02-03-2025
Calvary Christian boys' hoops comes full circle with dramatic state championship victory
Calvary Christian's boys' basketball team came full circle.
A year ago, the Eagles were left on the court feeling the pain of a season-ending loss to rival North Broward Prep in the regional finals with three-tenths of a second left on the clock.
On Saturday night in Lakeland, it was Calvary Christian's turn to flip the script.
Junior guard Kenneth Francis Jr.'s fall away jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining ended up being the game-winner, which secured the Eagles a thrilling 66-64 victory over The Villages in the Class 3A state championship game at the RP Funding Center.
After a timeout, Villages guard Adyn Corbin's desperation heave from halfcourt at the buzzer was an airball and Calvary Christian players and coaches ran onto the court to celebrate a moment of redemption a year in the making.
'Hats off to Villages, they were awesome,' Calvary Christian coach Cilk McSweeney said. 'Every zone trap we did that's worked against every team we faced, they broke it and made shot after shot. We just had to find a way. This was one of the toughest games we had to dig out a win for sure. It's all about perseverance and being resilient and keep fighting.'
As Calvary Christian celebrates its triumph, it also hopes to receive an invitation to the Chipotle Nationals April 3-5 in Fishers, Indiana and an opportunity to compete for a national championship.
The Eagles (22-1), who are ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, won their third state title since 2021 and made it back to the top after a two-year gap.
Calvary Christian made the choice to go independent for the 2022-23 season and a play a completely national schedule, but struggled to a 7-15 record.
Last season, it appeared the Eagles were primed to win another state title, but suffered the aforementioned heartbreaker.
Calvary Christian used '0.3' as its motivation this season. It led the Eagles all the way to Lakeland on Saturday where they found themselves in another dicey situation, which also could have ended in heartbreak.
Tied at 64 with 16.1 seconds left, senior guard, Cincinnati signee and McDonald's All-American Shon Abaev held the ball behind the 3-point line as he looked for the final shot. He drove to the basket and put up a solid attempt that barely rimmed out. But Francis Jr. surged in and grabbed the rebound and quickly turned and fired his shot as he fell away from the basket.
'I just knew I had to attack the rim just in case (Abaev) missed it,' Francis Jr. said. 'We've been in this spot many times before so I knew I had to do it. It was a very intense game and I love these types of games.'
And so Calvary Christian players and coaches relished the other side of the spectrum of emotions after a dramatic roller coaster game, which was tied 11 times and had 19 lead changes and neither team able to stretch a lead over seven points.
'It's amazing because we played in a lot of close games against a lot of tough teams (this season),' Abaev said. 'We stayed calm the whole time and had a little outburst, but we believed in ourselves, we stuck to the game plan and came out on top.'
Ironically, Francis Jr. picked up his teammates in the game's most important moment after a quiet night on the scoresheet. After scoring 25 points in the Eagles' semifinal win over Cardinal Gibbons, he finished with six points and five rebounds.
Abaev recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Colin Paul came close to a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.
But one of the most clutch performances that helped Calvary keep pace with The Villages (26-6) throughout the game and eventually prevail came from sophomore guard Cayden Daughtry, who shot 7 for 12 from the field, 2 for 5 from 3-point range and 7 for 7 from the free throw line and finished with a game-high 23 points.
'We played some of the top teams in the nation, but this game was definitely one of the hardest,' Daughtry said. 'They played their hearts out and we had to bring out all our effort to win this one.'
Twice, the Buffalo threatened to build a big lead when they got ahead by five in the third quarter. Each time, Calvary Christian responded.
A trying moment in the game came when junior Sam Hallas was ejected after drawing a technical foul with 6:16 left in the third quarter. Aaron Britt Jr., who had 14 points for The Villages, proceeded to hit both free throws and moments later, Jared Thompson scored to push the Buffalo's lead to 39-34.
Abaev answered at the other end with a layup and a free throw after drawing a foul.
The Villages extended the lead back to five and Daughtry answered with five consecutive points to tie the game at 42.
'We should have won it last year,' Daughtry said. 'The fact that we came back after all that adversity, got to where we wanted to be and won it.'
