Here’s a roundup of district championship girls basketball games involving Treasure Coast teams from Friday, Feb. 6.
After John Carroll Catholic was the first area girls basketball team to hoist a district title on Wednesday, four others joined the party with emphatic performances. With their victories, those programs receive automatic berths into the FHSAA postseason.
Regional quarterfinals will be played on Friday, Feb. 13. Semifinal games are set Feb. 20 while regional final games are scheduled for Feb. 27 as teams vow for a spot at the state championships in March at Jacksonville.
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District 7-7A championship
No. 1 St. Lucie West Centennial (20-6) 70, No. 2 Treasure Coast (23-4) 45: The two top-ranked girls basketball teams in Region 2-7A shared the court for the first time this season. By night’s end, St. Lucie West Centennial showcased a gear that Treasure Coast, or many others for that matter, may not have.
As a result, the path out of the region goes through the Eagles’ nest.
Turning the first quarter into a track meet before raining down 3-pointers from the late stages of the third until the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles claimed their second consecutive district title after crushing the Titans on Friday, Feb. 6 from St. Lucie West Centennial High School.
The hosts enjoyed a 22-4 advantage after eight minutes of play and pushed out to as much as a 27-point advantage in the fourth.
“These girls have been pouring in tons of work, I can’t praise them enough,” Centennial head coach Jesse Stewart said. “Obviously all the glory goes to God, but the work they put in really showed today. … I was just so proud of them to go out there and focus on one of the many goals we set out for this year, which was winning districts. But for them to maintain their focus today and stay composed, it was awesome and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
Both teams have more basketball in their future with the regional tournament set to begin next week.
Set to make its first state playoff appearance since 2020, Treasure Coast may be in line for homecourt advantage through the first two rounds. That is contingent on the Titans not dropping from their second-place regional ranking and not being slotted against another district champion in the quarterfinal round.
Meanwhile, after falling one game short of the state semifinals last season, the Eagles are the favorites to win the region as its top seed this season.
“As much as I’m excited tonight, I can’t help but go watch film on who I think we may be playing or who could fall to us,” Stewart said. “But ultimately, I want the players to enjoy this moment. We have the luxury of hosting because we’ve handled what we’re supposed to do. We’ll continue to work with whatever I see on film, but I want them to enjoy tonight, especially with the senior group that we have.”
Here are three takeaways from the Eagles’ district-title win.
Message delivered
The Eagles’ initial flurry revolved around one word: pressure.
Throughout the opening period, the home team alternated between a full-court press and intense man-to-man defense as soon as a Treasure Coast ballhandler crossed the half-court line. Alyssarai Gordon was particularly targeted, with the Centennial defense relentless in trying to disrupt freshman point guard’s ability to set up the Titans’ offense.
Numerous transition opportunities emerged from the pressure as deflected or soft passes were intercepted by Eagles players jumping into the passing lanes. One of those players was Jada Parson, as the senior forward snatched a tipped pass and tightroped the sideline before converting a layup to give the hosts a 12-2 lead.
“I got two sophomores and a freshman that played the entire game. Alyssarai played real well, but when you’re a freshman and you have seniors guarding you, that’s tough,” Treasure Coast head coach Robin Potera-Haskins said. “We just got to handle the pressure, relax a little bit, control the game and know when to go and when not to go, because at times it looked like we could play with them.”
Parson and fellow senior Jailyn Williams combined for all 22 of their team’s first-quarter points.
Centennial, who walked onto the floor with loads of motivation, remained ahead by double figures for the rest of the night.
“I watched tons of film and I just saw some weaknesses. I thought that with our ability and our (athletes), that could get exposed,” Stewart said. “(The Titans) do a lot of dancing on Instagram and received a lot of recognition from TCPalm. These girls took that and looked upon themselves to really send a message. They bought in on our plan and ultimately it showed.”
Eagles senior guard Jakenzye McBride added: “This whole season they’ve been playing easy teams and they thought that they were the best team on the Treasure Coast. We showed them tonight that we’re really the best, and it felt good.”
‘We all knew’
Centennial’s cushion stabilized during the middle quarters.
The hosts backed off their pressure while their offense was stagnant against the Titans’ 2-3 zone defense. The visitors trimmed their deficit to 10 during the second quarter before entering halftime down 34-20. The gap remained within that range until McBride caught fire from long distance.
The senior guard busted the zone with three 3-pointers in the third, including back-to-back makes in the closing minutes of the period. Then, as the Eagles ramped up their pressure and the transition game returned, McBride, who often spotted up in the corners, knocked down three more shots from behind the arc.
“Jakenzye is our motor,” Stewart said. “She handles the ball and has a lot of roles, but the good thing is that these girls trust her so much. They always look for her. So every opportunity to find her when she’s open, they are going to give it to her because they have so much belief in her.”
McBride was in a zone, scoring 22 of her game-high 24 points in the second half.
“In the beginning of the game, my threes weren’t falling and I started losing my confidence,” she said. “But after I hit that first one, it was just go from there.”
Williams added: “We all knew.”
1K club
Williams finished with 19 points while senior center Lovely Gabriel added 10 for the Eagles. The visitors were led by senior guard Reniah Flynn, who posted with 23 points. Sophomore forward Justice Alexis contributed 10 points.
McBride and Flynn were recognized after the game as each player reached 1,000 career points. On a rare field goal inside of the arc, McBride got to the milestone on a layup late in the fourth quarter.
