Calvary Christian girls’ basketball stays poised, beats Bishop Kenny to reach title game
There was no panic from the Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian girls’ basketball team on Thursday, even as their double-digit lead shrank to as few as two points late in the third quarter.
The Eagles down the stretch showed the composure of a team that had been in this spot many times before despite actually playing in a state semifinal for just the first time in program history.
And it paid off.
Calvary Christian made clutch shots down the stretch and saw its defense return to form en route to a 49-37 win over Jacksonville Bishop Kenny at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center.
The Eagles (23-6) will face two-time defending state champion Orlando Lake Highland Prep at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for the Class 4A title.
“We played our game,” Calvary Christian coach George Adams said, “and we stayed poised.”
They needed to when shots stopped falling in the second half. The Eagles had gone up 29-18 with 4:58 left in the third quarter but proceeded to go on a 8:36 drought in which they missed eight consecutive shots from the field. Bishop Kenny, however, never took the lead during that stretch, getting only as close as 29-27 with 2:33 left in the third quarter.
Calvary Christian held its lead primarily due to a stifling defense that held Bishop Kenny to a 27.7-percent shooting efficiency for the game and success at the free-throw line, where the Eagles were 16 for 24 for the game and 11 for 16 in the fourth quarter alone.
Senior Samiyah Briggs scored a game-high 17 points, going 5-for-13 from the field and 6-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Freshman Markeli Jones-Tynes added 11 points, and Brianna Brown hit three timely three-pointers — including a dagger from the corner with 1:51 left in regulation to push Calvary’s lead up to eight points.
“This has been my goal since my freshman year — just to make it her and be able to play on the big stage,” Briggs said. “We took care of business.”
And now, they have one more game to focus on.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 2:06 PM.
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