St. Thomas Aquinas hangs on vs. Wekiva to win Class 6A title

St. Thomas Aquinas is a school known for its athletic success. Most teams at St. Thomas Aquinas have won at least one state title, and the school gym is filled with championship banners.

The girls basketball program can now add a banner to the school’s collection.

Despite trailing for most of the game, the Raiders came back and held on to a narrow, late lead to beat Apopka Wekiva 62-60 in the Class 6A state championship in Lakeland on Saturday.

“When we started at the school, something I told coach [George] Smith was that I really wanted to deliver the first state championship in program history, and our girls wanted to deliver the first state championship in program history,” St. Thomas coach Oliver Berens said. “And we did it for each other, for the school and for coach Smith. It means everything to win that first.”

St. Thomas had its struggles on offense. The Raiders finished the game making only 37 percent of its shots from the field and converting only 17 of 34 chances from the free-throw line. But St. Thomas never let the game get away from them, and the Raiders finally got out ahead in the fourth quarter.

St. Thomas took its first lead of the game with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter, but Wekiva quickly reclaimed the advantage. The Mustangs had a chance to build a potentially decisive advantage with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter when freshman Jasmine Eads, who led all scorers with 19 points, went to the free-throw line with Wekiva leading by three.

It was the Mustangs’ turn to suffer at the free-throw line, and Eads missed both shots. St. Thomas’ Jada Green and Samara Spencer followed with four foul shots in a row, which got the Raiders within one point. Spencer added another basket with 58 seconds left to put St. Thomas ahead again.

“It definitely shows that altogether that as a team, we all have heart and when it comes down to free throws or gritty plays that we can all make them,” Spencer said.

The Raiders had possession late in the game and just needed to hold onto the ball and make potential free throws to seal the game, but the ball slipped away from a St. Thomas player and out of bounds. Wekiva had one last chance to steal the game back, but an inbounds pass slipped out of bounds, giving St. Thomas the ball and the game.

“We knew it would be a tough battle and that it was going to be back and forth,” Berens said. “Wekiva’s a great team. For us, we just made one more play at the end of the game than they did. Our team has been resilient and faced adversity all throughout the year. They stick with it and are strong.”

The Raiders had a balanced offense in the titlegame victory. Despite a slow star, Spencer led the team with 17 points. Junior Jada Green had 16 points, sophomore Karina Gordon had 15 points and junior Breanna Gustave had 14 points. Gustave and Green each recorded double-doubles, nothing 12 and 10 rebounds each, respectively.

“Sam was struggling, but Bre stepped up and had a tremendous game for us, a double-double, and Jada was just remarkable throughout the entire game,” Berens said. “She got into a little foul trouble, but she was spectacular— her best game of the season by far. She just stepped up for us.