Coral Reef coach Gaston ''Chachi'' Rodriguez won't confess, but he has a good idea about what kind of opportunity his team has this season.

He is coaching a boys' basketball team that has never won a district title and has reached the regional playoffs just once, in 2007. But Rodriguez returns nine players from last year's group.

Three players -- Steven Lopez, Jerron Granberry and Charles Hankerson Jr. -- are reason to believe the 2008-09 season might be the Barracudas' best chance to win District 16-6A.

But don't expect Rodriguez to admit his team is the favorite.

''I never say that to anybody -- not even to my kids,'' he said. ``But this is probably the best shot we'll have in a while.''

Coral Reef kept proving that during its first-round game of the Junior Orange Bowl Classic.

Granberry scored 18 points, and the Barracudas outscored Hedgesville, from Georgia, 14-7 in the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 54-45 victory at Miami Dade College's Kendall Campus.

Coral Reef (9-1) will now play North Carolina's Vance -- which defeated Northwestern -- in a semifinal game at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

The victory was another notch for Coral Reef this season after it defeated top-flight teams in the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic in Kentucky on the way to a third-place finish.

But there is still a long way to go.

''I like that I have a lot of good kids,'' Rodriguez said. ``We have great depth, great speed, and the guys are focused.

``We'll see what happens.''

• Middleton, Ohio 47, Norland 36: After claiming the state championship last season, Norland is getting a taste of just how difficult it is to defend.

Losing six players -- including four starters -- doesn't help, either.

During its first-round game at the Junior Orange Bowl Classic, Norland went up against a physically dominating team from Middletown, Ohio, which attacked the basket and clogged the lane.

When asked if this was the biggest test his team has faced this season, Norland coach Lawton Williams III agreed, saying, ``Not even close.''

Norland didn't have a player score in double figures and shot just 33 percent from the field as Middletown got to the paint and shot 44 percent.

''Size and experience,'' Williams said of where Middletown held the advantage.

``We just have to keep working hard and trying to get better.

``It was a big challenge for us because they have several [Division I] players, and we were in it until the end. But we'll be fine.''

GIRLS' GAMES

To kick things off at Miami Dade College, North Miami Beach (9-4) got 29 points from Naomi Fequiere and, behind a 23-point lead going into halftime, got by Langley, Va., 50-40. Langley fell to 3-5.

Coral Reef (11-2) wasn't as fortunate against defending state champion South Broward (10-1), which was led by 26 points from Krystal Saunders and went on a 14-0 run late in the second quarter on the way to a 58-48 victory.

North Miami Beach will face South Broward in a semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Miami High (8-2), which got four three-pointers from Alexis Arichego, came up short with a 51-40 loss to Nova (9-1).

OTHER BOYS' GAME

Northwestern (7-2) wasn't able to hold off North Carolina's Vance (10-0). With four players fresh off returning from the state runner-up football team, the Bulls were outscored by 13 in the fourth quarter and ended up with a 67-53 loss.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

• Middletown 47, Norland 36 - MID: Edwards 14, Peters 12, Wright 9, Roberts 6, Jackson 2, Ramsey 2, Strouthers 2. NOR: A. Roberts 9, Baynham 9, Mincy 7, Brown 3, Atkins 3, C. Roberts 3, Jackson 2. Halftime: MIN 19-13. Three-pointers: A. Roberts 1, C. Roberts 1, Atkins 1. Rebounds: Roberts 6. Assists: Edwards 6. Steals: Edwards 3.

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