With the start of the 2006 Boys Basketball playoffs many of the states eyes are on the Lake Howell Silver Hawks as they try to win the elusive state title that has eluded them over the last three years.

The battle for the title started tonight as they faced an Auburndale team who had only lost five games and came in with a 22-5 record on the season. Built as one of the best first round games in the playoffs the game didn’t disappoint as the Lake Howell Silver Hawks defeated the Auburndale Bloodhounds 84-73 in overtime.

The game was closely contested from the tip-off as Auburndale took a 34-31 halftime lead led by the shooting of Brandon Giles and P.J. Turner as they combined for 20 of the 34 first half points while Chandler Parsons led Lake Howell with nine first half points.

The second half belonged to Lake Howell’s superstar guard Nick Calathes. Calathes scored the first seven points of the third quarter to give Lake Howell the lead. He finished the quarter with 16 points and finished with 43 points in the game.

“Coach talked to us about taking over the game on the defensive side of the ball at halftime. We made some adjustments and were able to pull out the victory.” Lake Howell’s Chandler Parsons said.

“At the end of the night, it came down to free throws. We didn’t hit our free throws and they did.” Auburndale’s Coach Eric Robinson said.

The Bloodhounds played most of the second half with leading scorer Brandon Giles on the bench with foul trouble as he never was able to get involved in the game in the second half scoring only four points in the half and finishing with 14 for the game.

“I wanted to come out and be more aggressive in the second half.” Nick Calathes said. “I knew I had to come up big and make plays for my team.”

The road to the final four continues for the Silver Hawks as they face Tampa Wharton on Tuesday February 21 in the Regional Semifinals. Florida Prospects will continue to follow Lake Howell throughout the rest of the playoffs as they try to win their school’s first state title.