Led by ‘special group,’ Cardinal Gibbons comes up short in return to girls’ hoops final 4
With his five starters flanking him, Kevin Gordon wanted to take a moment to reflect on the contributions of each one.
There were Taylor Williams, a four-year contributor at Cardinal Gibbons, and Brooke Buckman and the 38 charges she drew this year. There were Jordan Kosoy, who had to play her old teammates last week when the Chiefs beat North Broward Prep in the Region 4-4A semifinals, and Kayla Greyensteyn in her first year on varsity and there was Konstantina Manziori, who left Greece for the United States to play for two seasons in Fort Lauderdale.
They were all still fighting off tears or wiping them away long after the Chiefs’ season ended with a 67-49 blowout loss to Jacksonville Bishop Kenny in the 4A semifinals Thursday at RP Funding Center. They knew they faced as tall a task as anyone in Lakeland and still it hit hard when the final whistle sounded on their run to the final four.
“It hurts,” Gordon said, “because Cardinal Gibbons girls’ basketball, ‘22-’23, was a special group.”
It was a resurgent year for the Chiefs, who hadn’t won a region playoff game since 2020 before storming back into state-title contention, and it came to an anticlimactic ending inside George Jenkins Arena. Cardinal Gibbons (22-6) fell behind early, scored only 10 points in the first half and never led on the way to another loss in the final four.
It’s the fifth time in the last seven years the Chiefs have gotten to the state semifinals, only to fall just short of a title shot, but it did not make this run feel any less meaningful for Cardinal Gibbons.
The Chiefs, Gordon pointed out, don’t have anyone taller than 6-foot. They weren’t even in the top 10 of the Miami Herald’s final regular-season rankings Feb. 6. They embraced an underdog mentality all throughout the season and brought it with them to face Bishop Kenny.
The Crusaders (30-1) are the No. 5 team in the state, according to MaxPreps, and boast a roster loaded with Division I talent. If Cardinal Gibbons had won, it would’ve had to face Orlando Lake Highland Prep, the No. 3 team in Florida, on Saturday in the 4A championship. The Chiefs knew they’d have to be close to perfect to win their first state championship and a slow start was something they couldn’t afford.
Cardinal Gibbons struggled with Bishop Kenny on both ends of the floor. On offense, the Chiefs shot just 31.3 percent from the field and had barely cracked double digits at halftime, down 31-10 at the end of the second quarter. On defense, they let the Crusaders shoot 45.7 percent from the field and used a 19-point second quarter to run away from Cardinal Gibbons.
Right before the buzzer sounded for halftime, star combo guard Sophia Rueppell nailed a step-back three to send Bishop Kenny into halftime with a commanding 21-point lead and the Chiefs hustling back to the locker room while the Crusaders celebrated on the court.
Rueppell, who signed with the Kennesaw State Owls last year, nearly matched Cardinal Gibbons alone with nine points in the first half and finished with 18 points to lead all scorers.
Mantziori led the Chiefs with 17 points and four assists, and Williams added 14.
“It was a lot, a lot of emotions,” Mantziori said, reflecting on her two years in Florida. “It was hard being away from your family. They were all there for me.”
Even down by 20 in the final minutes, the Chiefs kept fouling to try for a miracle comeback, but it also kept their season alive for just a little bit longer.
“I hope that people,” Gordon said, “don’t see just the fact that we’ve come up short.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 3:03 PM.
