Hession dominates
Senior nearly posts a triple-double as team advances to finals
St. Thomas Aquinas girls basketball, which as recently as less than a decade ago rarely made it past the district playoffs, is one win from a state-championship four-peat.
The Raiders got a dominant performance from senior Khadee Hession as Aquinas routed Apopka Wekiva 62-35 in a Class 6A state semifinal at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center on Thursday afternoon.
Hession scored a game-high 20 points but also pummeled Wekiva with a head-spinning 10 steals, along with eight rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.
Mya Johnson was the Raiders’ second-leading scorer with 14 points and also had 12 rebounds, Ka-zahria Johnson had 10 points and 11 boards, including seven on the offensive end, and Kamryn Corporan had 10 points, six steals and five rebounds.
Aquinas (22-9) pulled away for good by closing out the period on a 12-2 run. The Raiders built a 32-13 lead with 2:06 left in the half and netted 21 points off 19 turnovers before the break.
The game was a rematch of state championship outings won by Aquinas in 2021 and ’22.
St. Thomas moves on to face the winner of Valrico Bloomingdale and Ponte Vedra at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mustangs (19-11) led for the only time at 7-5 with 4:57 to go in the first quarter.
In the 11 years (2006-2016) before the arrival of coach Oliver Berens, the Raiders had reached the regional playoffs only once (2014).
Since then? St. Thomas Aquinas hasn’t missed regionals, reaching the state title game five times in Berens’ eight years.
Coleman, who entered the tournament leading Wekiva with 12.3 points per game, finished with a team-high 19 points.