On to the Final Four: St. Augustine girls advance to 5A state basketball semifinals

The St. Augustine High girls' basketball team is on to the Final Four.

Guard Kyra Stauble scored 19 points and had six assists and guard Dana Art scored 13 points as the Yellow Jackets defeated visiting Fort Walton Beach, 52-47, in the Region 1-5A final Friday night to advance to the state semifinals.

The Yellow Jackets (26-1) are on a 21-game win streak. It will be their first Final Four appearance since 2001.

Forward Janiyah Jackson had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. She also had three blocks.

With six seconds left in the game, the Yellow Jackets were up 50-47. 

Stauble was fouled and went to the charity strip for the biggest free-throws of her career. 

"Eric told me 'I just need one of those free-throws,'" Stauble said. "Dana came up to me and was like, 'Nah forget that, I need both of them, we're a championship team.'"

Stauble swished both.

"When I hit both of those and I saw the time ticking down I was shocked," she said. "But like so excited because we fought hard for it."

After a slow first half, Stauble exploded for 16 second-half points. She credited assistant coach Teosha Ray and her brother Lucas Stauble for the turnaround. 

"Coach T told me 'I need to attack more,'" Kyra said. "And my brother was yelling the whole game 'She can't guard, she can't guard you, take it.' And then that second half, I just was attacking the basket."

While Stauble struggled in the first half, Art provided a scoring-punch for the Yellow Jackets. She drained three 3-pointers. 

"I try and keep my confidence up. I always want to keep shooting," Art said. "We got the twin towers, they're gonna get my rebound even if I miss. So, if I'm open I'm pulling it."

St. Augustine head coach Eric Hancock was jubilant and understood the magnitude of the victory.

"I'm proud of my girls. They played hard and played great defense," Hancock said. "This win is very big for the program. We finally got girls dedicated to the program, dedicated to basketball, not missing the much practice.

"Some of the girls on the bench know they're not playing that much, but you can't tell by the way they cheer. So, it means a lot to me to have them and have our seniors go out to the final four."

St. Augustine will play Melbourne Palm Bay at RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Thursday at 2 p.m.

Elsewhere, Palm Bay (22-3) defeated Orlando Jones, 71-58, in the Region 2 final.