Dr. Phillips moves on as Colonial falls short in semifinals
LAKELAND — Defending girls basketball state champion Dr. Phillips overcame early turnovers and foul trouble Friday afternoon in Lakeland to ensure a return to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A state-title game.
DP held off Miami High (23-6) for a 40-31 win in what was a rematch of last year’s state final.
The Panthers (29-1) will face Winter Haven (24-4) on Saturday at 8 p.m. at RP Funding Center. The Blue Devils won 61-52 vs. Colonial (21-9) in the other 7A semifinal.
Junior standout Trinity Turner was limited to only four minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls early in the first quarter.
“We talk all season about not getting into foul trouble,” DP coach Anthony Jones said. “We’re not as deep as we were last year, so if our first three or four players get in foul trouble, it really changes how we play the rest of the game.”
Turner bounced back to finish with 9 points and 7 rebounds, the majority of which came in the second half. Sophomore Ronnie Berry scored 9 points and had 3 steals while senior Jordan Ward led all players with 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
The game was tied at 22 with 4:35 left in the third quarter when DP went on a 10-1 run to pull away for good on baskets by Turner, Berry and sophomore Elise Horne.
Sidney Wilson got Miami to within 32-26 on a 3 with 5:35 left in the game. The Stingarees, who shot just 26% from the field, cut DP’s advantage to 35-29 two minutes later but continued to struggle from the floor down the stretch.
The Panthers came away with a 43-31 advantage in rebounds against a team that won a state title in 2020 and finished as runner-up in 2018, ‘19, ‘21 and ‘22.
Colonial trailed 19-9 after one quarter in the other semifinal and never recovered despite remaining within reach of Winter Haven throughout much of the game.
“The turnovers kind of hit us in that first quarter,” Colonial coach Cindy Richardson said. “We gave the ball away too many times and didn’t take care of it when we needed to.”
Sophya Barreiro and Milan Santos, two of four seniors on roster, made 3s to get the Grenadiers within 35-34 early in the third quarter. Winter Haven responded by outscoring Colonial 12-5 over the next seven minutes for a 47-39 lead.
Colonial got within six points multiple times in the fourth.
“They got the majority of all the 50-50 balls,” Richardson said of the Blue Devils. “We would transition and miss a layup, run a play and miss a layup, and it felt like it sucked the air right out of us.”
Barreiro was huge for Colonial on both ends of the floor — as were juniors Jasmynne Gibson and Carmen Richardson — while finishing with 10 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Santos tallied 9 points. Gibson led the team with 12 points and 8 rebounds and Richardson had 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.