South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Lions take home 1st title in 31 years
It was a family affair as the Westminster Academy’s girls basketball team took home its first state championship in 31 years on Friday night.
Shannon Wallhoff coached the Lions (27-5) to a 44-41 victory over Sarasota Cardinal Mooney to capture the Class 3A girls basketball title at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, while daughter Maddie stepped into a starting role and filled up the stat sheet.
“We set a goal at the beginning of the year and it was so awesome to see it actually happen,” Shannon Wallhoff said. “We had some adversity happen with one of our starters going out with an injury in the semifinals and she wasn’t able to play, so we had to make some adjustments and we are already a thin team.”
“It is amazing,” she added. “I still can’t believe it. It was a little stressful, I’m not going to lie.”
Maddie Wallhoff, who was inserted into the starting lineup due to an ankle injury to sophomore Aylana Mergilles in the semifinals, stepped up with a game- and career-high 15 points on 5 of 7 field goals, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
“She was our secret weapon,” Wallhoff laughed. “I knew she could do it. I was just proud that she did it in that type of game. She was confident and played really hard. She has knocked a threepointer in a key moment this year, but then she hit a couple of more. It was awesome.”
Wallhoff, a freshman, who entered the contest with zero starts under her belt and was averaging just 3.4 points per game this season, said she shook off some early jitters.
“I was nervous in the beginning, but when I stepped on the court all of the nerves kind of went away,” Maddie said. “I just had to step up. I was just thinking shoot when I am open and get back on defense. That was definitely my highest score ever. It was really cool. I still can’t process it.”
Wallhoff struck for eight straight points, including back-to-back
3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to keep the 10-point margin at 37-27 with 6:28 left. Cardinal Mooney made a late run in the fourth as they held Westminster without a basket for the final 5:17 and outscored the Lions 17-13 in the period.
The Cougars’ Natalie Mercadante made it 42-38 with
45 seconds remaining as she hit the first of two free throws, and after she missed the second, Kali Barrett found Jordyn Byrd for a layup under the basket to close to
42-40 with 41.1 seconds left. Wallhoff converted her first free throw of the season on the front end of a one-and-one with
35.6 seconds left to up the margin to 43-40. Byrd got one back on a free throw with 15.7 seconds left and Barrett gathered in a rebound and was blocked by Lions’ junior Taelyn Carey, who was fouled and sank one free throw with 11.3 seconds left in the game.
McDonald’s All-American nominee Claire Erickson, the lone Lions’ senior, also finished with
8 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Her rebound off a missed layup by the Cougars’ Byrd with five seconds remaining iced the game. Byrd led Cardinal Mooney with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Westminster Academy was playing in the title game for the first time since 1999 and picked up their third state championship in school history, and first state title since going back-to-back in 1990 and 1991. Westminster Academy ran off 17 straight wins since a
57-55 loss to Cardinal Mooney on New Year’s Eve.
Westminster Academy freshman Lena Girardi, daughter of Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi, had eight points, four rebounds and two assists before fouling out with 2:45 remaining in the game and Lions leading 41-34.
Cardinal Mooney (19-7), the top-ranked 3A team in the state, finished runner-up for the second year in a row and is still chasing its first state title.
Carey, who picked up a fourth foul late in the contest, added 10 points and nine rebounds. She is the daughter of former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Vernon Carey Sr. and the sister of Vernon Carey Jr. who plays for the Washington Wizards.
Both teams found it hard to get goinginthefirstquarterasWestminster took a 5-2 lead into the second. Westminster opened up a 22-16 halftime lead as Erickson hit a jumper and Wallhoff converted a 3-pointer and a short basket for a 14-6 lead.
Cardinal Mooney closed the gap to trail 19-16 before Girardi drained a 3-pointer with five seconds in the half. Girardi hit another 3-pointer to push the advantage to 27-17 with
5:19 left in the third quarter. “These girls are resilient and when things happen, they kept pushing forward,” Shannon said. “They didn’t get down. They knew what they had to do and didn’t give up. It’s amazing. It is surreal.”