Girls basketball: Junior Julia Vazquez propels King's to statement win over Boca Raton

WEST PALM BEACH — King's Academy girls basketball is back, but things look a little different on what the Lions hope will be a third consecutive run to the final four of the Class 3A state championship.

There are still familiar faces like Jade Jones, now a junior, and standout underclassmen from Sofia Rathbun to Sophia Kateris.

But there's no Janessa Williams at guard as she racks up accolades like NEC Rookie of the Week at Division I Long Island University, and King's coach Chris Race is watching his daughter, Jordan, on a screen playing at Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina, rather than the court at Loveland Athletic Center she called home since her freshman season in 2019.

"Now everyone's role has changed," Race said.

For the first time in 12 years, there isn't a single senior on the squad at King's. To complicate things for the already limited bench, injuries are rocking the Lions' roster early. However, a 58-44 victory to snap a three-game win streak for an undefeated Boca Raton suggests another big year ahead for Jones and company on the road to Lakeland.

"It's a really good win. Coach (Rod) Johnson does a really good job with that team. They're super talented and it was a fun, competitive basketball game. There were a ton of people here for a girls game, so we're just trying to build the game," Race said.

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Winning the battle of the big cats told a young pack of Lions what they were capable of against older squads like the Bobcats, who returned now-seniors Courtney Lowe, Alex McAuliffe and Vanessa Moore. Boca also brought back sophomore Tatyana Campise-Pinkney after a standout freshman campaign.

So, how did the Lions come out of Thursday with the W versus a Boca team that's been unstoppable?

"They just stepped up and fought through it," Race said. After a point-to-point first quarter, King's jumped out to a 32-17 halftime lead with Rathbun's buzzer-beater from downtown. Coming out of halftime, that's where Jones' presence in the paint left Boca.

"They came back, they were shooting the ball and they were making a bunch of 3s," Race said. Campise-Pinkney, Lowe and Moore had two each for the Bobcats, who were trailing in the single digits by the top of the fourth quarter.

All the while, the Lions knew they were undersized, and if they wanted to go into their next game against Berean Christian with a win, they had to box out the Bobcats.

"There's a bunch of times where that happens and then you start forcing shots, now you're behind and your game has changed completely," Race said. "We stuck with what we were trying to do and then, finally, we put them away again."

In the offseason, Race thought this team was the "best" and "deepest" King's had ever seen. Short-staffed as they may have been, even more so with Kateris at home under the weather, the Lions fit the bill.

Of course, King's capitalized from the free-throw line as referees helped by dealing Boca nine fouls in the second half, the majority prompting a sea of "That was terrible" comments from the bleachers.

More than that, Jones' 15-point performance to lead the night and pressure at the rim were key. The only thing more that Race could ask out of the fourth-year starter is that she grows as a leader as much as she has as a player.

"I want Jade to be a leader. I want her to want the ball at the end of the game because I had seniors and that's how they were. Now it's her turn to do the same thing," Race said.

Another key to the win actually came in the offseason, and by way of nearby Cardinal Newman.

Fourteen points from former Crusader Julia Vazquez told that the junior will be critical to the success of King's long after Boca, a shoo-in to fill the shoes of Williams, who finished her high school career with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 150 steals and 100 assists.

The two even share a similar journey, as Williams transferred from Santaluces after her sophomore season.

"She's as tough as anybody and she's a competitor. She would do whatever. If I said, 'Go play center,' she would go down there and guard that person. She's just a smart basketball player and she doesn't care really if she scores — that's what it seems like to me," Race said.

At Newman, Vazquez was the glue to the crew that forged a 17-11 record in 2023, topping the stat sheet with averages of 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals, sitting around eight points and 2.3 rebounds per game. She led Newman to back-to-back postseason runs in 3A. Now at King's, she can finally hoist up the district championship — and more — that the Crusaders were denied her freshman and sophomore seasons.

A midseason exit for former Newman coach Thomas Kohlwaies and losing seniors like Checorey Bouie and Madison Mingo were the biggest contributors to Vazquez's switch.

Although she's now enrolled at her former rival school, Vazquez says she wasn't met by foes but old friends like Jones and Kateris instead.

"They played together when they were little so we have some synergy between all different groups of kids on our team," Race said.

Vazquez agreed, saying their bond helps the Lions to "always hold each other accountable."

"They're like family to me," Vazquez said. "We were always wishing to play with each other again."

The family connection only grew as Vazquez brought King's yet another Sophia in her younger sister, but it'll be some time before the sophomore — one of the Lions' two ACL victims with fellow transfer Darudine Dejadin — recovers from her injury and can contribute in the way she did on Newman's most recent path to region quarterfinals.

"I mean, we've got a tough road," Race said.

"We have work to do, but we have the pieces there to do it."

Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Junior Julia Vazquez propels King's to statement win over Boca Raton