Lakeland Bound: 2A State Finals Preview
2A has the largest gap of any of the classes if you look at overall ranking with FL Prep being the only top 50 team sitting at number 6, according to MaxPreps and regardless of classification. These other three teams…
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Continue Reading2A has the largest gap of any of the classes if you look at overall ranking with FL Prep being the only top 50 team sitting at number 6, according to MaxPreps and regardless of classification. These other three teams aren’t concerned with rankings, though. Here is how the teams have been re-seeded:
- Florida Prep (22-7)
- Keswick Christian (29-1)
- Florida A&M (16-7)
- Grandview Prep (18-9)
Matchup No. 1 – Florida Prep (Melbourne) vs. Grandview Prep (Boca Raton) – 02/26/2020 @ 10 am
These teams have faced one similar opponent in Boca Raton with Grandview Prep losing to them twice and Florida Prep beating them in their only meeting. Grandview Prep might have the best player in this game with Danielle Montelbano (2020), but the young talent for Florida Prep has all of potential in the world. Grandview Prep is the veteran team with 3 seniors (60% of GP roster is seniors) leading the way, and Florida Prep does not have a single senior on their team.
Florida Prep’s strength of schedule is three times stronger than any other team left in the 2A field. They played a similar schedule last year, and it led them to a breezy 2A championship run. The Falcons have played against teams from 5 other states, and they’ve competed with and beat some of the top dogs in Florida. They’ve done everything to prepare themselves for this moment, but now they have to go out and get it done. They are led by their lengthy duo of Emma Risch (2023) and Emani Burks (2021) who do most of the scoring and rebounding, but this is a solid overall team outside of those two. Another lengthy player they have is Paige McDonald (2022) who is a nice all around player that also has good height for this young team. You can always count on Shamya Joiner (2022) and Alonya Waldon (2023) to bring the energy on both ends and the vision to find their teammates or create a shot for themselves. This is one of the best teams in the state, and they will be even better next season.
The Pride has made their way to States after taking a tough 2OT loss to Miami Christian in their regional final in 2019, but they used that motivation to get here this season. Grandview Prep has three quality 2020’s who do a majority of their damage. Danielle Montelbano is an outstanding player who does everything well and is efficient enough to take this team to the end. The other fellow seniors who have helped them team find success are their post players, Ciadorah Angervil and Paula Bravo. They are tremendous at grabbing boards and taking care of the ball which will be beneficial against this powerful Florida Prep team. Grandview Prep looked great in their regional final revenge win over a very talented Miami Christian team, so they can hang with anyone. The Pride will need to be clicking on all cylinders to take down the Falcons, though.
Matchup No. 2 – Keswick Christian (St. Petersburg) vs. Florida A&M (Tallahassee) – 02/26/2020 @ 12 pm
There are very, very few teams in the state that have as good of a record as Keswick Christian has this year. There also aren’t many teams that are as balanced as Florida A&M is. A&M has played a tougher schedule than Keswick which is evident by their records, but I don’t think there’s a gap in skill when they match up against one another. Keswick coasted much easier through their region with a 26-point margin being the closest outcome. Neither of these teams will have a big height or athletic advantage, so it should be a really competitive game to watch.
Keswick Christian’s only loss was from an out-of-state team in Tennessee, so these Florida teams are still trying to find a way to hand them a loss. The Crusaders have two seniors and a sophomore that control the pace for their team. The two seniors are sharp-shooting Jakara Akins and their top post player, Yasmin Baroni. These two lead the way in points and rebounds, but they have a lot of help in their uber athletic underclassmen, Sydney Jackwin. Between these three and other supporting cast members, they’ve taken down some impressive teams throughout the season. Keswick lost a heartbreaker in the regional final last year, so they are happy to be here but still hungry for more.
Florida A&M has lost to some really good teams this year, and they do have a very strong win against PK Yonge. The Rattlers had to get through a talented University Christian team in their Regional Final behind 23 points from Ameari Logan (2022). Ameari is their leading scorer and best defender on the team with her quick hands. Outside of the sophomore, they have LaTeesa Taylor who can score the rock with an incredibly balanced attack behind these two stars. A&M has 4 other players who score 5 or more points a game to play their role for this impressive team. Alex Reddick (2022), Ashley Reddick (2020), Jade Dubois (2023), and Kenniynia Patterson (2021) are other players to watch for as they contribute in a variety of ways for this team. The Rattlers made it to the State semi’s last year and are hoping to take a step further and get a shot at the title in 2020. They are hoping the difficulty of their schedule has prepared them to play against big-time teams like this.