Cypress Creek, a first-year team in the Lightning High School Hockey League, won the championship. The Coyotes defeated rival Wiregrass Ranch 5-3 in the semifinals before a 5-3 victory over Steinbrenner in the final.

“If feels great being the first Cypress Creek team to make the championship,” said forward Tyler Greene, who scored twice in the semifinal and added a hat trick in the final. “Many more to come.”

Perhaps few enjoyed that outcome more than Cypress Creek coaches J. Powers and Mark Kroeten, both of whom once coached together for Wiregrass Ranch and noted that there is plenty of crossover among the players.

“There’s some seniors over there that I coached,” Powers said of the Wiregrass Ranch roster. “In the back of your mind it’s a little bit more special.”

Added Kroeten, who preceded Powers at Wiregrass Ranch, “The kids know the other guys very well. They’re all from this same area.”

Powers’ ties to Wiregrass Ranch include his children. Sebastain played three varsity seasons for the Bulls (Class of 2022) and now plays for the Florida Eels, a minor league hockey team. His daughter Isabel is in the band at Wiregrass Ranch.

In the regular season, the Coyotes and Bulls split two games and tied for second place in the Andreychuk Division with 24 points each. Cypress Creek then went 4-0 in the postseason while Wiregrass Ranch went 2-1.

In the semifinal, Cypress Creek got all five of its goals in the third period. Aside from Greene’s two goals, Hayden Hutner, Henry Bourtman and Cody Spera scored on Wiregrass Ranch goaltender Brody Levering.

Greene added a hat trick (three goals in one game) and Hutner scored twice in the final against Steinbrenner.

Hutner, named the player of the month for January, led the league in scoring with 33 goals and 57 points during the regular season. Greene finished fourth with 30 goals and 46 points. In four playoff wins that pair combined for 16 points.

In the playoffs to reach the final, Cypress Creek outscored the opposition 20-3 in winning three games. Goaltender Carter Lindquist posted a 1.00 goals-against average with a .962 save percentage in that span.