Mainland

Camryn Campbell is a senior at Mainland High School and coach T. A. ’s “go-to girl” for athletics and anything else that needs to be done on campus.

Mainland's Boys Varsity hosted Treasure Coast this past Wednesday at their Florida Classic Shootout. The extremely close game had the lead constantly switching between the 4-4 Buccaneers and the 4-3 Titans. With Treasure Coast leading at the half 22-20, Mainland managed to rally in the third quarter with a 39-33 lead going into the fourth, but Treasure Coast managed a comeback of their own, with a two-pointer in the last 5 seconds to seal the deal for the Titans.

Conference championship weekend is done, and the College Football Playoff field is set. Bowl season has arrived. The CFP committee paired Alabama with Cincinnati, and Michigan with Georgia, for national semifinals on New Year's Eve.

The Mainland girls basketball team knew there'd be nights like this. The Buccaneers assembled a killer schedule to prepare themselves for the state playoffs. So after suffering their second loss in five games, they weren't hanging their heads.

A pair of talented defenders with tri-county ties committed to NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision programs just before Thanksgiving. Bartram Trail senior linebacker Dylan Chiedo announced his plans to attend Furman, while Mainland grad Keylon Kennedy — a cornerback at Garden City (Kan. ) Community College — will perfect his craft under Hall of Famer Deion Sanders at Jackson State.

The Seabreeze High School football team is hosting its first playoff game since 2007. Mainland, on the other hand, is in the playoffs for the 28th consecutive year. Both teams are right on schedule.

The Panthers prowled their way into 5A District 4 champions as they defeated the Buccaneers in 5 sets, winning 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, and 15-12 respectively. Leading the overall offensive scoring for the Panthers as well as the Buccaneers, Freshman middle hitter Megan Lee shined for Pine Ridge with 29 kills, and Mainland’s senior hitter Alexa Wilson contributed an impressive 22 kills of her own to the match. The Panthers’ budding freshman Megan Lee was also a defensive weapon putting up 4 solo blocks as well as 3 block assists in their championship win.

The Buccaneers faced the Pirates on the high seas of volleyball to battle for a spot in the district championship. Mainland marooned Matanzas with a quick first set that began with a stuff and a kill, then ended with a 25-10 lopsided win. Mainland senior outside hitter Alexa Wilson led the team’s offense with a heavy arm giving the Buccaneers 16 kills on 42 attacks.

Seabreeze is in control of its playoff destiny. With the Sandcrabs' 31-7 victory over Orlando Bishop Moore on Oct. 15 at Daytona Stadium, Seabreeze (4-4) took over first place in District 7-5A with a 2-0 record and two games to play.

The Buccaneers nearly bested the Sandcrabs at home, but fell short in the fifth set after heading into volleyball overtime and losing by 2. The first set went to Seabreeze as setter Skylar Martin served their squad into victory with powerful overhands and a few instant replay aces up their sleeves. The Bucs came back in the second set with defensive specialist Bella Truxall adding an ace of her own in addition to a major defensive play against an onslaught of attacks from the Sandcrabs.

It was a battle of the Buccaneers on Friday night as the hometown Benjamin Bucs fell to those visiting from Mainland-Daytona.

The Buccaneers successfully navigated to a win in the Shark-infested waters of Atlantic High School in a four-set match that even saw one set go into volleyball overtime! The Sharks started circling as they took down the Bucs 25-23 in the first set. The second set opened with scorching serves from sophomore outside hitter Mia Mayberry as she put up 7 aces to turn the tide in favor of the Bucs. This match went into “volleyball overtime” as both squads hit 24-25 in the third set forcing a “win-by-2” situation.