New Aquinas girls’ basketball group looking to restore state title tradition
St. Thomas Aquinas’ girls’ basketball team is only two years removed from a run of four consecutive state championships.
But for the Raiders, who are back at the state final four after coming up short last season, it feels like a brand new start.
No one on the team’s current roster played on the last of those four championship teams under former coach Oliver Berens, which capped the 2023-24 season.
As such, the 2025-26 Aquinas team is hungry to experience what that success feels like.
The Raiders moved within one win of making that happen after a comfortable, 69-46 victory over Tampa Steinbrenner on Thursday in a Class 6A state semifinal at UNF Arena.
Aquinas (21-8) will next play Palm Bay Bayside (23-8) in the final on Saturday at 2:30.
“This team is so special because it could be anyone’s night on any given night. It’s so talented,” said Aquinas coach Emily Williams, who is in her first season coaching the Raiders and seeking her first state title as well. “They just trust each other and feed the hot hand.”
The Raiders demonstrated the balance Williams spoke of as they finished with five players scoring in double figures.
Senior 6-4 power forward Isabella Sangha led the Raiders with 19 points and 20 rebounds, while senior guard Ronneisha Thomas scored 16 points, and had three assists and three steals.
Thomas has actually experienced that state championship feeling before.
She transferred to Aquinas before last season from Daytona Beach Mainland. As a freshman, Thomas was on the Bucs’ squad that beat Plantation American Heritage in 2023.
“This means a lot because of all the work I’ve put in since coming here,” Thomas said. “It’s a great accomplishment.”
Sangha, a Notre Dame signee, was at Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest the last time the Raiders won a state title. She transferred to Aquinas last year and immediately made an impact, having already been an accomplished two-sport star in basketball and volleyball.
“We just got her back at the beginning of January, and she’s been such a big presence for us and such a great kid,” Williams said about Sangha, who is committed to play both sports at Notre Dame. “She does all the little things for us to win.”
Sangha is even more motivated to finish the job Saturday after missing the first part of this season with a leg injury and enduring a painful loss in volleyball in the 6A state championship match last November.
“The injury was a big test to my faith and I’m grateful to be back out here,” Sangha said. “Taking a step back and looking at the game and why I love it and being able to reconnect with it was helpful. I wanna do it for my family and my coaches. That’s what we came here for, to get that ring.”
Sophomore point guard Catalina LaFreniere finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four steals while London Thomas and Tyla Mori each had 10 points.
The Raiders’ defense helped them put together a 12-3 surge to open the second quarter, which allowed them to begin to put some distance between them and Warriors (23-7) on the scoreboard.
Steinbrenner committed 24 turnovers overall, which led to 26 Aquinas points.
“We came out flat and I think it was nerves and emotions,” Williams said. “But once we got the first half out of the way, we made some adjustments and the girls came out with new energy and a new mindset.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 3:29 PM.
