Calvary Christian falls to nationally ranked Lake Highland Prep
LAKELAND
Four minutes sealed it. Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian had matched Orlando Lake Highland Prep point for point for the first 18 minutes of Saturday’s Class 4A girls’ basketball state championship game at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center.
And then came the dreaded run.
Lake Highland Prep, ranked as the No. 15 team in the country by MaxPreps, outscored Calvary 14-1 over a four-minute stretch midway through the third quarter. The Eagles, playing in a girls’ basketball state championship game for the first time in school history, fought until the final buzzer sounded but never recovered.
Final score: Lake Highland Prep 75, Calvary Christian 57.
The emotions were still raw after the game, Calvary Christian falling just short despite getting to a place the school had never been before, but coach George Adams didn’t want the one loss to define what his team accomplished.
“A great season,”
Adams said. “Exceeded expectations.”
While this was Calvary’s first trip to the state tournament, Adams has been on this stage before.
But never in this position.
He was an assistant coach at Dillard under the late Marcia Pinder for 25 years before taking over as the Calvary Christian coach for the 2015-2016 season. Dillard reached the title game seven times in that span — 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 — and won all seven.
“As far as me being here, they’ve heard stories. … I’m used to this,” Adams said. “It’s just a matter of passing it on to them, and that’s what I’ve been doing during the whole season is telling them stories about this.”
His biggest takeaway from that time?
“Stay the course,” Adams said. “You’ve got to have a plan and stay the course.
“You build slowly, and that’s what we’ve been able to do.”
The Eagles saw the benefits of their build this season.
It started at the top with seniors Samiyah Briggs and Elizabeth Schnell, who had been key contributors since their freshman year.
It flowed down to the likes of freshman Markeli Jones-Tynes, who had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in the title game.
And it showed on the court. Calvary finished the season 23-7, with three of its four in-state losses coming against eventual state champions (Miami Christian, Westminster Academy and Lake Highland Prep).
“It’s been a group of girls who have stuck together,” said Schnell, who had a team-high 18 points on Saturday. “Each year we grew, not only in age but in IQ. Just being together, the chemistry we have, I think that’s what helped us get as far as we did this year.”
Schnell was key in Calvary staying competitive early against Lake Highland Prep.
She hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions that gave Calvary a rare lead, 19-14, early in the second quarter before Lake Highland Prep went on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 21 going into halftime.
“At halftime,” Schnell said, “it was back to 0-0.”
The teams traded baskets early in the third quarter to get the game to 25-25 before Lake Highland Prep’s game-sealing 14-1 run that put Calvary down 39-26 with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles’ deficit reached as much as 24 points with about twoand-a-half minutes left.