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Cardinal Mooney girls blitzed early in 3A state basketball final loss

Cougars fall behind 12-0 and fail to score in the first quarter of a 59-34 setback to Miami Country Day

Dennis Maffezzoli
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

LAKELAND — In watching four to five game films of the Miami Country Day girls basketball team, Rico Anotnio thought he had a good idea of the kind of pressure defense his Cardinal Mooney Catholic team would face.

Film and reality were not the same.

The Spartans threw a blanket on the Cougars early, holding Cardinal Mooney without a point for the first quarter and 10 seconds of the game. 

Cardinal Mooney Catholic poses with the runner-up trophy after losing to Miami Country Day in the Class 3A state girls basketball final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Miami Country Day rode the early momentum to its seventh state title in the past eight years with a 59-34 victory over Cardinal Mooney on Friday at RP Funding Center.

The game was delayed one week because a referee who worked the Spartans’ semifinal game Feb. 24 tested positive for COVID-19.

Playing in their first state final in program history, the Cougars (20-9) shot 0-for-13 in the first quarter and fell behind 12-0.

“You have to give Miami Country Day credit,” Antonio said. “Their defense surprised me. After watching film, I didn’t think their defense was that effective, but it was effective against us.”

Cardinal Mooney Catholic's Olivia Davis is closely guarded by Miami Country Day's Kristina Godfrey in the Class 3A state girls basketball final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

“People watch film on us and think we are going to play like we played against someone else,” Miami Country Day coach Ochiel Swaby. “That’s not how it works. We’re going to play you on how your team is built.”

The Spartans identified guard Olivia Davis and center Jordyn Byrd as the two players they had to stop.

“We have a base defense, but it’s all predicated on your personnel,” Swaby said. “We try to take away your better players. No. 12 (Davis) is obviously a good shooter for them. So (we tried) to make sure she didn’t get easy looks. We tried to get to the big kid (Byrd), but she got us in foul trouble.”

Cardinal Mooney Catholic's Jasmine Scurry looks for room against Miami Country Day in the Class 3A girls basketball state final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Cardinal Mooney did not score until reserve Jasmine Scurry came in and hit a jumper 10 seconds into the second quarter.

"The slow start did cause us a little problem,” Antonio said. “It’s unusual for us to start like that, let alone not score a point in a quarter. We had looks. They just didn’t go in. It was the wrong day to be off.”

There was nothing tangible to pinpoint.

“I think we might have been a little hesitant in the first quarter," Antonio said. "Maybe a little nerves. Usually, we can rebound and recover from that. Today we didn’t.”

Cardinal Mooney Catholic's Jordyn Byrd is double-teamed by Miami Country Day in the Class 3A girls basketball state final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.  Byrd led the Cougars with nine points and 14 rebounds.

Davis echoed Antonio's thoughts.

“Nerves kind of got to us,” said the sophomore who averages 16 points per game but was limited to six points on 1-for-5 shooting. “It’s not an excuse. We didn’t make free throws, including myself. Our confidence got real low after they got out to a quick start.

“I didn’t try to create for myself. I wasn’t getting open looks necessarily. Their defense was phenomenal.” 

Two Davis free throws got the Cougars within 17-10 with 3:34 left in the second quarter. Freshman Francesca Antonio, Rico’s daughter, gave Cardinal Mooney a lift with a 4-point play and finished with six points.

Jordyn Byrd of Cardinal Mooney Catholic goes up for a shot against Miami Country Day in the Class 3A girls basketball state final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

However, Miami Country Day hit three 3-pointers and closed the first half with an 11-3 run to grab a 28-13 halftime lead.

If there was one bright spot for Cardinal Mooney it was the Spartans’ top three scorers were saddled with foul trouble.

“That’s what we wanted,” Coach Antonio said. “We talked about that through the week. We had certain sets designed to go at certain girls to get them off the floor. We were able to do that, but we weren’t able to capitalize on making free throws and making our looks.”

“We trust the kids we have on the bench," Swaby said. "They can hold down the fort. I don’t think it was going to just decline drastically because we put certain kids in the game. I wasn’t overly concerned, but I was concerned.”

Cardinal Mooney Catholic coach Rico Antonio poses with the runner-up trophy after the Cougars lost to Miami Country Day in the Class 3A girls basketball state final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

The closest Cardinal Mooney got in the second half was 13, but the Spartans ended the third quarter with 13 consecutive points.

Byrd, a sophomore who won a volleyball state championship as a freshman, led Cardinal Mooney with nine points and 14 rebounds, eight offensive.

“After the first quarter, we played decent,” Coach Antonio said. “In a game like that you’ve got to play four quarters. Against a team like that, you’ve got to play four quarters.” 

Cardinal Mooney came into the game with no seniors on its nine-player roster.

“I was nervous,” Cougars freshman forward Kennedy McClain said. “I think everyone was nervous. It kind of affected us.”

Natalie Mercadante of Cardinal Mooney Catholic adjusts her medal after the Cougars lost to Miami Country Day in the Class 3A girls basketball state final Friday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Coach Antonio hopes the experience of playing in a state final carries over for years to come.

“It’s a great, great experience for these girls and for myself for that matter because I haven’t been here,” he said. “I told them at the end, remember the feeling that this is. We’ve got to continue to work.

"Nothing is granted or given to you that you are going to be back next year or the year after because we have no seniors. But we’ve got to continue to work.”

“Obviously as a freshman, it was a very cool life experience for me to be starting and to play in this game,” McClain said.

“We’ll remember this feeling,” Davis said. “I have a good feeling we’ll be back here next year.”

Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.