Aquinas avenges losses to Ely, keeping hopes of fourth consecutive state title alive

St. Thomas Aquinas senior guard Khadee Hession had perhaps the biggest basketball game of her career when it mattered the most.

She scored a game-high 29 points, including the clinched points on four free throws in the waning seconds to lift the Raiders to a 55-47 over rival Blanche Ely in a Class 6A regional final on Thursday.

The Raiders (21-9) will be the top seed and travel to the RP Funding Center in Lakeland for a Class 6A state semifinal game on March 7 where they will face No. 4 seed Wekiva. Aquinas is seeking to win its fourth consecutive state championship which would match Dillard and South Broward, which are the only two Broward County Athletic Association schools to accomplish the feat.

“I know my teammates trust me to put the ball in my hands,” Hession said. “They know how hard I work and I know how hard I work, so the shots I take come easy. We have a chance for four in a row. We deserve this because we have worked so hard.”

Aquinas built a 37-27 lead by the end of the third, but Blanche Ely would close the deficit to 49-47 with just under a minute to play. The Tigers rally, in part, came from Chardae Rumph and Janessa Kelley as they each connected on a pair of 3-pointers.

Junior guard Jaelyn Cardoza gave the Raiders a four-point lead on a layup with 44.2 seconds left to provide some cushion at 51-47.

Much of the Raiders’ offense at times consisted on making three-pointers.

Through their district title game against Dillard and three regional games, they have made 40 baskets behind the 3-point line.

“Our girls are something special,” Aquinas coach Oliver Berens said. “I know this team was special and we just executed our game plan and stay together for 32 straight minutes. We were happy with the pace at halftime and wanted to make sure we stayed disciplined to play St. Thomas Aquinas basketball.”

Ely (22-7) and St. Thomas Aquinas were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in Class 6A entering Thursday’s game. In the previous 25 games in this intense rivalry, 20 had been decided by single digits. Thursday made it 21.

“Kudos for St. Thomas as they played hard and played well,” Blanche Ely coach JR McNabb said. “They executed when the needed to and got timely shots when needed. It’s unfortunate we ended up on this side of the score.”

Senior forward Gianna Corbitt led Ely in the first half with 14 points, but Aquinas’ defense would hold her to only two second half points.

Sophomore guard Teriyah McFadden added 11 points for the Tigers, who defeated Aquinas twice during the regular season including a 56-24 win in the BCAA Big 8 championship game in January.

This story was originally published February 22, 2024 at 10:19 PM.