PALM BEACH GARDENS — Friday's championship for District 13-6A is set.

Semifinals at William T. Dwyer High on Wednesday saw five-seed Atlantic pull off the upset of No. 4 Seminole Ridge, winning 58-52, before No. 8 in Florida Blanche Ely dealt a 70-48 loss to the Dwyer Panthers on their home court.

Coming into the doubleheader, there was a glimmer of hope that Dwyer would advance past last winter's region runner-up. Just a week earlier, coach Jeryl Akins' underdogs shocked Palm Beach Gardens, the area's top program and the No. 23 team in Florida, with a dominant 52-44 defeat.

He knew then what would need to happen to survive Blanche Ely.

"Defense is the main thing," Akins said that Thursday.

The Panthers proved they could do it, doubling up on Gardens senior Kyana Poitier, the No. 8 rebounder in the state, averaging 15 per game. But that didn't take place against their Pompano Beach-based foes despite a gritty 18-point performance from Katie Nash.

Twenty-four points from Ely's Janessa Kelley, who stunned from downtown with six 3-pointers — four in the third quarter — were too much for Dwyer to overcome. The Tigers totaled 11 treys on the evening.

Now, the question is whether Atlantic will be able to outlast the three-time state champions for the title in the coming days.

If they're going to do it, Eagles coach Tyrani Owens wants to see her girls bring the same teamwork to the floor that they did to Seminole Ridge, which will be missing the district championship game for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

Senior Elanie Sullard led the Eagles with 19 points, seven blocks and six rebounds. The stat line was "no surprise" to Owens, who's been with the guard as she's averaged 17 points per game this season and the last.

Owens also shouted out sophomore point guard Keiara Todd for how she's shown up for Atlantic as of late, "leading the way on the offensive end," and senior Teresa Pierre, the team's "force" and "leader" who keeps them all together. Pierre, a center and forward, is averaging nine points and six rebounds per game this winter.

"We have to play better on and off ball defense in order to have a successful game against a team like Ely," Owens said. "We have to hustle and want it just as bad as they do."

Owens thought back to the 56-36 loss that Ridge dealt Atlantic a couple of weeks back, then even further to winter break. When the then-undefeated Eagles returned to the court in January, the nine-game streak snapped at the hands of Sarasota (15-9).

"Without having a few tournaments, it took us a while to get us back to ourselves. We took a few losses coming back into the second half of the season and it was because we stopped being consistent," Owens said.

As Atlantic has restored itself since a 3-13 season in 2021-22, Owens feels like her crew this year knows its identity heading into the fight for the trophy:

"Resilient."

Atlantic and Blanche Ely will be at Dwyer High again on Friday for a 7 p.m. tipoff to see who goes to the 6A state playoff.

More Tuesday winners

District 8-3A

No. 1 King's Academy def. No. 5 Benjamin, 65-20

No. 3 Cardinal Newman FF. No. 2 Somerset College Prep − SCP automatically advances to Friday championship vs. King's.

District 13-4A

No. 1 Somerset Canyons def. No. 4 American Heritage-Delray, 83-27

No. 2 North Broward Prep def. No. 3 Coral Spring Charter, 48-37 − Advance to Friday championship against Canyons.

District 14-5A

No. 1 American Heritage-Plantation def. No. 4 Jensen Beach, 72-28

No. 2 Boynton Beach def. No. 3 Suncoast, 49-48 − Tigers advance to Friday championship vs. American Heritage-Plantation.

District 7-7A

No. 1 Palm Beach Gardens def. No. 5 Vero Beach, 52-33

No. 2 Centennial def. No. 3 Fort Pierce-Central, 58-55 − Centennial advances to Friday championship at Gardens at 7 p.m.

District 8-7A

No. 1 Palm Beach Central def. No. 4 John I. Leonard, 59-18

No. 2 Forest Hill def. No. 3 Wellington, 35-31 − Falcons advance to Friday championship vs. PBC.

District 13-7A

No. 1 Boca Raton def. No. 5 Olympic Heights, 79-29

No. 3 Deerfield Beach def. No. 2 Spanish River, 41-17 − Deerfield advances to Friday championship at Boca at 7 p.m.

Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Atlantic wins, Dwyer and Seminole Ridge fall in district semi double-header