Oakleaf's run ends in girls basketball semifinal against Plant

LAKELAND | The points were mounting for Kendal Cheesman. The rebounds, too.

Halfway through Oakleaf's first state girls basketball semifinal, the stat sheet already showed a double-double, and Knights head coach Fred Cole realized his team was running out of ways to contain the SEC-bound forward.

"I told my team at halftime, 5 [Cheesman] is the best player that we've probably seen, all-around," he said. "She came out to shoot the threes, she can block, she can go [inside] and score down there."

She didn't slow down.

Tampa Plant's senior pair of Cheesman and Nyla Jean overcame the three super sophomores of Oakleaf, eliminating the Knights 69-52 in Friday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A girls basketball semifinal.

Vanderbilt signee Cheesman finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds, sending the Plant fans into chants of "S-E-C!" with an offensive rebound and a layup in the fourth quarter, and Georgia State-bound Jean electrified the outside with her own double-double, 26 points and 10 boards.

The Panthers (25-3) thoroughly dominated the boards, outrebounding the smaller, guard-based Oakleaf lineup 46-19 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

"The size finally caught up to us," Cole said.

The sophomores of Oakleaf — Taliah Scott, Fantasia James and Kaylah Turner — showed little signs of stage fright in the program's first-ever final-four appearance, scoring 36 points before the break.

But Oakleaf had few solutions for the power of Cheesman, or for the lightning quickness of Jean on the perimeter.

"We knew coming into this that we were really going to have to rebound, offense and defense, and utilize that," Cheesman said.

For one half, the Knights — never before a regional champion — looked set to match Plant basket for basket.

Oakleaf (24-3) unleashed a flood of points after a slow opening three minutes: Scott racked up 21 points before the break and James got 11. Scott scored from nearly every angle on the floor, including one basket from well beyond NBA 3-point range.

"In the first half, we came out and we played with great energy," she said. "We were making shots, we were moving the ball up."

She pulled Oakleaf back from a double-digit deficit shortly before halftime, sinking three free throws after getting fouled on a half-court heave at the second-quarter buzzer and sending the Knights into the locker rooms down 44-36.

"I just felt like we had to pick up the defense," said Plant coach Carrie Mahon, "because I just wasn't so sure we could reproduce that [44-point first-half] offense."

But the Knights' shooting turned cold (31 percent) after the half, and with top Oakleaf defender Kaylah Turner hampered by foul trouble, Jean took control on the outside and Cheesman — who already had 17 points and 11 rebounds by halftime — was unstoppable inside.

Turner cut the Plant lead to 44-38 early in the third quarter, but Jean and Cheesman ignited a Panther run and Oakleaf never again got closer than nine points.

Mahon pointed to a defensive adjustment, switching Jean and Tanner Strickland on defense, to help contain the Knights' backcourt.

"Their styles are a little bit different, but they're both difficult to handle the ball against," Mahon said.

Scott finished with 26 points on 7-of-28 shooting, while James added 15 points.

Mahon, coaching by the game's end with a bandage on her head after being entangled in a fourth-quarter pileup for a loose ball around the bench, said she expects the young Oakleaf squad — which completed the most successful season in program history — to challenge again.

"They're just lights-out with their shots and they've got such incredible range," Mahon said. "They're going to be back here, no doubt."

The Panthers advance to meet Miami Senior or Palm Beach Lakes in Saturday night's final.

For Oakleaf and for Northeast Florida, the wait goes on. No Jacksonville-area school has won an FHSAA girls basketball title since 2017, when Ribault took the Class 6A championship.

"We took one today, and this is going to stick with us until the regular season," Cole said.