Miami Country Day girls' basketball headed back to familiar territory

Miami Herald

22-02-2025

By now, they don't even bother to celebrate much anymore.
A few high fives, a few hugs.
That was about it when the clock hit all zeroes and the Miami Country Day girls' basketball team had clinched another trip to the state final four in Lakeland.
After all, their 47-32 dispatching of Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy in their home gym in a Region 4-2A final meant their 12th trip to state in the past 13 years.
Suffice to say the Lady Spartans and coach Ochiel Swaby could probably find their way to Lakeland blindfolded by now.
The Spartans, 18-11 will head there next week to take on Fort Myers Evangelical Christian in a 2A state semifinal at 1 p.m. on Thursday, and ultimately seek their 10th state title in the past 12 years.
'This year was a little more challenging than other years because they're so young, and really experience can be your greatest friend in terms of doing this,' said Swaby, who has only one senior and one junior on the roster. 'With 11 losses this season, we've gone through our share of struggles but we keep on working and grinding. Believing in hard work and staying committed to the process will always give you a chance.'
Led by sophomore Jalynn Belton, the Spartans jumped all over the Lions early, leading 12-4 after the first quarter and 28-11 at halftime. To Westminster's credit, the Lions didn't cave. They came out and scored the first six points of the second half to cut their deficit to 11.
But freshman Kennedy Deal, part of that large Country Day youth contingent, came back with a three pointer, a steal and another layup to push the lead back to 17. Two more times the Lions (22-8) cut the deficit to 11 but never could get it to single digits.
'We made an emphasis on starting the game off strong and did that,' said Belton, who led all scorers in the game with 16 points. 'Coming into the second half we slowed down a little but we had enough of a lead that we were fine. This season was more of a challenge for us since we're so young and we knew Westminster had a lot more experienced players but we stayed hungry the whole game and found a way to get it done.'
At the other end of the spectrum was the frustration of Westminster Academy players and coach Shannon Wallhoff.
The Lions and Wallhoff can only wonder how many state titles they might have in their trophy case if not for having to face the Spartans every year.
Friday night's loss marked the eighth time in the last nine years that MCD has ended their season in the regional playoffs, six of the last seven in the regional finals.
The only exception was 2022 when the Lions got past them in the finals and then went on to win their only state title in the last 30 years.
To only compound matters, Wallhoff watched her best player Markeli Jones-Tynes roll her ankle during pregame warmups when she stepped on a loose basketball on the floor. Jones-Tynes gutted it out and played, scoring 10 points but her effectiveness was hindered by the tender ankle.
'We won with an asterisk tonight,' Swaby said. 'I felt terrible that their best player rolled her ankle before the game and it's a shame that they didn't have their loaded gun and had to play undermanned. She's such an important part of what they do as their leader and we never want to win without going up against the best of another team. Credit her for getting out there and battling but you could tell she was limited.'
Wallhoff tried not to use Jones-Tynes' injury as an excuse but definitely said that that probably had a lot to do with her team's first half lackluster performance.
'I think it just kind of threw everything off early on and it showed,' Wallhoff said. 'We kind of got it together at halftime and came out and played better in the second half but you simply can't afford to spot a team like that a 17 point lead at halftime and expect to come back. Tonight was definitely more frustration for us against this team but I'm proud of our girls because as much as they struggled in the first half, they came out in the second half and kept battling.'