Westminster Academy wins title

LAKELAND

The game had been over for nearly 15 minutes, the trophy and medals handed out, the court emptied.

But Westminster Academy’s celebration was just getting started.

The Lions defeated Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 44-41 for the Class 3A girls’ basketball state championship on Friday at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center.

It didn’t come easy. They were down a starter and had to hold off a late comeback bid by Cardinal Mooney, which cut Westminster Academy’s 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter to two points with 44 seconds left in regulation.

But clutch free throws down the stretch helped seal a well-rounded, state championship-winning effort.

So, yeah, they kept celebrating as they got to the locker room, holding that trophy that they’ll bring back with them to Fort Lauderdale.

“We’re still trying to have everything sink in,” Westminster Academy coach Shannon Wallhoff said. “We stayed focused. It’s unbelievable. These girls are amazing.”

It was the culmination of a season years in the making.

The exact length of time they waited depends on who you ask.

For the school as a whole, it was 31 years. Westminster Academy’s last girls’ basketball championship came in 1991.

For Wallhoff, it was 14 years. She took over the program before the 20072008 season and had never made it further than the regional finals.

For Claire Erickson, it was six years. Erickson was the lone senior on this eight-player roster and had been a member of the varsity team since she was in the seventh grade. Her first five seasons always ended at the same time, at the same place, to the same team — Miami Country Day in the regional finals.

Whichever time frame is used, 2022 is the year the drought ended. When the Lions finally toppled Miami Country Day 47-32 in the regional finals, they knew momentum was in their favor. This, finally, was their chance.

They cruised past Tallahassee FSU High in the state semifinal on Thursday and turned around two days later to beat the same Cardinal Mooney team they lost to on Dec. 31 — the last game Westminster Academy lost this season.

“After Miami Country

Day, just beating them was amazing,” Erickson said. “To then come here and win the whole thing is incredible.”

But in order to bask in all the glory, Westminster Academy (27-5) had to fight for it on Friday. The Lions were playing without Aylana Mergilles, one of their top defensive players who suffered a leg injury in the semifinal against FSU High. Lena Girardi, the team’s leading scorer this season, was in foul trouble early and fouled out with 2:45 left in the game. Taelyn Carey also had four fouls down the stretch.

They held on with some unexpected help leading the way.

Maddie Wallhoff, a freshman and the coach’s daughter, started in Mergilles’ place.

All she did was score a game-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including making three big threepointers early in the fourth quarter and a free throw (her first free throw of the season) in the final seconds to help preserve Westminster Academy’s lead.

“I was nervous,” Maddie Wallhoff said. “I asked God to help and I had Claire and Tae both telling me ‘You’ve got this.’ ”

Coach/mom’s thoughts? “This is surreal,” Shannon Wallhoff said. “She really stepped up. I’m so proud of her.”

Carey, a junior, added 10 points and nine rebounds in the win. Erickson and Girardi both had eight points.

And Westminster Academy’s roster is primed to continue this success.

They are losing a big piece in Erickson, but everyone else returns.

Carey will step up as a senior. Girardi, Wallhoff and Abby Price have three more years.

“It’s a special group of girls,” Erickson said. “They’re still going to be great. We had three freshmen starting today. That’s crazy. They’re young and are going to keep doing what we just did today.”