Doral Academy girls edge Miami High, finish third in Junior Orange Bowl Classic

With only one regional final appearance (2017) on its resume despite some fairly talented teams, the Doral Academy girls’ basketball team is hoping that the 2023-24 season might be its breakthrough campaign.

The Lady Firebirds know the only way to get to Lakeland in Class 7A will be by beating the team that has made the last six trips to the state final four – Miami High.

Under first-year head coach Allison Bustamante, Doral took another step toward that goal Saturday afternoon when they staved off a late Miami High rally to knock off the Stingarees 52-47 to secure a third place finish in the girls’ bracket of the Junior Orange Bowl basketball tournament at Westminster Christian.

Doral and Miami High ended up in the consolation round after each lost to a pair of nationally-ranked out-of-town teams in Friday’s semifinals.

Miami High won this tournament in 2021 and was runner-up last year. Doral, ranked No. 6 in the state in Class 7A, improved to 10-3.

Sophomores Ashley Martinez and Stephanie Vega, along with freshman Victoria Valle, who each transferred from Somerset Silver Palms last summer, combined to score 40 of the team’s 52 points, Martinez led the way with 15 while Valle and Vega finished with 13 and 12, respectively. Those are just three of five new faces that Bustamante brought in along with Angelina DeLeon (Palmer Trinity) and Amira Marquez (Miami Christian) along with many returning players from last year’s team that lost to Coral Springs in the first round of regionals.

“We’ve got quite a few girls from different programs and we talked at the beginning of the year that it’s ‘we’ over ‘me’ around here,” said Bustamante, who spent the last six seasons coaching at Carrollton and was the MVP of the Junior Orange Bowl tournament in 1998 and 2000 when she played at Lourdes Academy.

“That’s our motto and are trying to stay true to that which is why we’ve got it on our shirts. This is all a process and I’d like to say we have a lot of very good basketball players but we want to make sure they keep those egos but do it in a way that it benefits the whole as opposed to the individual and today was another stepping stone in that direction.”

After a back and forth first half that didn’t see either team lead by more than four points, Bustamante watched her girls pull away from a 24-20 halftime lead to a big 40-26 advantage following an NBA-range three-pointer by Valle with 2:57 left in the third.

But led by dominant center Nicole Penalver, Miami High battled back, carving the Doral lead down to 49-47 on a basket by Alexie Nicolas with 1:28 left. But it was here that the Firebirds used their ball skills by holding the ball without turning it over and forcing the Stingarees to foul. Vega made one free throw with 1:05 left and when she missed a pair with 36 seconds left, DeLeon came up with a clutch rebound forcing Miami High to foul again. This time Valle went to the line with 20 seconds left and made them both to seal the win.

Penalver was the leading scorer for the Stings, finishing with 13 points but it was her dominant play under the boards that really stood out as she pulled down 16 rebounds.

“I think it took a lot of team effort today to be able to win this game today,” said Martinez, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last season as a freshman at Silver Palms. “If we hadn’t played great defense, boxing out and rebounding, I don’t think we would’ve gotten the win. We came together and got it.”

As far as her coming over with her teammates from Silver Palms and trying to mesh will all the new faces, Martinez indicated that the familiarity is already there.

“I think, for the most part, almost all of us have been together through travel ball so there is that familiarity,” Martinez said. “ Obviously with Steph and Victoria coming over with me from Silver Palms, we already have that chemistry between us and we’re hoping that all of this will take us to states.”

These two won’t have to wait until regionals to meet up again. They are on the regular season schedule and will square off on Jan. 18 at Doral.

“No disrespect to any of the teams out there but we fully expect to compete for a regional championship and Miami High, they’re the top dog,” Bustamante said. “They’re still the dynasty over there, well-deserved, well-earned and if we are going to win regionals, that’s ultimately the team we’re going to have to go through. We’ll get to see them again in a few weeks and I’m sure it will be another tough hard-fought battle.”

Girls’ championship game - Purcell Marian (OH) 76, James River (Va.) 66: Dee Alexander, who is only a junior and has national powers LSU, South Carolina and UConn recruiting her, led all scorers with 23 points and 12 rebounds, earning tournament MVP honors. North Carolina commit Lanie Grant led the way for James River with 30.

Boys’ championship game - St. Andrews Episcopal (MD) 49, Tampa Berkeley Prep 38: Competing in the tournament for the first time ever, St. Andrews Episcopal made the trip south from Potomac, Maryland well worth their while thanks junior Miles Franklin (19 points) and sophomore Lawrence Brown (16 points). Both have multiple Division-I offers but have not decided on where they’re going. Franklin was named the tournament’s MVP. Berkeley Prep (9-3) was also competing for the first time in the tournament, was led by Matt Able IV with 12 points.