Playoff basketball: Heroes abound for King's Academy girls in win over Windermere Prep

There was the halfcourt shot at the first-quarter buzzer by center Brielle George. There was the four-point play – all free throws – by ice-in-her-veins Jade Jones. There was 20 points - 10 from the free-throw line – from forward Sophia Kateris.

And there were four straight clinching free throw from recently injured sparkplug guard Julia Vazquez to clinch the win.

Heroes abounded for the King’s Academy girls basketball team Monday night in its home gym and that’s why the Lions’ season still is alive after defeating visiting Windermere Prep, 62-55, in the state 3A regional semifinals.

The Lions, who made the state final four last year, advance to a road matchup with Seffner Academy of the Tampa area in the regional finals.

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The Lions' beat goes on.

“It’s amazing,’’ said Kateris, a junior. “I felt a lot of  people were underestimating us this year because we lost our three seniors (Jordan Race, Janessa Williams, Naomi Cadet). We’re a really young team but we’re moving along.’’

Coach Chris Race says its relatively modest 19-9 record was due more to injuries. And things looked bleak at the outset with Winderemere Prep grabbing a 7-0 lead.  “We’ve had a lot of losses – more than normal,’’ Race said. “But we hadn’t had our whole team. Tonight was the second time we had 10-plus.’’

Until the playoffs, Vazquez hadn’t played since Christmas because of a foot injury. She scored 8 points but she pushed the pace, threaded passes and hit clutch free throws in the end. To start the second half, Vazquez exploded in for two scintillating layups.

“She came up huge,’’ Race said. “We missed her energy.’’

The momentum-turning free throws came from the fingertips of Jones with 2:56 left in the third quarter. The score was tied at 33-33 when Vazquez made a brilliant inside feed for a George layup.

On their next possession, Jones flew in on a fastbreak and got fouled hard by Windermere Prep’s Morgan Bridges. Jones tumbled to the court and Bridges stared her down. Bridges got a technical and Jones got four straight free throws with the foul lane cleared away of players.

Jones hit one after another as King’s Academy grabbed a 6-point lead and never let go.

“I was so locked in,’’ said Jones, who finished with 14 points. “I knew I was going to make the free throws. I wasn’t scared.’’

Windermere Prep coach Darren Evans didn’t appreciate the technical call at that key moment but blamed his team’s own free-throw failures. “Free throws killed us and the turning point was that technical,’’ Evans said. “That was a six-point swing after the tie. The refereeing was so-so but we beat ourselves by not making 12 free throws.’’

Jones thought the call was a cumulation of bad activity from the school located in the Orlando area. “They were doing so much crazy stuff on the court,’’ Jones said. “They didn’t keep their composure. My team kept composure.’’

Maybe King’s Academy would never have been in position to pull away in the second half if not for George’s prayer as the buzzer sounded to end the first period. The 6-foot George flung it from halfcourt and it sank in, setting off a vibrant celebration carrying all the way to the team bench. It gave King’s Academy its first lead at 17-16.

“I never shot from there before,’’ George said. “It was kind of on a whim. I’m happy I did. Everyone dreams of doing that so I made the little kid in me happy.’’

In her career, George had only taken one other 3-pointer. “I’m 100 percent from the 3-point line, said George, noting her 2-for-2 ledger.

The halfcourt shot allowed King’s to close the first quarter on a 17-9 run after it had fallen behind 7-0 with two turnovers early.  “We had to keep our minds straight,’’ Jones said. “We were still in the game. We can’t have a breakdown because we’re losing (7-0). It made us hyped up even more.’’

As the game wore on, the physical Kateris kept drawing fouls and killing Windermere Prep with her free throws. “We’ve worked on it in practice,’’ Kateris said. “The last couple of years we’ve been “eh.’’  So we made that the main focus of practice. It was my day.’’

And it could be King’s Academy’s year just yet.

Race said Kateris and Jones “have  played amazing the last month of the season.” “With both playing like that, we’re going to be a tough out,’’ Race said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: King's Academy girls basketball has many heroes in playoff victory