St. Thomas Aquinas puts on shooting clinic to oust Southridge, secure rematch with Ely
The St. Thomas Aquinas girls basketball team inched closer to a fourth straight state championship on Monday.
Led by senior Kalie Harrington and junior Jaelyn Cardoza, who combined for 10 three-pointers and 32 points, the Raiders rolled to a convincing 65-43 victory over Miami Southridge in a Region 4-6A semifinal.
It was the Raiders 16th victory this season by double-digits.
“I thought it was a really great team win,” St. Thomas coach Oliver Berens said. “We had a lot of respect for Southridge and we were very prepared for them. For us it was about staying together and playing hard team basketball at the offensive and defensive ends for 32 minutes.”
Aquinas (20-9) advances to Thursday’s regional final against rival Blanche Ely at the Tigers’ home gym at 7 p.m. Ely is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 6A, while Aquinas is No. 2.
Ely (22-6), who defeated Dillard 46-41 in its regional semifinal, has defeated Aquinas twice this season including a 56-24 victory in the BCAA Big 8 final.
The Raiders, however, have defeated the Tigers three straight times in the regional playoffs on their way to three consecutive state championships.
The third quarter was the big difference for Aquinas as they created the separation to outscore the Spartans 20-8 for a 50-33 lead.
“The game got a little fast for us in the third quarter,” Southridge coach Ben Drummer said. “The pace of the game favored them with all the experience they have. Their shot making is special. They had a lot of different players that could shoot. It wasn’t just one person.”
Aquinas clung to a first half lead at 30-25 with the difference in part by the Raiders converting seven 3-pointers.
The lead shifted three times in the opening half as the Raiders led 9-2 before the Spartans rallied for an 11-9 lead. Entering the second quarter Aquinas regained the lead that they would hold onto at the half as Kamryn Corporan and Harrington each made a pair of 3-pointers. Corporan finished the night with 12 points.
Typically, as it’s been for the Spartans Shanaii Gamble and Dianka Hardisson, the team’s two leading scorers combined for 18 first half points to keep within striking distance.
Together they only had nine points in the second half, that included only two made baskets.
Mya Johnson a 6-2 senior center also had a strong outing for the Raiders, finishing with 13 points.
Southridge (20-7), which entered Monday’s regional with a six-game winning streak and ranked No. 5 in 6A, hadn’t played in a regional semifinal since 2019 when they lost to Lourdes Academy, 55-40.