Aiming for a state and national title, Calvary Christian cruises into final four
The Calvary Christian boys’ basketball team entered its Region 3-3A regional final against Boca Raton St. Andrew’s on Saturday ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps.
After the Eagles convincing 88-65 victory, they made the argument a national championship could be within reach. Winners of 14 consecutive games, Calvary Christian (22-1) will seek its fifth state title.
The first step will be a state semifinal game on March 9 at the University of North Florida against a Broward County rival in NSU University School, which beat Cardinal Gibbons in the Region 4-3A final.
The 80-plus points scored Saturday marked the eighth time this season they reached that plateau. Calvary entered the game, averaging an impressive 76 points per game.
The Eagles’ lone loss came to Paul IV (Chantilly, Va.), the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, 71-54 on Dec. 19. Calvary got revenge in mid-January with a 78-64 victory.
“In two years, we haven’t lost to a local team,” Calvary coach Cilk McSweeney said. “To me that is big time. We’ve also defeated some nationally ranked teams along the way. Our biggest thing is to dominate at home.”
That’s exactly what the Eagles did at the start of the victory over St. Andrew’s.
Senior forward Aiden Bolden opened with a pair of powerful dunks, which was only the beginning of what was to come.
Calvary finished with an impressive 13 dunks, five three-pointers and 11 players with at least one basket.
Junior guard Cayden Daughtry, who entered the game averaging 26.8 points per game, scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to give his team a double-digit lead at the half.
“With the amount of work we have put in a couldn’t allowed our opponent to stay close with us,” Daughtry said. “I knew I had to separate the score and did what I had to do. Our coach always tells us not to settle, so if we have an open three to take it, get in the paint and throw the lob for the dunk.”
Bolden was the beneficiary of the lobs that lead to five dunks and 17 points.
“It’s my belief if you decide the game on dunking it puts the opponent, and they don’t want to deal with it anymore.” Bolden said. “They give my team hype and gets us going.”
Kenneth Francis Jr. and Jacob Zhu each added 11 points for the Eagles.