Country Day girls’ basketball team earns chance at fourth state title in a row
It’s easy to forget when a team makes it to the final four 13 times in 14 years that it might still be the first time for some of its players.
But that’s when veteran leadership is paramount.
And on Friday night, junior forward Jalynn Belton gave Miami Country Day’s girls’ basketball team just what it needed.
Belton scored a game-high 27 points to propel the Spartans to a 53-39 victory over Jacksonville San Jose Prep in a Class 2A state semifinal at UNF Arena.
Miami Country Day (27-2), ranked No. 1 overall in the state and 17th nationally by MaxPreps, advanced to the state final where it will face Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal (20-12) at 2:30 on Saturday.
The Spartans won their 19th consecutive playoff game, and will make their 12th appearance in a state final in the past 14 seasons and attempt to win their 11th state championship during that span. If Country Day wins, it would be its fourth consecutive state title and would move the Spartans within one state title of tying the state’s all-time leader Jacksonville Ribault (12).
But for large parts of Friday’s semifinal, Miami Country Day did not look like a team with such a distinguished pedigree.
It didn’t even look like the team, which dominated most of its national schedule on the way to its lofty ranking.
Although they led the entire game following an opening score by San Jose Prep (20-10), which was making its state final four debut, the Spartans struggled from the field, shooting 35.3% (18 for 51) and went 8 for 29 from 3-point range and 9 for 16 from the free throw line.
“We knew coming into this, it could be difficult for us considering how young we are,” Belton said. “But I had confidence we would win this game. We just need to stay calm and not play out of character. We’ll watch some film and readjust. I think there were some nerves, but I think everyone stuck to their game.”
Miami Country Day recorded 12 steals overall, led by Belton’s five and Kamie Ellis’ four. But while San Jose Prep committed 20 turnovers, the Spartans matched that amount, which kept them from breaking open a close game.
“It’s not always going to be pretty, and we really haven’t played a competitive game in a long time,” said Miami Country Day coach Ochiel Swaby, who has led the Spartans to all 10 of their state titles. “It’s also the moment. There’s a lot of pressure on these kids playing in these moments. This group isn’t veteran overall playing in these moments, and they were uncomfortable, and it showed today.”
Although no other Spartans’ player scored in double figures, Ellis was one of the other bright spots, making three triples for her nine points. Ellis is an Ohio University signee. Casey O’Connell, an Evansville signee, and Kennedy Deal each had eight rebounds.
Miami Country Day has persevered of late without valuable starting guard Kori Edge, who suffered a season-ending injury during regionals.
