Eyeing another championship banner, Miami Country Day’s girls cruise into state final
Miami Country Day players see them every day when they walk into their gym and look around.
They see the banners and their names on pictures commemorating the eight championships the school has won over the past decade.
And it’s why for the Spartans, the engine never stops running.
“For us, it’s about being part of a legacy,” said Kayla Nelms, Miami Country Day’s starting forward and Baylor signee.
After half a quarter of trading buckets with Jacksonville Providence on Wednesday night, Miami country day just needed back to back three-pointers from Nelms and freshman Jalynn Belton to kickstart a 60-38 blowout victory in a Class 3A state semifinal at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
The Spartans (21-8) next face Sarasota Cardinal Mooney on Friday at 5:30 pm in the 3A final with a chance to bring home their ninth state title and 11 seasons.
“When you walk in the gym, and you see your name in one of those banners, it’s nice,” said guard Kaliyah Morales, who led Miami Country Day with 17 points and three assists. “I remember last year after we won. I couldn’t wait for them to put the new one up just to look at it.”
Morales is the latest in the line of several Spartans, who have developed playing multiple years at Miami Country Day and the fruits of that labor result in multiple state championships.
On Wednesday, the Spartans were led by such players and showed off their depth with players such as Morales and Nelms, both seniors, and Belton and Kori Edge, both freshmen, leading the way.
All four players scored in double figures with Belton and Nelms leading the way on the boards with nine rebounds each.
Nelms totaled 14 points and five blocked shots while Belton also had 12 points and three assists. Edge played a huge role on the defensive end with a game-high five steals to go along with her 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
“It’s not just the banners. We also post a winning picture of the team at the end of the year,” Edge said. “And we want to be smiling so that picture looks good.”
Edge and her teammates are one victory away from being able to add a whole bunch more smiling selfies to their social media accounts.
But there was a point this season, where the Spartans veered off course a bit. Miami Country Day opened the season with three consecutive losses and started the season 2-4 overall.
The Spartans met as a group and figured out a way to get back to their winning way, and have gone 19-4 since, winning 15 of their past 16 games with the only defeat coming against national powerhouse Montverde Academy.
“I think we just had to remember why we’re in the gym six or seven days every week, putting in the work, and sacrificing our social lives,” Morales said.” We’re not doing that to lose. We wanted to get here [Lakeland] and we want another ring, especially us seniors.”
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 7:15 AM.
