Aquinas, Blanche Ely roll to final in Big 8

PLANTATION — In a rematch of last season’s BCAA Big 8 girls basketball championship game, St. Thomas Aquinas avenged last season’s loss to Dillard by breaking open a tie game midway through the third quarter as the Raiders advanced to Monday’s final with a 62-51 win in the second BCAA Big 8 semifinal.

The game featured nine lead changes and six ties, the last coming at 33-all in the third quarter before Aquinas took the lead for good on Breanna Gustave’s bank shot, part of Gustave’s team-high 19 points and a quick 6-0 spurt by the Raiders that proved insurmountable for the Panthers.

The Raiders constant defensive pressure forced Dillard into several second-half turnovers, which Aquinas turned into easy layups and Jada Green made three midrange jumpers in the decisive third quarter as she scored all 13 of her points for the Raiders after halftime.

“I thought we hit big shots when we needed to hit big shots,” said Aquinas coach Oliver Berens. “I thought we shot the mid-range well, particularly Green.”

Dillard’s Khyala Ngodu kept the Panthers close as she finished with a game-high 23 points, including the first nine points of the third quarter for Dillard.

Earlier in the opening semifinal, Blanche Ely’s Ja’Leah Williams scored a team-high 17 points and the Tigers used a critical 13-0 run that stretched from the end of the first half into the beginning of the second half for a 53-42 comeback win over Nova.

Blanche Ely (19-5) scored the opening eight points of the game before the Titans (22-4) rallied later in the first half to take its largest lead at 24-17 on the strength of a 19-4 run.

Nova’s Sarei McGill scored 9 of her game-high 19 points during that run.

The Tigers closed the first half by scoring the final six points before halftime followed by the first seven points of the second half to take a 30-24 lead.

“It was very crucial. That last stretch of the first half and the beginning of the second half we just needed to settle down,” said Tigers coach Henry McNabb. “We got into a good flow and were able to continue that throughout the whole third quarter.”