for both teams. Colonial did not score for the last eight minutes.

Trust between players played a large part in how they interacted on the court and the decisions they made.

“My main goal was to stay calm and play through. I’ve been waiting for another chance at this

Q&A with head coach Josh Kohn

How is coaching the girls different from coaching the guys?

“I could probably talk for an hour about this one. I mean one example is the girls had a six minute debate about what playlist to run out to for warm-ups and [the] boys just run out to whatever is playing. “

“Miscommunication was a big thing we were working on. We struggle with not communicating or talking at the wrong time and letting up an easy bucket,” power forward Adrian Garces said. The team has made sure to keep their good chemistry since the beginning, aiding them in their successful 22-5 season.

“We already had good chemistry and we all shared the ball. When one person had an off day, another could pick up the slack. We all talk and make sure we keep up our chemistry,” Garces said.

On Feb 16. Hagerty faced off against Ocoee in a Regional Quarter-Final, advancing to the regional semi final with a 60–41 win. Senior point guard Dawson Barr led the team with 22 points, with seniors Andrew Broome (11P) and Aiden Cilladli (9P) following close behind. Next, the team will compete at Evans on Feb. 21, in order to advance to the Regional Finals.

Are you going to continue coaching both teams?

“No. Back to boys only.”

How has it been coaching a kid on each team?

“In the moment –on the floor –it feels like you are coaching any player on any team or in any season. When I’m home—outside of the team—it hits me. It’s pretty cool. Surreal to be honest, especially at the same time. Maybe even a little more special coaching Hannah as she is a senior and I’ve never been her coach before.”

When did you think the double district title could be possible?

“About two weeks before the district tournament both teams were playing well and I thought ‘Both teams are good enough to win districts’ –Honestly thinking ‘could that really happen?’ but knowing it would be tough because of the competition.”

What’s been unexpected taking on both teams at once?

“I think overall trying to manage the schedules of all five teams in particular–varsity and JV girls as well as 9th, JV and varsity boys –That’s 50 plus student athletes and over 150 games!”