Big 3 captures Big 8: Kelly’s late heroics lift Blanche Ely to 2nd straight tournament title
PLANTATION — Blanche Ely freshman Janessa Kelly wasn’t on last year’s Tigers team that won the BCAA Big 8, won a district title and a state championship. But she knew she wasn’t going to let her team down on Saturday.
“I’m not going to be the reason why my team loses,” Kelly said.
So when Kelly got the ball in the corner with her team tied at 54 with rival St. Thomas Aquinas and seconds left to play, she let the ball go. It slid through the net for a three-pointer with 10.8 seconds left, and her basket proved to be the difference in the Tigers’ 57-54 Big 8 title-game win over the Raiders in Plantation.
“I had so much faith in her,” Ely junior Michiyah Simmons said. “That’s my shooter.”
The Tigers got out to a first-quarter lead, but the Raiders came back and built a seven-point lead in the second quarter. Breanna Gustave paved the way for St. Thomas early in the game, scoring 13 points in the first half.
But Simmons matched Gustave, scoring 12 points in the first half and keeping the Raiders from building a big lead.
The Tigers broke out in the third quarter, outscoring St. Thomas 25-16. They went on a 9-0 run where they took a lead that they never surrendered.
St. Thomas battled back from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Junior Maya Williams stole the ball and knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game
with 26.6 seconds left. But on the ensuing possession, Kelly hit her three to put Ely ahead for good.
“When you play for us, we have high expectations whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, junior or a senior,” Ely coach J.R. McNabb said. “If you’re playing varsity, we expect you to play a certain way. And we expect you to have a short memory. She missed a couple of shots early on; she made a couple in the second half. I always tell her, ‘Don’t worry about your last shot. Just focus on the next one.’ ”
Simmons led Ely with 22 points, while senior Miami signee Ja’Leah Williams notched 17 points. Kelly had nine points — all on threes — Junior Mya Kone had three points but hauled in 13 rebounds. For St. Thomas, sophomore Karina Gordon had 19 points, and Gustave had 18 points and eight rebounds.
“Michiyah is our leader,” McNabb said. “When she’s playing well, we’re playing well as a group.”
Ely is the fourth program to repeat as Big 8 champions in the tournament’s 24-year history.
After beating St. Thomas in the Big 8 championship last year, the Tigers went on to win their next eight games and a state title.
“Coach Oliver (Berens) is doing a really, really good job with them,” McNabb said. “They girls play with a lot of heart, and it’s one of those things where it seems like every time we play them, it’s a new game. It’s not even anything from the last game. we’ll go back to the drawing board, scout this film and be prepared for if we see them in districts.”