‘Big game Bre’ leads St. Thomas Aquinas to second consecutive girls’ basketball title
They call her “Big game Bre” and she showed up again on Saturday when St. Thomas Aquinas needed her.
Senior Breanna Gustave’s big game — a team-high 23 points and nine rebounds — and a big third-quarter run led the Raiders to a 59-45 win over Apopka Wekiva to secure their second consecutive Class 6A girls’ basketball state title.
“I love that name,” Gustave said. “I really know my coach trusts me in big games. He knows I’m gonna step up. He knows I’ll put it on my back and make good decisions.”
Her good decisions — including her 8 for 15 shooting and 5 for 6 performance at the free throw line — paid dividends for the Raiders as they clawed out of an early deficit and turned their state championship into a celebratory affair.
After Wekiva jumped to an early 7-0 lead, Gustave scored St. Thomas Aquinas’ first four points and had six in the first quarter overall as the Raiders trailed Wekiva 15-11 after the opening frame.
By halftime, Gustave had 12 points and the Raiders (27-4) had a narrow 27-24 lead over Wekiva.
“We talked [as a team] about Bre and how determined she is in these big games to step up and lead us to victory,” Raiders coach Oliver Berens said. “She’s been a leader for us this year on the court and off the court.”
By the third quarter, Gustave got help from her teammates.
After Wekiva (25-3) took a 28-27 lead early in the third quarter, the Raiders went on a 12-0 run to take a 39-28 lead with 1:51 left in the quarter.
Alancia Ramsey scored 6 of her 12 points in that span, Gustave added a three-pointer, Nyla McFadden hit a pair of free throws and Karina Gordon hit a free throw of her own.
Aquinas built its lead up to as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, mostly by dominating inside. The Raiders outscored Wekiva 28-12 in the pains and had a 42-28 edge in rebounds.
“We executed our offensive gameplan to a tee,” Berens said. “We were aggressive attacking the basket. We picked our spots and were very patient.”
The reward: A second consecutive state championship.
“We had a great year,” Berens said. “We challenged ourselves all year. We played a lot of big games, and I thought our team stayed resilient.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 7:48 PM.
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