Girls basketball state semifinal: Cardinal Mooney advances to championship game again

LAKELAND − The King’s Academy girls basketball team had whittled a 12-point deficit to two at halftime.

Cardinal Mooney Catholic coach Marlon Williams did not detail the nature of his halftime chat with his team.

“I basically told the girls we could win if we keep playing together, passing the ball and playing great defense and rebounding the ball and not making turnovers,” he said. “Let’s do what we do in practice.”

It may not have looked like a game-changing play at the time, but Josie Maloni stole the inbounds pass at midcourt to start the second half and went in for an uncontested layup.

That gave Cardinal Mooney the spark it needed in a 52-39 victory over the Lions of West Palm Beach on Wednesday afternoon in the Class 3A state semifinal at RP Funding Center.

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The Cougars (21-5) are in the state championship game for the third straight season, facing Miami Country Day, a 58-33 winner over Providence School in the other semifinal, at 10 a.m. Saturday in Lakeland.

Cardinal Mooney held King’s Academy (23-5) to two points in the third quarter and 11 points in the second half.

“Josie’s always been the one to anticipate the passes,” said Cougars lone senior Olivia Davis, who refers to Maloni as the “Energizer Bunny.”

“It gave us so much momentum right out of the gate, especially on defense. That steal definitely gave us a ton of momentum.”

Davis followed Maloni's bucket with a 3-pointer and a three-point play to extend the Cougars’ advantage to double digits, and they never looked back.

“The momentum changed. I could see it in their eyes,” Williams said.

From there Cardinal Mooney relied on its switching zone defense and defensive rebounding to keep the Lions more than an arm’s length away.

“I was hoping we would execute a little better,” King’s Academy coach Chris Race said. “We hurried a few things. We weren’t putting enough pressure on them when we were sitting in that zone. We didn’t attack the rim like we anticipated.”

Cardinal Mooney went from a 2-3 to 1-3-1 to a 3-2 at times during the game.

“We have a lot of different variations, but the girls adjust,” Williams said of his defense. “They did well.”

Sophomore Bri Behn not only ran the offense but led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points to go along with four steals and three rebounds. Davis added 14 points, and Sy’monique Simon added 11 points. Kali Barrett pulled down 10 rebounds, as Cardinal Mooney held a 36-32 advantage on the boards.

“Just look for the open person, cut and screens and get layups,” Behn said. “The pick and roll was open, rejecting the screen and going to the basket.”

“Having her helps a lot,” Davis said of Behn, a first-year varsity performer. “She is able to control the offense. This year the second half of the year has been phenomenal. It allows us to spread the floor a lot more. She penetrates, can kick out, can finish like no other. Her controlling the offense today was a complete game changer.”

“She does the run the offense,” Williams said. “She also plays great defense and got a lot of important rebounds for us. Her playing today at that level really pushes us over.”

Cardinal Mooney's victory sets up a rematch of the 2021 state final won by Miami Country Day, 59-34. Last year, the Cougars lost to Westminster Academy out of Fort Lauderdale, 44-41, in the championship game.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Williams said. “We’re going to come and play the best way we can: Defense and rebounding is our main thing.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: FHSAA basketball playoffs: Cardinal Mooney girls advance to title game