LAKELAND — Longtime ladies basketball coach Tommie Butts is one in all many who prefer to say protection travels and is required most in shut video games.
His Central Florida Christian Academy staff introduced simply sufficient defensive toughness to a 51-47 victory in opposition to Miami Christian within the Florida Central Athletic Affiliation Class 2A semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
The Eagles (24-4) had 13 steals and compelled 23 turnovers to offset poor capturing and report the primary final 4 win in program historical past. It was the primary sport of the two-week FHSAA basketball state match on the RP Funding Heart.
“We've been a superb three-point capturing staff all yr,” Butts mentioned. “However you need to defend and rebound to win. That’s the key.”
He received state championships as Wekiva's coach in 2014 and '19 earlier than shifting to CFCA final season.
The Eagles, with solely two seniors, will probably be gunning for a title of their very own in Thursday's championship sport at 5:30 p.m. They may play Evangelical Christian (25-3) of Fort Myers, which received 59-43 in opposition to College Christian (19-7) of Jacksonville within the different semifinal.
CFCA is 15-1 since December thirtieth. The one loss was Dr. Phillips, which is vying for its third straight 7A title subsequent week.
Battle-tested Miami Christian (14-14) led 35-33 by three quarters, with CFCA capturing simply 31.7% from the sector. However a clutch of 3-pointers by Victoria Rodriguez and Valeria Munoz gave the Eagles a 42-41 lead with 4:33 remaining. That prolonged to 47-41 after middle Aariah Denmark dropped a pinpoint cross to Janiya Swift for a backdoor basket.
Miami Christian was pressured to foul and CFCA made 7-10 free throws within the last minutes.
“I at all times believed in our ladies. They received't cease,” Butts mentioned.
Denmark, a sophomore, completed with 14 factors, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and three steals.
Senior guard Trinity Harden had 10 factors and 6 rebounds. Aarin Manuel had 7 factors and 4 steals off the bench and Makayla White had 6 factors and seven rebounds.
CFCA made simply 17 of 52 pictures (32.7%) however was capable of win by limiting Miami Christian to only 36 makes an attempt.
“Lots of these stops helped us get some good runs,” Munoz mentioned.
CFCA got here out chilly, lacking its first eight pictures and falling behind 8-2. However a dribble-dribble basket by Denmark after a steal sparked a 15-0 Eagles run. In that spree, Manuel scored on a floater for CFCA's first lead (9-8) and Harden made three consecutive buckets to increase the margin to 17-8. With two minutes left within the second quarter, it regarded just like the Eagles would possibly draw back.
It didn’t occur. The Victors turned the momentum when Jaylyn Laguna hit two 3s for a 17-17 tie and it stayed shut the remainder of the best way.
Play continues with 4 3A semifinal video games on Wednesday. That features Windermere Prep (23-7) vs. Windfall College (24-5) at Jacksonville in a boys sport at 7 p.m.
Lake Highland Prep (23-5) performs within the 4A ladies semifinal in opposition to St. Petersburg Lakewood (23-4) Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m.
The Class 1A semifinals (girls and boys) are adopted by the 3A finals on Friday. The 1A and 4A championship video games are Saturday.
The state tournaments for the bigger colleges, together with 5A and 6A, will probably be performed subsequent week, starting March 6, in Lakeland.
FHSAA State Basketball Pairings: CFCA, OCP, Orlando Space First Groups to Decide
Varsity Content material Editor Buddy Collings may be reached by e mail at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
