Class 4A: Ribault Claims Ninth State Championship
Thu. February 21, 2013 at 6:11 p.m. | By Mike Cobb
Ribault playersSierra Shepherd (2) and Sherranda Reddick (30) celebrate their victory over Coral Springs Charter in the class 4A final. (Photo by Scott Wheeler | The Ledger)
By MIKE COBB
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT
LAKELAND | When you’re the head coach at the most decorated high school girls basketball program in Florida, 10 years without a state title is a long time.
For Sheila Seymore-Pennick, that drought ended Thursday at The Lakeland Center when Jacksonville Ribault defeated Coral Springs Charter, 65-47, to win the Class 4A championship.
It was Ribault’s ninth state championship, the most of any school in the state. Ribault has made more playoff appearances (23) and won more playoff games (85) than any other girls basketball program. However, the last title came in 2003, when the Trojans capped off a run of five consecutive championships from 1999-2003
For Seymore-Pennick, who is in her ninth year as the Ribault head coach, it was her first state championship.
“I’m overjoyed. I’m glad I got that big bear off my back,” Seymore-Pennickk said, adding, “That’ll make it hard for Dillard to catch us.”
Dillard, which plays in the Class 5A semifinals today, came into this year’s tournament with seven championships, one behind Ribault. Now Dillard trails Ribault by two.
For the Trojans, who finished the season a perfect 31-0, title No. 9 came 10 years after their last one. Ribault won five consecutive championships from 1999-2003, and seven titles in 11 seasons from 1993-2003.
“I’ve been here nine years,” Seymore-Pennick said. “I’ve never been undefeated or won a state championship. The closer we got, the more people called me to remind me, and that was more pressure.
“I never talked to any of (the players) about it. By the time they realize what’s going on, they’ll be grown.”
Well, that’s not quite true, senior guard Sherranda Reddick said.
“We see the banners. We’re reminded of it every day,” Reddick said. “It’s not so much them pushing it down our throats, but we see it on the walls. It’s a reminder. It’s a great feeling to know that we’re going on the wall, too.”
Reddick was one of three players in double figures for Ribault. Sierra Shepherd led the Trojans with 17 points while JaTavia Tapley had 12 and Reddick had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
Ribault took command of the game outscoring Coral Springs Charter, 14-5, in the third quarter to turn a 27-23 halftime lead into a 41-28 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“We had a tough shooting night. We got a lot of shots we wanted but we just couldn’t connect,” said Coral Springs coach Ericka Haney, whose team hit just 13-of-43 shots.
The Trojans built their lead to 14 points, 50-36, before Emily Williams sparked a Coral Springs rally that cut the lead to seven, 52-45, with just under four minutes to play.
“We did think we were going to come back, but at the end of the day, they were tougher,” said Williams, who led the Panthers with 14 points .
The Panthers (24-8) got no closer than seven as Ribault outscored the Panthers 13-2 in the final four minutes to secure title No. 9 for the Trojans.
RIBAULT (65): JaTavia Tapley 4-9 3-3 12, Tarje Norman 2-3 0-0 4, Sierra Shephard 6-10 5-6 17, Kayla Rogers 3-13 0-2 6, Sherranda Reddick 3-6 4-8 10, Dawn Gipson 4-6 1-1 9, Kynda Kennerly-Hogan 0-1 0-0 0, Tiffany Harris 2-2 0-0 4, Aja James 1-1 1-2 3, Tierra Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0, Nola Carter 0-3 0-0 0, Sinteria Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 14-22 65.
CORAL SPRINGS CHARTER (47): Cic Wojcik 2-5 4-8 8, Chelsie Hall 2-8 2-4 7, Jade Wyatt 2-5 4-6 8, Emily Williams 4-15 4-5 14, Morgan Smellie 3-9 0-0 9, Karen Cardi 0-0 0-0 0, Lejha 0-1 1-2 1, Kat Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Jamie Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-43 15-25 47.
Ribault 13 14 14 24 – 65
Coral Springs Charter 9 14 5 19 – 47
3-point shooting: Ribault 1-6 (Tapley 1-1, Rogers 0-2, Reddick 0-2, Carter 0-1); CSC 6-19 (Hall 1-3, Williams 2-8, Smellie 3-8). Rebounds: Ribault 40 (Reddick 13), CSC 28 (Smith 10). Assists: Ribault 16 (Reddick 5), CSC (Hall, Williams 3). Records: Ribault 31-0, CSC 24-8.
