PALM BAY — Bayside won the Cape Coast Conference girls basketball championship title after defeating Viera 51-29 on Thursday, Jan. 15.
The Bears built an early lead to open up the game and ended the first quarter in front 13-6. Bayside continued to carry the lead throughout the second quarter as well, going into halftime ahead 23-10.
Carleyssia Wallace scored 12 points in the third quarter to further extended Bayside’s lead. Early in the fourth quarter, Kamorah Sharpe made back-to-back buckets for the Bears, helping the team stay in control for the remainder of the game.
“I feel as if we connected better in the second half. Just being able to talk to each other out there on the court, just talking about what’s going on, and just communicating with each other,” Carleyssia said.
Carleyssia finished the game with 17 points, Sharpe added 14 points and Ellieyana Wallace scored nine points in the win for the Bears (13-8).
“I think what was really working for me today was trying to be aggressive by getting rebounds and trying to finish,” Carleyssia said. “A little bit early in the game I was a little bit off, so I think me being aggressive and my teammates hyping me up pushed me to have a good game tonight. So, it wasn’t just my efforts, it was my team’s efforts.”
For Viera (13-5), Viviana Russell scored nine points, and Aleyah McFadden had six points to end the game. The Hawks will go to Merritt Island Christian on Jan. 20 for their next game.
Bayside will host Lakeland on Jan. 16 for its next game. District tournaments are scheduled to start on Feb. 2.
After the game, Bayside coach Jonathan Frazier highlighted how the competition that the team faced over the holiday break really helped prepare his squad for this part of the season.
“The girls worked so hard, from start to finish it was relentless effort, hardworking energy, and dedication,” Frazier said of the team’s win. “Over the break we played against top teams from New Jersey all the way down to here in Florida, so this game right here shows them that those games weren’t for nothing.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Bayside girls win Cape Coast Conference basketball championship title
Reporting by Chasite Banks, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
