Why Miami Country Day’s 7th girls’ basketball state title may have been its most unlikely
Andrea Daley exhaled and laughed as the final seconds ticked away on Miami Country Day’s blowout win in the Class 3A girls’ basketball championship Friday.
The buzzer sounded and the senior jumped into the air three times, while her complement of underclassman swarmed her the sideline at the RP Funding Center.
The Spartans were back at the summit with a 59-34 win against Sarasota Cardinal Mooney and one of their most unlikely championships yet.
“I get the pleasure this year — so many people doubted us,” coach Ochiel Swaby said, “so that feels good to prove so many people wrong.”
Miami Country Day wins its seventh state championship in eight years. @MCDLadySpartans blows out Cardinal Mooney, 59-34. pic.twitter.com/NE2AnNmkRk
— David Wilson (@DBWilson2) March 5, 2021
Miami Country Day, which started four underclassmen alongside Daley, won its two games in Lakeland by a combined 47 points and finished the season on a 21-game winning streak after losing three of its first five with its inexperienced group.
The state championship is the Spartans’ seventh in the past eight seasons, yet only four players on the roster — guards Kristina Godfrey, Isabella Guevara, Jordan Fishman and Jordan Sheppard — had won a state title with Miami Country Day before this year.
Daley, who helped guide the Spartans to the final four in her first season at Miami Country Day last year, capped her career with her first state title, even after Miami Country Day lost three of its top four scorers from last season to transfer.
“When we walked into the gym on the first day, we knew what we wanted,” said Daley, who signed a national letter of intent with the George Washington Colonials last year, and finished with 22 points and eight rebounds Friday. “We worked every single day to get this one here.”
Swaby admitted last week he could count himself among the Spartans’ doubters.
Last year, Miami Country’s record-setting run of state championships came to an end when the Spartans fell in the 3A semifinals.
It ended a string of seven straight trips to the title game and six straight championships, and preceded an exodus of key contributors. Star guards Sydney Shaw and Emani Theodule transferred to Plantation American Heritage, and won state titles Saturday as juniors.
Wing Giannia Corbitt transferred to Blanche Ely to play at a public school once she became a freshman. Miami Country Day had to anoint a new generation of stars a few years earlier than they anticipated.
Mix in the ways the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the offseason and the Spartans were looking at a potential rebuilding season.
Godfrey was just a role player off the bench last season. Forward Kayla Nelms was buried on the depth chart. Guevara barely touched the court. Guard Charisse Martin didn’t even play much in practice.
This year, they all became starters and helped Miami Country Day make it all the way back to the final four for the ninth straight season, and then they blew out Tampa Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate in the 3A semifinals last week.
After a week delay from last Friday to this one because of a COVID-related issue, the Spartans (23-3) breezed to a seventh state title — tied for third most in Florida High School Association history.
“It’s kind of unfair, in some sense, for what my thoughts were early in the early,” Swaby said. “It’s to be expected that you’re going to have some early-season struggles.
The Spartans, ranked No. 20 in the nation by MaxPreps, shut out Cardinal Mooney (20-9) in the first quarter, but only led 17-10 in the final three minutes of the first half because of their own 7-of-21 start. Two freshmen led the push to blow away the Cougars.
It started with Martin spotting from the left wing and drilling a three-pointer and Nelms followed with one from the top of the key to stretch the lead to 23-10. After two free throws by Cardinal Mooney star Olivia Davis, Miami Country Day threw the ball to Nelms in the high post and she kicked back out to Martin for another three.
Daley finished the half by going coast-to-coast at the buzzer after a missed free throw by Davis and the Spartans blew open a 28-13 lead. The Cougars never pulled closer than 13 points in the second half.
“I was just working on my shot, just getting better, so I can ease into that role,” said Martin, who scored 13 points and hit three threes.
It did take Swaby a little bit of convincing to see the short-term potential of his young group. Those three early losses were ugly — by an average of 15.7 points — and he saw them sap some confidence from his team.
A few weeks into the season, Miami Country Day had its first winning streak after a blowout win against Archbishop McCarthy. After the game, Martin’s mother told Swaby she thought he was “taking it easy on them.”
“They won’t remember, but we started running a whole lot more in practice after that conversation,” Swaby joked. “I appreciate that conversation because it did trigger something in me.”
The Spartans didn’t just run the table from there — only two of their wins were by fewer than 12 points.
Miami Country Day began the season with doubt. It ended, once again, as a juggernaut.