CFCA scores a first with state semifinal showing
LAKELAND — Longtime girls basketball coach Tommie Butts is one of many who likes to say defense travels and what’s needed most in close games.
His Central Florida Christian Academy team brought just enough defensive tenacity to score a 51-47 victory against Miami Christian in a Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A state semifinal Wednesday afternoon.
The Eagles (24-4) had 13 steals and forced 23 turnovers to offset poor shooting and notch the first final-four win in program history. It was the first game of the two-week FHSAA basketball state tournament at RP Funding Center.
“We’ve been a good 3-point-shooting team all year,” Butts said. “But you’ve got to defend and rebound to win. That’s the key.”
He won state championships as Wekiva’s coach in 2014 and ’19 before moving to CFCA last season.
The Eagles, with only two seniors, will shoot for a title of their own in Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. championship game. They’ll play Evangelical Christian (25-3) of Fort Myers, which won 59-43 against University Christian (19-7) of Jacksonville in the second semifinal.
CFCA is 15-1 since Dec. 30. The lone loss was to Dr. Phillips, which vies for its third consecutive 7A championship next week.
Battle-tested Miami Christian (14-14) led 35-33 through three quarters with CFCA shooting only 31.7% from the fieldBut clutch 3-pointers by Victoria Rodriguez and Valeria Munoz gave the Eagles a 42-41 lead with 4 minutes, 33 seconds left. That expanded to 47-41 after center Aariah Denmark dropped a pinpoint pass to Janiya Swift for a backdoor basket.
Miami Christian was forced to foul and CFCA was 7-for-10 on free throws in the final minutes.
“I always believed in our girls,” Butts said. “They’re not going to quit.”
Denmark, a sophomore, finished with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Senior guard Trinity Harden had 10 points and six rebounds.
Aarin Manuel had seven points and four steals off the bench, and Makayla White had six points and seven rebounds.
CFCA made just 17 of 52 shots (32.7%) but managed to win by limiting Miami Christian to 36 attempts.
“A lot of those stops helped us get a couple of good runs,” Munoz said.
CFCA missed its first eight shots while falling behind 8-2. But a dribble-drive basket by Denmark following a steal ignited a 15-0 run by the Eagles. In that spree, Manuel scored on a floater for CFCA’s first lead (9-8) and Harden made three consecutive buckets to up the margin to 17-8.
With two minutes left in the second quarter, it appeared the Eagles might pull away, but the Victors flipped the momentum as Jaylyn Laguna made two 3s for a 17-17 tie. It stayed close the rest of the way.
Play continues with four 3A semifinal games today. That includes Windermere Prep (23-7) versus Jacksonville’s Providence School (24-5) in a 7 p.m. boys game.
Lake Highland Prep (23-5) plays a 4A girls semifinal against St. Petersburg Lakewood (23-4) on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
Class 1A semifinals (boys and girls) are followed by 3A finals Friday. The 1A and 4A title games are Saturday.
The state tournaments for larger schools including, 5A and 6A, will be played next week, starting March 6 in Lakeland.