BY CLIFF SMELLEY
The Bradford and Keystone Heights high school boys teams have qualified for the inaugural Florida Class 1A Public School Championship, which will be played Friday, Oct. 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Lake City’s Quail Heights Country Club.
Keystone Coach Ryan Begue, who serves on the tournament committee with Lafayette Coach Robbie Kerby, was instrumental in creating the event, which gives public schools in Class 1A the chance to play for a championship. The postseason in Class 1A is dominated by private schools, so even if a public-school team qualifies for the Florida High School Athletic Association Finals, it stands almost no chance of competing for a championship.
Eight teams were selected to participate based on iwannamaker.com rankings that take into count team average and course difficulty. Keystone was ranked sixth behind Frostproof, Fort Meade, Lafayette, Holmes County and Northview. The other qualifying teams are Walton County and Baker.
Northview, which is located in Century, won’t make the trip, which allows Bradford as the first alternate to now compete.
If you were to look at Class 1A as a whole, 40 private schools are ranked ahead of Frostproof, the top seed in the Public School Championship.
Trophies will be awarded to the top three teams. Medallions will be awarded to every player and coach on those teams as well as the top five individuals.
Qualifying teams will still compete in the FHSAA postseason, which begins with district tournaments being played Oct. 28-30.
