Southridge’s Doctor, Country Day’s Swaby are Dade Girls’ Basketball Coaches of the Year
Miami Country Day’s Ochiel Swaby officially ran out of fingers with which to wear the state championship rings he’s won while coaching the Spartans.
Swaby led Country Day to its 10th state championship in the past 12 seasons as one of the most impressive title runs in Miami-Dade County history continued.
At Southridge, Stephasia Doctor guided her team to the Class 6A state final with fewer players on their roster than Country Day’s total of state title rings.
As such, Swaby and Doctor are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Girls’ Basketball Coaches of the Year.
Swaby once again earns this honor for Classes 4A-1A in a season in which Country Day was pushed to the limit seemingly even more than usual.
Country Day survived the Class 2A state semifinals with a two-point victory over Fort Myers Evangelical Christian and then outlasted Jacksonville Providence 47-37 in the finals for the two of their closest victories ever at the state final four.
The result was their third consecutive state championship.
“I love it, I love it, I love it,” Miami Country Day coach Ochiel Swaby said after the state final. “The way we played in the semis, we didn’t look good. We had no real momentum and no confidence to carry us through the game. But what I saw (Saturday) from the kids was them go on the hunt for once.”
Southridge had no choice but to be in “hunter” mode throughout most of the 2024-25 season.
With a roster of only seven players, affectionately dubbed “The Magnificent Seven” by their fans, Southridge made an improbable run to the state finals, which included victories on the road against four-time defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas and Broward County powerhouse Nova.
Doctor was at the forefront of a collective coaching effort which propelled Southridge to its first appearance at the state final four since 1987 and second in program history. Southridge nearly secured its first state title before falling in the final, 43-41, to Valrico Bloomingdale.
“These girls are very deserving and I’m very, very proud of them,” Doctor said after the state final. “We went through a lot this season and they got here. These girls have bright futures ahead of them and I’m so proud of them.”
