Gritty effort earns Miami Country Day girls their 11th state basketball title
Miami Country Day’s girls’ basketball team had the strongest strength of schedule in the state this season.
And the Spartans entered Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game ranked No. 1 overall in the state and 17th nationally by MaxPreps.
But Country Day coach Ochiel Swaby cautioned his team not to take its opponent, Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal, for granted.
It’s a good thing the Spartans heeded his advice.
Miami Country Day needed a gritty effort, led by senior Kamie Ellis and junior Jalynn Belton, to hold off the Tigers for a 49-44 victory at UNF Arena.
“The greatest thing for us was the heightened level of respect for this opponent,” Swaby said. “They have two really good players and a good group of girls around them. I knew it would be a possession game, and we stayed the course.”
Miami Country Day (28-2) ran out of fingers on which to put on state championship rings last season when the Spartans won their 10th. After Saturday’s win, an 11th set of rings will be ordered and another championship trophy is on its way back to Miami.
Miami Country Day has now won four consecutive state titles, which is two short of its own state record streak of six set from 2014-2019. The Spartans’ 11th state title puts it within one championship of matching the state record 12 held by Jacksonville Ribault. Country Day will next await to see if it gets an invitation to compete in this year’s Chipotle Nationals, which will be held April 1-4 in Fishers, Indiana.
For Swaby, the victory was a major milestone as well.
Swaby, who has guided Miami Country Day to all 11 of its state championships, surpassed the late legendary former Dillard coach Marcia Pinder for the most of any girls’ basketball coach in state history. Swaby, a former star player himself at North Miami High, and former University of Miami and UCF player, still holds the Miami-Dade County single-season scoring record.
But as he often does, Swaby was quick to give the credit for his team’s success to the collective efforts of everyone involved in Miami Country Day’s program.
“We build our program on girls like Jalynn Belton, Kamie Ellis, and (alums) Maria Alvarez, Kelsey Marshall, Channise Lewis and kids that want to win and are willing to put in the work and families that make the sacrifices so their kids are there every day,” Swaby said.
“These 11 championships are built on a lot of tough, hard, grimey work that not everyone is willing to do.”
The Holy Trinity Episcopal duo Swaby referred to was freshman Leila Bryant, who led the Tigers with 17 points, and sophomore Kylie Green, who totaled 12 points, 16 rebounds and three steals.
At both ends of the floor, Bryant and Green frustrated Country Day, which committed 14 turnovers.
“I’ve been saying it for years, you play a really tough schedule so when you get to this point, your kids are used to playing these tough battles and have to figure it out,” Swaby said.
Belton and Ellis each had 11 points to help the Spartans emerge with one of the hardest-fought championship wins in Country Day’s historic title run.
“It was a tough game. I knew I had to step it up and hit big shots,” Belton said. “Never in a million years did I think I’d be here and be a part of this. We all have the same goals and we all want to win. We wanted to make sure we stopped (Bryant) and not let up. We could have done a little better, but we did enough to get the win.”
Bryant cut the Spartans’ lead to 44-42 with 1:29 left. Belton answered with a three-pointer before Bryant again cut the deficit to three points.
Ellis earned a trip to the foul line and made one of two free throws to push the lead to 48-44.
Bryant and Green each had three-point shots bounce off the rim on Holy Trinity’s ensuing possession, allowing sophomore Kennedy Deal to collect the last of her 10 rebounds and draw a foul with 6.6 seconds left.
“We just respected the moment. We hadn’t had a competitive game in a long time yesterday, and it showed,” Swaby said. “We watched the film last night and I showed them this team. And they were good.”
Ellis, an Ohio University signee, is one of two seniors, along with forward Casey O’Connell, an Evansville signee, on this year’s Spartans’ roster.
Belton, who has been a part of all four of Miami Country Day’s most recent state titles, is one of three returning juniors who will try to lead Country Day to a fifth in a row next season and a state record-tying 12th.
“It feels unreal. Four (state titles) and all at Country Day,” Belton said. “We have a very good group of girls here and this is gonna last forever.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 7:05 PM.
