UNDER-TIGERS: Cocoa Tigers Win 5A District 7 Championship Over MCC Hustlers 56-43

By  //  February 16, 2019

Cocoa Tigers vs Avon Park – Thursday, Feb. 21

The Cocoa Tigers defeated the Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers 56-43 in the 5A District 7 Championship. The Tigers host round one of the playoffs on Thursday, February 21. (Cocoa High School Twitter image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – The Cocoa Tigers defeated the Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers 56-43 in the 5A District 7 Championship on Friday in a game played at Holy Trinity.

The upstart Tigers (11-15) will now host the first round of the playoffs vs. Avon Park (13-10) on Thursday, February 21.

Cocoa has enjoyed the ultimate Cinderella story this season. Last season the Tigers had a 5-win season. This season, under new head coach Edwin Jones, the Tigers had a whole new team.

Not only was the head coach new, but many of the players never played together. They improved this season, finishing with a total of 8 wins at the end of the regular season.

Since then, the Tigers have dominated in the postseason. Since the regular season ended, Cocoa started the postseason against the Cocoa Beach Minutemen who they defeated convincingly 67-38.

Then, the Tigers went on to face the 20-win Astronaut War Eagles on Wednesday. The Tigers pulled off the upset against the highly favored War Eagles defeating them 45-43.

The Tigers lost to the War Eagles in the third game of the regular season 80-49 where they looked like a completely different team Wednesday night.

REPLAY: Merritt Island Mustangs Beat Satellite Scorpions 3-0 To Advance To Regional FinalRelated Story:
REPLAY: Merritt Island Mustangs Beat Satellite Scorpions 3-0 To Advance To Regional Final

This season the Tigers went by the motto “Trust the Process.”

The team clicked on all cylinders against the 14-win Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers defeating them by 13-points, with the final score 56-43.

The key for the Tigers has been chemistry. They have been able to fuel off of one another.

The Cocoa Tigers hope to continue their cinderella story in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.