Girls' basketball: Lake Gibson takes district title over St. Cloud

Robert Magobet, The Ledger
·4 min read
Lake Gibson won its fourth district title game in eight years after defeating No. 1 seed St. Cloud on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, at St. Cloud High School. From left to right are the following: Coach Marquis Roberts, Mr. Terry Coney (stats), Jakhia Willis, Taniya Brown, Camryn Wiggins, Samari Wilson, Jamila Ray, Kamryn Veasy (No. 50), Talea Turner, Deondrea Arrington and Coach Antonia Bennett.

ST. CLOUD ― Talent and defense just took over down the stretch for Antonia Bennett’s Lake Gibson Braves to ultimately help win her fourth district title as a coach in eight years in the Class 6A District 7 girls' basketball finals Friday at St. Cloud High School.

Two straight steals by freshman guard Jamila Ray sealed the deal, cementing the 48-37 score over No. 1 seed St. Cloud. Ray put up 16 points, nine boards, 10 steals and five dimes; senior power forward Taniya Brown registered 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals; and small forward Samari Wilson posted 13 points, 18 rebounds and four assists to help the No. 2 seed Braves.

“On their floor (St. Cloud), they have a really tough crowd. (We) just pretty much tried to tell our kids to keep their composure,” Bennett said. “A lot of things weren’t necessarily going our way, but we just had to keep our composure and just play through all the adversity that we faced. In the locker room, I just told them, ‘We faced all different types of teams this season. We played a challenging schedule' … so that was just another test to add to the bucket of adversity that we already faced. And for the most part, they kept their cool. I tried to keep mine, but it was a tough battle with everything we were going through. … We had to keep our composure and fight it out.”

But that wasn’t easy. Following two straight turnovers by Lake Gibson, St. Cloud sophomore point guard Arianna Viera, who was a top scorer for St. Cloud, hit a corner 3 to get the score at 44-38 with 2:36 left in the game.

In an effort to try to stall for the rest of the game by passing the ball around the horn since there is no shot clock in high school basketball, Wilson, who had a stellar game all day, traveled, turning the ball over once more.

More:Girls basketball: Winter Haven stifles Jenkins in district semis; Lake Gibson wins

But these girls are something special, displaying sisterhood all year. Lake Gibson freshman Taleah Turner, who went on to tally two points, three rebounds, and one assist, stole the ball out of a full-court press before passing the ball to senior guard Deondrea Arrington (two points, one assist, one steal), who tried to stall with the ball before driving baseline and missing the attempt. Ray came down with the offensive rebound and was fouled before going up.

She made 1-of-2 free throws to put the score at 45-38 near the end of the game.

Ray stole the ball two straight times, including scoring a bucket off of the steal to put the score at its final score. But Ray did much more all game: The Lake Gibson guard was the primary ball handler, making tough layups all game off of dribble-drive moves.

“It feels great, especially since it’s my freshman year,” Ray said. “It feels great to come in and just start (and) come through with a win.”

Winning tendencies for Lake Gibson were apparent early in the game when it was tied at nine and the Braves went on a 7-0 run following a jumper by Ray with 4:53 left in the first.

Talent and force just took over as Wilson played the passing lanes and drove the ball to the hoop before finding Ray for a layup to open up the score to 34-24 Lake Gibson with 2:56 left in the third. Wilson wasn’t just a defender. Thanks to smaller substitutions by St. Cloud, she was a force in the middle with her strong moves, midrange shots and was even a threat from deep, hitting a 3 early in the game.

“It feels nice (winning the district championship), especially with new people coming in and working with the team. We actually bonded this game and actually worked together to finish this out,” Wilson said.

Brown also worked well with the team by encouraging her teammates to keep going. Ultimately, she dribbled to her spots to either make the right play or score for herself.

“It feels really good,” Brown said. “It feels (like it's) relief. We’ve been working all season to get here. And It’s (just about) having faith in my teammates.”

The Braves (13-10) will take on an opponent in regionals yet to be determined. Bennett said she was grateful for eight of the 13 kids who stuck it out through the season to help the program garner back-to-back district titles for the second time in eight years.

“I’m definitely impressed,” Bennett said. “Our record doesn’t tell our story. We played some challenging games … but we had some players that decided not to continue. … We just keep coming together and fight it out."

Lake Gibson small forward Samari Wilson drives hard to the rim in a contest vs. St. Cloud. She scored 13 in the district title game.
Lake Gibson small forward Samari Wilson drives hard to the rim in a contest vs. St. Cloud. She scored 13 in the district title game.
Lake Gibson guard Deondrea Arrington surveys the floor before making a pass in the district title game vs. St. Cloud.
Lake Gibson guard Deondrea Arrington surveys the floor before making a pass in the district title game vs. St. Cloud.
Lake Gibson's Taniya Brown drives hard to the hoop vs. St. Cloud in a Class 6A, District 7 title game Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at St. Cloud High School. Lake Gibson won 48-37 and Brown put up 16.
Lake Gibson's Taniya Brown drives hard to the hoop vs. St. Cloud in a Class 6A, District 7 title game Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at St. Cloud High School. Lake Gibson won 48-37 and Brown put up 16.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Girls' basketball: Lake Gibson takes district title over St. Cloud