Calvary Christian tops Cardinal Gibbons in rare state semifinal duel of Broward teams
Both Fort Lauderdale-based schools - Calvary Christian and Cardinal Gibbons - are trying to restore their boys’ basketball programs to greatness.
Three years may not seem like a long time to most, but to Calvary Christian, which won back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022, it feels like forever.
Cardinal Gibbons might scoff at that as it’s been a decade since it last hoisted a state championship trophy.
Only one would earn a chance to get what it wanted on Friday when the two squads would square off in a rare Broward vs. Broward matchup at the state final four.
Led by Kenneth Francis Jr.’s 25 points, it was the Calvary Christian Eagles, who broke open a close game in the second half and emerged with a 72-58 over the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs in a Class 3A state semifinal at the RP Funding Center.
It was the first game that had one Broward team facing another in a state semifinal since Fort Lauderdale Dillard faced Coconut Creek in a semifinal in 2002. Deerfield Beach also beat Blanche Ely in 1999 in the Class 6A state championship game.
The Eagles (21-1), who are ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, advanced to play The Villages on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the 3A final as they chase their program’s third state title overall.
“I haven’t played for a state championship yet so I’m excited and just ready to do whatever I can do to help this team win it,” Francis Jr. said.
The Chiefs (25-5) made their first state semifinal appearance since winning their lone state title in 2015.
“We’ve had four people in double figures almost all year,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Bill Mallon said. “It’s what we preach to play - team ball. And nobody can do certain things against us. So for this group to go 25-5 is amazing.”
Following Calvary Christian’s back-to-back titles, it elected to make a run at a national title during the 2022-23 season and decided to play independent of the FHSAA series. The Eagles struggled to a 7-15 record that season and returned to FHSAA play last season.
But that campaign ended in heartbreak as a promising squad fell in the regional finals on a buzzer-beater tip-in with 0.3 seconds left against Coconut Creek North Broward Prep.
The loss served as fuel for the current Calvary Christian squad.
“We came up short and we never let that feeling go the whole year,” said 6-8 senior guard and McDonald’s All-American Shon Abaev, who has signed with the University of Cincinnati. “The job is not done. Once it’s done, we’ll let it go. But for now, it’s the same energy, the same mindset the whole way.”
Abaev finished with 11 points and five rebounds while Cayden Daughtry had 12 points and four rebounds and Collin Paul had 10 points and five rebounds for Calvary.
Gibbons, which has climbed its way back among the county’s best in recent years, spent most of this season defying the odds with a young team which had only two seniors - point guard Tao Schreiber and forward Marcus Perrier.
The Chiefs made it to Lakeland thanks to a collective effort and used that same formula on Friday to flirt with an upset for over a half.
Gibbons’ starting five all scored in double figures led by Perrier’s 14 points. Schreiber and juniors A.J. Ambrose and Evan Wyche each had 11 points and junior Justus Herbert had 10 points.
The five accounted for all but one of Gibbons’ points. And that lack of depth hurt the Chiefs in the second half.
“We’re six deep and we had a big part of our team end up in foul trouble, and our point guard had to sit in the second quarter and then our other point guard picked up his fourth foul,” Mallon said. “It was rough, especially against who we were playing against. But we had the lead at halftime and we played really well. The talent just took over.”
Herbert’s three-pointer with just over five minutes left in the third quarter gave the Chiefs their last lead of the game at 38-37.
Calvary Christian’s Cayden Daughtry answered quickly with a triple of his own and the Eagles used an 8-0 run to begin to separate. A couple more fast break dunks and back-to-back triples by Francis Jr. to end the quarter extended it to an 18-4 surge and grew the lead to 13, putting Calvary well on its way to victory.
“I feel like we came out nervous and missed a bunch of layups, but their game plan worked as far as being patient and trying to handle the traps,” Calvary Christian coach Cilk McSweeney said. “I felt like we weren’t penetrating their zone and just looking to pass it. So we talked about it at half and it was a different story in the second half.”
