Zaph honors grandma in state title dedication

Outstanding final 4 games for matriarch who died on Jan. 12.

When she

LAKELAND — walked up to receive her state-championship medal, Oxbridge Academy’s Alexa Zaph pointed to the sky.

When she was sitting in the postgame press conference, she said why.

“I just want to say: This one’s for you, Grandma,” Zaph said.

Zaph’s grandmother, Linda Zaph, died at 73 on Jan. 12. Though the elder Zaph lived in North Carolina, she and

the ThunderWolves guard were exceptionally close, and her granddaughter spent the past two months playing for her grandmother.

“She was one of my best friends, and it was just tough seeing her go the way she

did,” Zaph said. “She was always there for me, for my family, and she has been in my heart and in my prayers ever since. And every practice, every training, every

game is all for her, all the glory, all my success, all of it goes to her.”

Zaph, a Florida Atlantic commit, excelled in Lake- land this year. She scored 20 points in the ThunderWolves’ semifinal win over Fort Lau- derdale-Cardinal Gibbons, then had a team-leading 19 in the championship game against Orlando-Lake High- land Prep.

The Oxbridge junior said she only got to see her grandmother acouple times each year, but they talked on the

phone often. And Linda got to see her granddaughter play.

“She’s seen me play a lot,” Zaph said.

Although her grandmother died in the middle of the basketball season, Zaph knew she needed to get back on the court.

“She was one of the hard

est-working people I’ve ever known, she’s the strongest woman I know, and I can say that with 100 percent confidence,” Zaph said. “I was just doing what she would want me to do.

“She would want me to

continue fighting hard just the way she did during her battle.”