Calvary repeats as champs, looks to nationals
LAKELAND
Calvary Christian Academy’s goals for this season were bigger than just repeating as a state champion.
With a 74-58 win against Jacksonville Andrew Jackson in the Class 4A championship Saturday, Calvary Christian looked like a team ready for even bigger things ahead.
“Our main goal is GEICO Nationals,” star guard Marvel Allen said. “This is one step in our way, so we’ve got to take care of business. We’re looking forward to our bigger goal.”
The Eagles scored 23 points in the first quarter, led 36-22 at halftime and rolled to their third boys’ basketball state title in Lakeland.
Next up for the No. 4 team in MaxPreps’ rankings: GEICO Nationals and a shot at winning a national championship. Calvary Christian should officially announce it will play in the annual end-of-season showcase next week.
After surviving a scare for a two-point win against Orlando Lake Highland Prep in the 4A semifinals Thursday, the Eagles will go into the national tournament once again feeling good about the way they’re playing.
“I don’t think we played necessarily well the first game in this tournament. I think it was kind of like a big thing for us to come out and play hard, and kind of take command and kind of open it up early,” coach Cilk McSweeney said. “When we do that, we’re very good. When we’re playing free, we’re very good.”
At the start of the year, Calvary Christian talked about winning four championships, McSweeney said. It would start with a district title, and the Eagles eked out a two-point win against North Broward Prep to win District 13-4A last month. They then set their sights on a region championship, and they beat Mater Lakes Academy by 10 to win Region 4-4A last week.
The third championship would have to be another state title, and Calvary Christian’s trophy-clinching victory at the RP Funding Center was its most emphatic yet.
The Eagles (24-2) had five players score in double figures and led by 10 points or more the entire second half. They held center Stephon Payne, who orally committed to the Incarnate Word Cardinals last month, to nine points and 4-of-12 shooting, and kept Andrew Jackson (29-3) at bay in the second half with transition alley oops and putback dunks.
Star forward Gregg Glenn, who signed his national letter of intent with Michigan last year, scored 19 points and had seven rebounds. Allen, who has orally committed to LSU and is a five-star recruit in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2023, had 13.
Star forward Brenen Lorient, who committed to
FAU last year, had 12 points and eight rebounds. Star guard Carl Cherenfant, another four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, scored 16. Calvary Christian cruised even though star forward Taylor Hendricks, who leads the team in scoring and has signed with UCF, went just 5 of 16 and didn’t crack double figures until the final 30 seconds, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.
All but Lorient were part of the state title-winning team last year and star guard Tyler Hendricks, who signed with UCF with his twin brother, scored only three points, too.
It’s a mark of the program McSweeney is building in Fort Lauderdale, with a roster so rich with blue-chip talent the Eagles can win even when their four-star power forward is a bit off.
“I want to have a chance for kids to be at a great program and want to go there, and that don’t want to go to Montverde, IMG,” McSweeney said. “They want to play in their hometowns, so that’s what we’re doing.”
In an age when elite talents cluster at prep schools like Montverde Academy and Bradenton IMG Academy or even find ways to enter the professional ranks early, Calvary Christian has managed to do what so many of its South Florida counterparts have not.
In the 2023 class alone, five-star power forward Malik Reneau transferred from Mater Academy Charter to Montverde for his final two years of high school, four-chip guards Amen and Ausar Thompson left Pine Crest to play in Overtime Elite after their junior seasons, and blue-chip power forwards Matt and Ryan Bewley transferred from Northeast to Orlando West Oaks after their sophomore seasons, then turned pro with Overtime after their junior years. The Eagles managed to keep Glenn, Hendricks, Allen and Cherenfant at Calvary Christian with the promise they’d play on a national stage.
Finally, Florida’s newest powerhouse will get its shot.
“We knew right away,” said Cherenfant, who, along with Glenn, has played for the Eagles since 2017. “We wanted to come back as a group.”