{"id":172177,"date":"2026-02-27T23:32:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/172177\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:32:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:32:51","slug":"lhp-highlanders-take-best-ever-basketball-record-into-big-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/172177\/","title":{"rendered":"LHP Highlanders take best-ever basketball record into big game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lake Highland Prep owns a 28-1 record, a 24-game win streak and the third highest FHSAA power ranking<\/a> in the state going into Saturday\u2019s boys basketball region final night.<\/p>\n

But recruiting profiles suggest that the Highlanders are underdogs in their Class 4A Region 2 showdown against visiting Villages Charter (22-7).<\/p>\n

The Buffalo will bring at least six major college prospects to Orlando.<\/p>\n

Herly Brutus, a 6-foot-5 small forward signed by LSU, is a four-star senior. He\u2019s joined by two of the state\u2019s most coveted juniors in five-star point guard Aaron Britt and four-star Jomar Bernard, a 6-7 small forward. The shooting guards are senior Ethan Bevis and three-star junior Jared Thompson. And freshman point guard Cam Lee is another five-star prospect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think their entire starting five are D1 commits or have D1 offers,\u201d Lake Highland coach Ben Fratrik said. \u201cThey are crazy good. We know we\u2019ve got a hill to climb here. We\u2019re going to give it our best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shooting, savvy and determined defense has propelled Lake Highland to the best record in school history. The Highlanders have made 300 of 742 shots from behind the arc, an exceptional 40%.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo also launch a lot of 3-pointers. They are 213-of-660 (32%) from deep.<\/p>\n

Both teams spread the scoring.<\/p>\n

RJ Ingram, a 6-3 senior, leads LHP at 12.6 points per game. He has committed to the Air Force Academy prep school. Michael Madueme, a 6-5 senior heading to Ivy League Columbia, averages 12.2 and is followed by seniors Shiva Atwal (11.4), Robert Oskarsson (9.4) and junior Mark Dadlani (7.4).<\/p>\n

Britt leads Villages in scoring (13.9), followed by Bernard (9.5), Bevis (9.3), Brutus (9.1), and Thompson (8.8).<\/p>\n

The Highlanders are undefeated at home (10-0) and in games against FHSAA teams.<\/p>\n

Villages has played 16 games against teams in the top 10 of their classifications. The Buffalo lost to nationally ranked powers Montverde Academy, IMG and Stepinac of New York, along with Georgia No. 1 Wheeler. They also fell against Florida\u2019s 5A No. 1 Pembroke Pines Charter and 7A No. 2 Coral Glades. They split games with 6A No. 4 Bartow.<\/p>\n

Villages victory list includes California No. 11 St. John Bosco and Tennessee No. 15 McCallie, along with Oak Ridge, Olympia and Windermere Prep.<\/p>\n

Lake Highland has 14 wins against top-10 teams, including Georgia state title contender Mount Vernon (26-3), Oak Ridge, Edgewater, Lake Howell, Bartow, Dr. Phillips and Santa Fe Catholic.<\/p>\n

The Highlanders are joined by 10 other Orlando area teams striving to advance to the FHSAA state tournament<\/a>, which moves to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville this year.<\/p>\n

Final four games are next week for 1A (March 5 and 7) and 2A (March 6-7); and March 9 and 11 for 3A; March 11 and 13 for 5A; March 12 and 14 for 6A; and March 13-14 for 7A.<\/p>\n

Here are the other region final matchups. Teams are listed with updated MaxPreps classification rankings.<\/p>\n

7A Region 1<\/p>\n

No. 15 Lake Mary (22-7) at No. 7 Winter Park (22-7), 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Rematch of Winter Park\u2019s double-overtime 41-40 win in December. Winter Park\u2019s scoring and rebounding leader, 6-2 senior Will Ryan, made the decisive free throw in the final seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a defensive battle,\u201d Winter Park coach Stevan Colletes said. \u201cTheir zone gave us fits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owen Ceynowa, a 6-1 senior, averages 14.6 points for Lake Mary, which had never won a region playoff game until this year.<\/p>\n

Winter Park is 12-0 at home since losing early to two state-ranked teams, Kissimmee Osceola and CFCA, in the Rotary Tip-Off Classic.<\/p>\n

Oak Ridge, Winter Park, LHP cruise Saturday | FHSAA Basketball Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

7A Region 2<\/p>\n

No. 5 Olympia (17-10) at No. 3 Oak Ridge (19-9) 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

These District rivals meet for the first time this season.<\/p>\n

UCF signee Donovan Williams (17.2 points per game) is a playmaker for a talented Oak Ridge backcourt that includes senior Nate Earl, junior Whitfield Bynoe, and sophomore Jahmer Smith.<\/p>\n

Junior guard James Nowells (18 ppg, 5.3 rebounds) and 6-7 junior Bishop Wenze (12.3 ppg., 6.4 rebounds) are leading scorers for a deep Olympia team that has its top nine players due back<\/a> for 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Olympia\u2019s Justin Shipp, a second-year head coach, worked for Oak Ridge coach Steve Reece in the Florida Rebels travel team program and knows what is coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know they\u2019re going to run-and-jump and bring the pressure,\u201d Shipp said. \u201cWe have to take care of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lake Howell, OCP savor FHSAA boys basketball district titles<\/a><\/p>\n

6A Region 1<\/p>\n

No. 9 Buchholz (21-7) at No. 2 Lake Howell (24-5), 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

The SilverHawks make their first region final appearance since the glory days, which included seven consecutive elite eight berths (2002-08) and a 2007 state championship.<\/p>\n

Lake Howell beat rival Oviedo, then the region\u2019s top-seed, Mainland, before knocking out the 2025 region champ, Tocoi Creek, in an 82-77 double-overtime game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an injury bug this season and our bench kept us going until we got everybody back,\u201d SilverHawks coach Mike Sutton said. \u201cNow, we\u2019re healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

His top players are stellar sophomore Johnas Maurice (17.1 ppg., 4.9 assists) and 6-7 senior Isaac Buckley (14.8 ppg, 7.1 rebounds).<\/p>\n

6A Region 2<\/p>\n

No. 4 Bartow (24-5) at No. 3 Evans (21-7), 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

This is a collision of blue-blood programs.<\/p>\n

Bartow has won six state titles \u2014 three under current coach Terrence McGriff (2010, 2021, 2022).<\/p>\n

Evans, a state champ in 1975<\/a>, is vying for its 10th state tourney berth \u2014 and third in a row for coach Lonza Morgan.<\/p>\n

The Trojans beat Bartow 73-50 last season en route to a state runner-up finish, but graduated four starters.<\/p>\n

Players to watch are Evans junior guard Abimael Belleus (15.6 ppg) and Bartow 6-7 sophomore Derwyn Link, who has D1 offers.<\/p>\n

5A Region 2<\/p>\n

No. 12 Pine Ridge (14-14) at No. 9 Lecanto (23-6), 7 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whose dynamic duo is best? Lecanto senior guards Braylen Moore (25.3 ppg) and JT Tipton (23.6 ppg) have both made over 100 3-point shots.<\/p>\n

Pine Ridge counters with its coach\u2019s son, Henry Robinson Jr., a 6-7 junior (27.4 ppg, 8.3 rebounds) and 6-5 senior Wilmer De La Rosa (16.5 ppg, 10 rebounds, 3.6 assists).<\/p>\n

Pine Ridge, seeded seventh in the eight-team region, has pulled off four straight rankings upsets.<\/p>\n

2A Region 1<\/p>\n

No. 6 The First Academy (19-10) at No. 1 Providence School (26-3), 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

TFA is in the elite eight for the first time since reaching state semifinals in 2015 and 2016. They\u2019ve got a tall task. Providence is on a 14-game win streak and has won 23 of its past 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the underdog. Obviously, we\u2019re excited about the challenge,\u201d second-year Royals coach Tarrik Rabon said.<\/p>\n

Hardnosed guard Max Simmons is TFA\u2019s only senior starter.<\/p>\n

Former TFA guard Luke Mayberry, a Navy commit, averages 9.1 points as a Providence senior.<\/p>\n

1A Region 2<\/p>\n

No. 4 Orlando Christian Prep (21-6) at No. 5 Central Florida Christian Academy (22-6), 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Crosstown rivals clash for the third time this season and fifth in two years. CFCA beat OCP twice in playoff games last season to snap the Warriors\u2019 nine-year streak of final four berths. The Eagles won again, 44-41, in December\u2019s Rotary Tip-Off Classic championship game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OCP turned the tide with a 60-49 district final win three weeks ago. CFCA coach Albert Settles said OCP senior guard Josh Theus burned his team in that game.<\/p>\n

Alexander Dipaolo, a 6-6 senior, averages 17.5 points for CFCA.<\/p>\n

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lake Highland Prep owns a 28-1 record, a 24-game win streak and the third highest FHSAA power ranking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3745,139,141,140,76046,76642,110],"class_list":["post-172177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-high-school-sports","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-social-varsity-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}