“She works so hard that I’m just happy for her to surpass 1,000 points tonight and get her second district-title win,” Stewart said.
Entering the night four points shy of 1,000, Flynn reached the mark with a basket in the paint during the second quarter. The Titans senior captain played volleyball primarily during middle school before Potera-Haskins put her on the varsity basketball team as a freshman. The coach has gotten to watch Flynn blossom ever since.
“She averaged three points a game then. There’s not too many kids that average three points a game as a freshman and then finish with more than 1,000 points. That usually means you’re not a scorer,” Potera-Haskins said. “It’s easy to play when you got an all-star team and all the players are so good. But when you’re the one leading your team as the oldest one, and they’re focusing on you a lot, that’s pretty tough. Reniah has played really well and I’m proud of her.”
District 13-6A championship
No. 1 Martin County (13-13) 61, No. 2 Dwyer (11-11) 32: During their regular season finale on Jan. 29, the Tigers needed a massive fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Panthers. However, when the two teams met eight days later under much higher stakes, a comeback was not needed.
Not in the slightest.
Host Martin County controlled the rematch from the outset en route to capturing the program’s third consecutive district championship.
What was the difference between the two games? Made shots allowed the Tigers to dictate the action as opposed to chasing it. They led 19-8 through the first eight minutes and increased their lead at the end of each quarter.
“Honestly, the shots were falling tonight,” Martin County head coach Georgia Taylor said.
No one drilled more shots, or pestered Dwyer more than Brianna Valenza. The junior guard notched a double-double with 26 points and 11 steals. With three 3-pointers, senior guard Becca Witt added 15 points.
The Tigers are slated to host a regional quarterfinal game for the third year in a row. They are hoping to avoid an early exit after being bounced during the second round each of the previous two seasons. To prepare her group for this postseason run, Taylor put the team through a grueling gauntlet. Martin County entered districts with the 14th-hardest strength-of-schedule in the entire state.
“Last year, we had a great record and won districts. And that was awesome, but then we got to regionals and we ended up losing to a really tough team. So I wanted to play tough teams all season long.” she said. “My kids were down with the plan and they understood that it was going to be really, really hard. But I think our tough schedule really helped us fly through districts. I think going up against hard competition all year long really prepared them for big moments. And when the big moment came tonight, they really shined.”
The plan wasn’t without its rocky moments.
Martin County sat below the .500 mark for much of the season and endured a six-game losing streak from late November into the middle of December. That skid started with three losses by four points or less. Still, Taylor believes her players stayed the course thanks to emphasizing team bonding.
“The best thing about them was their camaraderie,” she said. “I kept them around each other all the time. This year, we did even extra activities outside of basketball to just keep them composed and to remind them why we’re really here: it’s the kids you play with, the teammates that hopefully you talk to are friends with for a long time. I think their team chemistry really held them together.”
District 13-5A championship
No. 1 Sebastian River (19-3) 53, No. 2 Jensen Beach (15-8) 37: The host Sharks captured their first district title in more than a decade after using a second-half surge to defeat the Falcons. Visit TCPalm.com to read more about Sebastian River’s victory.
District 9-3A championship
No. 1 Lincoln Park Academy (19-5) 131, No. 3 Avon Park (5-12) 26: Legendary head coach Wendell Adams isn’t sure if his Greyhounds set a record on Friday night. But he does believe he witnessed some personal history.
“It was our first time scoring 100 points since I’ve been coaching the Lincoln Park girls team,” said Adams, who will retire from his position at season’s end after 39 years at the helm.
LPA demolished the Red Devils to win its third consecutive district title and 19th overall.
Two nights after opening their semifinal contest with a 24-0 run, the Greyhounds won the first quarter by a 39-0 margin. Avon Park got on the scoreboard at the start of the second quarter, but LPA’s cushion ballooned to 68-8 by halftime.
The hosts saw each of their players enter the scoring column. They also shot 55 percent from the field, recorded 30 assists and swiped 23 steals.
“Everybody got a chance to play. It was just one of our better performances,” Adams said. “I felt we had the advantages as far as our size and athleticism. But even with that, if you’re hitting shots the way we hit shots tonight, good things will happen.”
Freshman guard Victoria Boyer had a standout effort, establishing a new career high with 42 points. She went 7 of 8 from three-point territory.
Boyer has surpassed the 20-point mark in each of her last three games. One season after coming off the bench, the freshman is in the middle of a breakout campaign, as her latest barrage pushed her team-best scoring average to 17.8 points per game.
“She’s really put into work, she made a good jump,” Adams said. “She had a strong summer with AAU travel ball. It’s just a testament of when you put in the work, good things happen for you.”
Breanna Matthews (17), Ta’tyannah Thompson (15), Olivia Titherington (15) and Demorah Joseph (14) each scored in double figures. Elsewhere, Jayla Willette had eight points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Lincoln Park Academy entered district ranked second in Region 3-3A and is in line to host at least two regional playoff games if its position doesn’t change.
District 8-1A championship
No. 1 Merritt Island Christian (19-5) 67, No. 2 Morningside Academy (18-7) 31: The middle quarters were most damaging in the Eagles’ hopes of a district repeat. They were outscored 46-16 during the second and third frames and fell at home to the top-seeded Cougars. Stats were unavailable.
Morningside Academy still may be postseason bound. The team was ranked eighth in Region 2-1A entering districts and would get in as an at-large bid.
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast girls basketball: Four area teams win district titles Friday
Reporting by Patrick Bernadeau, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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