Rebuilt Miami Christian girls’ basketball team falls short in return to state
The Miami Christian girls’ basketball team was facing adversity before the season practically had started.
The Victors lost the only player who had played on their back-to-back state championship teams in 2021 and ’22, senior guard Ziul Gonzalez, only three games into the season.
They also returned only two other players from last season, which ended short of the state final four.
That didn’t stop Miami Christian from rebuilding and making it back to Lakeland.
But it wasn’t enough for the Victors to repeat the same success they had two years ago.
Despite having three players score in double figures, Miami Christian struggled to maintain a consistent level of play in Tuesday’s 51–47 loss to Central Florida Christian Academy in a Class 2A state semifinal at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
“Sometimes when you get here, it isn’t even about X’s and 0’s,” Miami Christian coach Chanel Davila said. “It’s just about who wants it more.
“It was moments of us dominating and then moments of us just committing turnovers.
“We thought we were past that part of our game, but it definitely displayed tonight. Maybe it was nerves or the stage but whatever it was, it was definitely not our best performance.“
Miami Christian finished 14–14 and entered the state final four as the No. 4 seed in the Class 2A bracket. But while the Victors’ record wasn’t the most glamorous, it provided them valuable experience as they played several of the state’s top teams on the road back to Lakeland.
That experience paid off as Miami Christian withstood an early 15-0 run by Central Florida Christian and tied the game at 19 with three minutes left in the first half.
A layup by Marcela Ulloa and subsequent free throw gave the Victors a 33-30 lead midway through the third quarter.
But once again, Miami Christian could not put the game out of reach.
The Victors took their final lead on a three-pointer by Jazlyn Laguna with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
That was followed by a 7–0 run by the top-seeded Eagles (24-4), who iced the game with three free throws in the final minute.
“The team knew that in order to get here we had to fight,” Davila said. And a lot of the games this season we did have that fight. I just think we didn’t show it tonight.“
Davila and Miami Christian will have to do a little more rebuilding in order to return to state next season. The Victors will return only two players from their current roster — junior Maria De Gracia and sophomore Isabella Aversa. Both of them are starters, and each scored 10 points Tuesday.
Laguna led Miami
Christian with 15 points.
The Victors committed 23 turnovers and the Eagles had only 11.