Miami Christian repeats as state champion
LAKELAND
The first state title is always the sweetest, but Miami Christian girls’ basketball coach Chanel Davila felt just as much gratification in this moment as she did last year.
Davila’s Victors cruised to their second consecutive Class 2A state, defeating Orlando Faith Christian 66-59 on Saturday at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center on Saturday.
The celebration was equally euphoric as it was 12 months ago when Miami Christian won the school’s first state title in the spot.
“The first one is forever gonna be the one,” Davila said, “but this one was beautiful.”
It also is helping establish a standard. Hoisting the trophy feels almost like an expectation after Davila has helped the program break through in just three years as head coach.
And Davila relied on a new set of players to become contributors this year.
She had to replace three of her team’s top four scorers. Gabriela Bendeck and Ambar Ramirez graduated. Daimelys Morera transferred to Miami
High.
Senior Enjulina Gonzalez, a Mercer signee, found a new one-two punch in the backcourt with quiet but forceful sophomore Samantha Vales. Senior Victoria Aranguren and sophomore Ziul Gonzalez, Enjulina’s younger sister, stepped into starter roles. Senior Eizaenirys Allende was a new addition to the roster.
They provided a balanced attack, with four starters averaging at least 10 points this season.
“Our coaches develop us on everything,” Enjulina Gonzalez said. “They don’t keep us short. Everyone’s shooting threes. Everybody’s getting the same reps. She doesn’t limit anybody to just one thing.”
Those starting five played all 32 minutes on Saturday except for Enjulina Gonzalez, who had a double-double with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with six seconds left. Ziul Gonzalez added 15 points of her own, while Allende chipped in 12 and
Vales 10.
The Victors challenged themselves in the regular season to mixed results. They beat Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian, split matchups against Tampa Plant and Somerset Academy Silver Palms and lost to Plantation American Heritage, IMG Academy, Westminster Academy (twice) and St. Thomas
Aquinas. Miami Christian won 20 of its final 24 games after starting the season 1-4.
“Once we got out of that slump,” Davila said, “they started to build more confidence in each other and with each other and in their chemistry. I always knew what kind of team I had in the offseason. I knew what they were capable of. I knew who they were. They just needed to know what they could do together.
And those matchups helped Miami Christian cruise in the playoffs. It won its six playoff games heading into Saturday — two district tournament games, three regional games and a state semifinal — by an average of 54 points with the 68-47 state semifinal win over Naples St. John Neumann the closest affair of the six.
The dominance continued Saturday.
Miami Christian scored the first eight points and never looked back. The Victors led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter and 31-24 at halftime before pushing the advantage to 51-33 at the end of the third quarter. Faith Christian cut Miami Christian’s lead down to a five-point margin with 17 seconds left.
But the game was all but over at that point.
Miami Christian shot 67.7 percent form the field and hit 17 of its 22 freethrow attempts, with 36 of their 66 points coming in the paint.
“Before the game, [Davila] got us all together,” Ziul Gonzalez said, “and said, ‘This is all we have. This is our last dance. This is our last game together. Make it the best.’ ”
Miami Christian lived up to the task and won its second state title as a result.