Class 3A: Miami Country Day 60, Seffner Christian 51
Wed. February 20, 2013 at 3:23 p.m. | By Rick Brown
By RICK BROWN | THE LEDGER
LAKELAND | Miami Country Day girls basketball team believes if it keeps pressing teams, they will eventually break.
That happened in its Class 3A semifinal game against Seffner Christian on Wednesday.
The Spartans forced 28 Crusaders turnovers and was able to pull away for a 60-51 victory and launch the team to its first state championship game.
Miami Country Day will take on Daytona Beach Father Lopez in tonight’s 3A final.
Breanna Blot scored a game-high 16 points to pace Country Day. Onika Swaby added 15, while eighth grade point guard Channise Lewis had 12 points and a game-high seven assists.
But it was the pressure, led by Stephanie Mackenzie’s seven steals, that hurt Seffner Christian.
“We knew the pressure would impact them,” said Country Day coach Ochiel Swaby. “We felt like that would take away from their offense and make them tired and fatigue them a little bit.”
Two big runs, fueled by the press, helped the Spartans – a 13-3 run to start the game and a 13-5 jaunt to begin the third quarter.
The last run helped Country Day take a 47-35 lead into the fourth quarter and the squad was able to hold on.
“We take pride in our defense,” Blot said. “In the second half we started executing more (on offense) and stopped fouling.”
Sabrina Whiting had 15 points and Jeitesha Hanson added 14 to pace the Crusaders.
“A lot of it was the intensity of the game,” said Seffner Christian coach Greg Fawbush. “We hadn’t seen a press that aggressive and I think that got us out of our rhythm a little bit.”
SEFFNER CHRISTIAN (51) – Samantha Plager 1-1 1-2 3, Peyton Walker 2-10 3-4 7, Ally Parimore 3-9 0-0 9, Jeitesha Hanson 6-15 2-4 14, Sabrina Whiting 4-12 5-6 15, Asia Weaver 2-4 1-3 5, Kelly Cunningham 0-1 1-2 1, Sara Denny 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 13-21 51.
MIAMI COUNTRY DAY (60) – Danielle Minott 2-7 2-2 6, Breanna Blot 7-13 2-3 16, Onika Swaby 6-12 3-4 15, Stephanie Mackenzie 1-7 5-6 8, Channise Lewis 3-12 4-11 12, Kayla Kotalik 1-3 1-2 3, Lenne Flot 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 17-28 60.
Seffner Christian 7 17 11 16 -- 51
Country Day 13 12 22 13 -- 60
3-point field goals: SC 2-13 (Whiting 2-8, Parimore 0-1, Weaver 0-1, Denny 0-3); CD 3-11 (Lewis 2-6, Mackenzie 1-4, Swaby 0-1); Technical Fouls: None; Fouled Out: Whiting (SC), Blot (CD), Hanson (SC), Walker (SC). Rebounds: SC 46 (Walker 10); CD 40 (Blot 8); Assists: SC 9 (Walker 2, Parimore 2, Hanson 2, Whiting 2); CD 15 (Lewis 7). Records: Seffner Christian 29-3; Country Day 28-1.
