JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hilliard pulled away in the second half and punched its ticket for a spot in the Class 1A boys basketball state championship game.
The Red Flashes coasted past Crossroad Academy on Friday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, winning 49-36 in the Class 1A state semifinals. Hilliard (25-2) will face Williston (28-2) on Saturday night at 8 for the championship.
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The Red Flashes have played in seven state championship games, the most recent coming in 2020. Their lone title came in 1963.
The Red Flashes enter that showdown on an 18-game winning streak. Hilliard found itself in a one-point game early in the fourth quarter before starting to pull away. CJ Hall, Brandyn Seldomridge, Malcom Warthen and Kevin Thomas led a 15-0 blitz that turned the game in an instant. Hilliard went from up 34-33 to up by 16 over a four-minute span to shoo away Crossroad.
Warthen led Hilliard with 16 points, followed by Hall (11) and Seldomridge (10).