Doral Academy girls secure first win at state, seeking first championship next
The Doral Academy girls’ basketball team has established itself as one of the top teams in the state in recent years.
But the missing piece for the Firebirds has been a state championship.
Even a win at the state final four had eluded them in two prior advancements to the semifinals.
That changed on Friday morning.
Led by the sharp shooting of senior Ashley Martinez and the versatile play of senior Stephanie Vega at both ends of the floor, Doral secured its first trip to a state title game following a 71-46 win over Port St. Lucie Centennial in a Class 7A state semifinal at UNF Arena.
“She’s just a hard worker and when you have a shooter like Ashley, it opens up the whole game for Steph to dominate,” Doral coach Daniela Barrios said. “When you have two great players like that working together, it’s great to see.”
Doral (21-8) will next try to win that elusive first championship when it plays reigning 7A champion Winter Haven (20-6) on Saturday at 7:30. The Blue Devils, who have won six state titles all-time, beat Ocoee, 31-26, in their semifinal on Friday.
While they could be on the cusp of a major breakthrough for their program on Saturday, the victory on Friday felt like one for the Firebirds, who were eliminated in the semifinals each of the past two seasons.
The victory meant a lot to Barrios, who took over as head coach before the season after former coach Allison Bustamante left to become the head coach of Barry University’s women’s team.
Barrios, who played guard at Doral during her high school career, and has her father, Alex, on staff, was an assistant coach on those recent regional championship teams that fell short at state.
“It’s huge. I know every game we win puts us closer to our goal,” Barrios said. “I graduated from Doral so to be able to come back and do this in ‘year one’ is a great feeling, but we’re not satisfied with it. We have one more to go.”
Martinez and Vega have played together since youth travel ball in fifth grade, and said they’ve each dreamed of one day playing for a state title.
They earned that opportunity in dominant fashion with Martinez nailing 8 of her 14 three-point attempts and finishing with a game-high 26 points on 9 of 17 shooting overall.
Vega totaled 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
“We’ve worked day and night for this and we’ve fought for each other on and off the court,” Martinez said. “It’s great when I see my teammates cheering me on, and if I do miss, I know they’ve got my back. The last two years we came up short so we’re not gonna let that happen this time.”
While the offensive outburst was important, it wasn’t totally unfamiliar for a Doral girls’ squad.
The difference this season was an emphasis on improving on the defensive end, according to Barrios.
“We’ve worked on our defense ever since we first stepped into the gym at the start of the season,” Barrios said. “That was our downfall last year so we knew that if we could defend, we could score, but if we defend and give teams less opportunities, it would be huge for us in the long run.”
With quick hands and aggressive pressure, Doral recorded 15 steals as a team, led by Karla Stiven’s four steals. These contributed to 22 turnovers by Centennial (23-7), which led to 27 points for Doral.
“We’re not the same team we were at the beginning of the season,” Vega said. “We still have one more so we know we have to lock in and focus.”
