Northwestern girls earn payback vs. Mater Lakes to advance to regional finals

It was just over a year ago that the Northwestern girls’ basketball team stood at the doorstep of its first berth in the regional final in nearly a quarter of a century.

Then it all slipped away.

Hosting Mater Lakes Academy in a regional semifinal in their home gym, the Bulls saw a 10-point second half lead disappear into a six point loss and had to watch their opponent celebrate on their home floor.

On Friday night, the Lady Bulls flipped the script.

This time, as the No. 3 seed, they had to travel to No. 2 Mater Lakes’ home gym with hopes of avenging that loss.

Led by sophomore Jade Yacinthe and senior Myah Newton, the Bulls did exactly that, combining a handful of clutch shots and some high pressure defense down the stretch to pull out a 59-54 win in a Region 4-4A semifinal at Mater Lakes’ gym.

The Bulls outscored the Bears 13-3 over the final five minutes as many of their fans decked out in their blue and gold colors made up the majority of the crowd on Friday.

Battling severe leg cramps in the fourth quarter, Yacinthe gutted it out. Limping back out on the floor (after being attended to by the team trainer), she drained a pair of clutch three-point shots in the fourth quarter to finish her night with 15 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.

“All we had to do tonight was just stay humble, play together and communicate,” said Yacinthe as she celebrated with the fans. “We knew coming into their house tonight that we owed them after they came in to our house last year and ended our season. Even now I’m still cramping, but I had to stick it out for my teammates. We’re always lifting each other up and always have each other’s backs so tonight I had to do my part.

“It’s all about the Bulls baby!!!”

Newton also carried a big load as she led her team with 16 points (11 in the first half) while pulling down nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

With the win Northwestern made a little history as the Bulls (21-7) now advance to the their first regional final since 2001 (when they lost to a Miami Edison team led by Sylvia Fowles).

But Northwestern has a big task in front of them.

The Bulls will travel to Plantation to take on No. 1 seed Plantation American Heritage. Even though the Patriots have struggled more than usual this season (by their standards) with a 16-8 record, it’s a program that has won six state titles in the last eight years, and advanced to the state final four each of the past nine seasons. Heritage routed Naples Aubrey Rogers 70-34 in the opposite semifinal.

Trailing 36-30 early in the third quarter, the Bulls put together their nicest stretch of the night, going on a 13-2 run to build a 43-38. Then, similar to last year, the bottom began to fall out.

Mater Lakes, led by Vanessa Vancott, who finished with half of her team’s points (27), the Bears (19-10) scored eight points in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter to take a 46-43 lead into the fourth. Vancott drained back-to-back three pointers (with a Northwestern turnover in between) before a third Bulls turnover gave Allessandra Wandembergh a layup as the buzzer sounded.

When Vancott hit another three pointer, her fifth of the night, Mater Lakes led 51-46. Demaria Gatling then hit a big three pointer for Northwestern which stemmed the Bears’ momentum and got the Bulls started on their run to close things out.

“We talked all week long about how we had it last year and then we let it get away from us but tonight we were so locked in to make sure if we got in that situation again that it didn’t happen again,” Northwestern coach Lester Patterson said. “This group of girls, I just can’t say enough about them. They are so resilient and they needed to be tonight. They never gave up when it looked like things were starting to fall apart.”

Yacinthe then came up to him to give him a hug and Patterson started gushing about his star sophomore.

“This girl right here, she has to be one of the top sophomores in South Florida,” Patterson said. “The one thing about this young lady, she was so resilient to the point she refused to lose. We couldn’t keep her off the court, she didn’t want to come out of the game. The other players saw this and I think they all kind of rallied around her. A truly great performance.”

MORE RESULTS

Region 4-7A - South Dade 59, Western 46: Sakura Barnes led the Bucs (12-9) with 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Yarianna Torres also had 13 points and seven rebounds as South Dade advanced to the regional finals for the first time in program history. The Wildcats finished 20-8.

Region 4-7A - Doral 106, Lake Worth Park Vista 13: The Firebirds (19-8) will host South Dade on Friday at 7 in the regional finals.

Region 4-6A - Nova 59, Stuart Martin County 53: Jaelynn Housey once again led the Titans (23-4) with 26 points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists. J’Yan Tyrell had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Ya’Niyah Young had 10 points. The win sets up a rematch of last month’s BCAA Big 8 tournament final with St. Thomas Aquinas, which Nova won, next Friday at 7 at Aquinas.

Region 4-6A: St. Thomas Aquinas 78, Mater Academy 30

Region 4-5A: Blanche Ely 64, McArthur 38; Sebastian River 56, Dillard 54

Region 4-3A: Carrollton 68, NSU University School 35; La Salle 62, Keys Gate 52

Region 3-3A: Somerset Canyons 71, North Broward Prep 27

Region 4-2A: Miami Country Day 97, True North 13; Palmer Trinity 61, Westminster Christian 57.

Region 4-1A: Boca Raton Grandview Prep 101, Sheridan Hills Christian 14; Schoolhouse Prep 82, Hebrew Academy 23

This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 10:38 AM.