Westminster Academy reaches state semis with rare victory over MCD

The final buzzer sounded, and the small-butmighty Westminster Academy girls’ basketball team broke into celebration at Miami Country Day.

And in the midst of the euphoria following a win a half-dozen years in the making, there was an emotional embrace between a coach and her senior point guard.

Shannon Wallhoff and Claire Erickson had been through all the defeats on this court each of the past five years, all the runs to the regional final only to find themselves on the losing end of that matchup.

Not this year.

They finally got over the hurdle, finally achieved what had seemed to be unachievable.

With almost every big moment running through Erickson, the Lions powered their way to a double-digit lead early and never looked back in their 47-32 win over Miami Country Day.

Westminster Academy (25-5) is now two wins away from its third girls’ basketball state title and first since 1991. The Lions face Tallahassee FSU High at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center in a state semifinal.

“We got it done,” Wallhoff said. “It’s amazing.”

Fittingly, it was Wallhoff’s one senior on a youth-laden team — five of her eight players are freshmen — that set the tone.

Erickson scored eight consecutive points on a pair of three-pointers and a layup as part of an overall 12-2 Westminter Academy run that put the Lions up 14-2 late in the first quarter.

Erickson didn’t score the rest of the night, but she didn’t need to. Erickson’s value on Friday — and for most of the season — came in so many other facets of the game.

She was the facilitator of the offense and a lockdown presence on defense. She set up just about every play at halfcourt, fending off steady doses of double teams by Miami Country Day, and was able to get the ball in the hands of Westminster Academy’s top shooters.

“She’s the glue to our team,” said freshman Lena Girardi, who tied with fellow freshman Abby Price for a teamhigh 12 points on Friday. “Without her, we would definitely not be here. She’s been through all of them. She’s an amazing person, an amazing point guard.”

Westminster Academy went into halftime up 26-12 and extended its lead to as many as 23 points in the third quarter.

Miami Country Day (20-9), which had made it to at least the state semifinals each of the past nine years with seven state titles in that span, showed life late to cut the deficit to 15 with 3:20 left, but the game was all but over at that point. Miami Country Day sophomore

Kayla Nelms had a gamehigh 13 points.

Region 4-7A — Miami High 52, South Broward 36: Miami High hypnotized defenders with an overactive passing attack and shut down a firsthalf rally to beat South Broward for the girls’ basketball Region 4-7A title.

The Stingarees (19-8), looking to avenge their 2021 state final loss, advance to face Orlando Colonial in a 7A state semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Lakeland.

“We’ve been through a lot,” said senior guard Janay Quinn, who scored a game-high 18 points in the win. “I’ve lost a few teammates through COVID. I was out for a month.

“This means a lot. We are hoping to bring it home.”

The Stingarees went on an 8-0 run off the tip-off, but the Bulldogs (22-5) bounced back to take a brief second-quarter lead.

Quinn responded with nine points, including two three-pointers, late in the second quarter to give her team a 30-16 lead at the break. The Stingarees, who shared the ball relentlessly to make the Bulldogs scramble, ended the half on a 17-1 run and never looked back.

ARegion 4-6A: St. Thomas Aquinas 79, Seminole Ridge 25.

Region 4-5A: Plantation American Heritage 72, Okeechobee 36.

Region 4-3A: Calvary Christian 64, Mater Lakes Academy 63.

Region 4-2A: Miami Christian 67, Palm Beach Berean Christian 29.

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