South Florida Holiday Tournament Recap
South Florida Holiday Tournament Recap By Michael Wholey 1/6/21 6:00 PM EST The South Florida Hoop Group hosted a 3 day event December 21-23 at Archbishop McCarthy crowing two champions in their Platinum and Gold divisions. With a delayed…
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Continue ReadingSouth Florida Holiday Tournament Recap
By Michael Wholey 1/6/21 6:00 PM EST
The South Florida Hoop Group hosted a 3 day event December 21-23 at Archbishop McCarthy crowing two champions in their Platinum and Gold divisions.
With a delayed start mandated by the BCAA in Broward County, many of the public school area teams had yet to play a game while the private schools had played several. The 3-day event hosted by the South Florida Hoop Group took place at Archbishop McCarthy and participating schools were:
Gold Division
Archbishop McCarthy
Benjamin School
Everglades
Mater Academy
North Miami
Somerset Silver Palms
South Broward
Western HS
Platinum Division
American Heritage Delray
American Heritage Plantation
Blanche Ely
Cardinal Newman
Dillard
Miami Christian
School House Prep
Westminster Academy
Final Scores
December 21 – Day # 1
Blanche Ely 70 – School House Prep 36
Westminster Academy 54 – Miami HS 46
Cardinal Newman 39 – Dillard 29
American Heritage Plantation 75 – American Heritage Delray 33
Somerset Silver Palms 67 – North Miami 39
South Broward 54 – Everglades 34
Western 79 – Benjamin School 73
Archbishop McCarthy 58 – Mater Academy 44
December 22 – Day # 2
Blanche Ely 37 – Westminster Academy 30 (Semi-Finals)
American Heritage Delray 49 – Dillard 47 (Consolation Bracket)
Schoolhouse Prep v Miami Sr HS (Consolation Bracket)
Somerset Silver Palms 65 – South Broward 57 (Semi-Finals)
Western HS 59 – Archbishop McCarthy 48 (Semi-Finals)
North Miami 52 – Everglades 27 (Consolation Bracket)
Mater Academy 42 – Benjamin School 38 (Consolation Bracket)
December 23 – Day # 3
American Heritage Plantation vs Blanche Ely (Championship Game) *Game was called a Tie
Somerset Silver Palms 56 – Western 43 (Championship Game)
Westminster Academy 59 – Cardinal Newman 46
Miami Christian 57 – Dillard 29
American Heritage Delray 61 – Schoolhouse Prep 49
Benjamin School 63 – Everglades 43
North Miami 52 – Mater Academy 41
Archbishop McCarthy 47 – South Broward 46
American Heritage Plantation v American Heritage Delray
The marquee game of day # 1 was a game that was scheduled to take place two weeks before between sister schools American Heritage Delray v American Heritage Plantation. Delray headliner Jordana Codio Jordana Codio 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2022 State FL , a University of Wisconsin verbal commit from the class of 2022 had led the Stallions into the game with a 4-1 record. In the end, the game was not much of a match at all as American Heritage Plantation defeated American Heritage Delray 75-33. Codio finished with close to half her teams points (15) but went 6/21 from the field and 2024 Khadee Hession Khadee Hession 5'10" | CG St Thomas Aquinas | 2024 State FL , 2023 Taylor Romano Taylor Romano 5'6" | CG American Heritage (Delray) | 2023 State FL , and 2023 Alancia Ramsey Alancia Ramsey 6'0" | PF St Thomas Aquinas | 2023 State FL combined for 11 points between the three of them and the American Heritage Delray Stallions were not able to overcome a rough shooting night going 11/46 from the field for 24%.
American Heritage Plantation relied on a balanced inside / out game with South Florida’s top starting five of Sydney Shaw Sydney Shaw 5'9" | SG DME Academy | 2022 State FL , Joey Delancy Joey Delancy 5'8" | CG American Heritage | 2022 State FL , Daniella Aronsky Daniella Aronsky 5'8" | CG American Heritage | 2021 State FL , Taliyah Wyche Taliyah Wyche 6'2" | C American Heritage | 2021 State FL , and Tatyana Wyche Tatyana Wyche 6'2" | C American Heritage | 2021 State FL . Sydney Shaw Sydney Shaw 5'9" | SG DME Academy | 2022 State FL finished with a double-double scoring 22 points and collecting 10 rebounds in the win.
American Heritage Plantation v Blanche Ely – PLATINUM DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
American Heritage Plantation went on to advance to the championship game versus Blanche Ely. The game matched the two top teams in Broward County as well as two of the state and countries top teams. Ultimately the game was called with 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter due to a medical issue with one of the Blanche Ely players. The game was called a tie, but American Heritage had the game in hand and in my mind proved they are Broward County # 1 team.
Ely advanced to the Platinum division championship game after defeating Schoolhouse Prep in the quarter finals 70-36 and then Westminster Academy in the semi-finals 37-30. Ely roster is stacked with talent as well led by University of Miami signee Ja’Leah Williams Ja’Leah Williams 5'9" | CG Blanche Ely | 2021 State FL . One of the state’s most prolific scorers, she is ranked # 6 in the class of 2021 Prep Girls Hoop Florida rankings. 2024 Janessa Kelley Janessa Kelley 5'9" | SG Blanche Ely | 2024 State FL is a major impact player as a Freshman because she can knock it down from anywhere. She had 16 points including 4 3-pointers vs Schoolhouse Prep in the opening round game. And look for 2022 Michiyah Simmons Michiyah Simmons 5'8" | PG Blanche Ely | 2022 State FL to have a big year and a larger role with the Tigers.
Somerset Silver Palms v Western HS – GOLD DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
In the championship game of the Gold division, Somerset Silver Palms defeated Western 56-43. Somerset is led by a three headed monster 2021 Amari Hunter Amari Hunter 5'6" | CG Somerset Silver Palms | 2021 State FL , 2022 Amber Mateo Amber Mateo 5'4" | CG Somerset Silver Palms | 2022 State FL , and 2026 Ashley Martinez. The trio can knock it down from 3 from anywhere on the court and basically have the green light from Head Coach Ben Drummer the second they enter the gym. Hunter was the team’s leading scorer finish with 18 points, while Martinez finished with 12 and Mateo had 11 points. Somerset launched 36 3-pointers which accounted for more than half of their teams shots, Mateo knocked down a team high 4, shooting 67% from 3 going 4/6.
Archbishop McCarthy v South Broward
Dramatic finish in the Archbishop McCarthy and South Broward game. With the host Archbishop McCarthy trailing 46-44 with under 30 second to go, Archbishop guard Amari Mackey converted a free throw followed by a steal and a layup at the buzzer by Isabella Reynolds Isabella Reynolds 5'10" | SF Archbishop McCarthy | 2021 State FL to win 47-46 at the buzzer!
Other Notable Performances
In the Archbishop McCarthy v Western HS game, it was Archbishop McCarthy Senior guard Amari Mackey who was the games leading scorer finishing with 18 points but it was Taja Stephens Taja Stephens 5'8" | CG Western | 2022 State FL and Tamara Elliot who led Western to the win combing for 29 points.
Taylor Blackshear Taylor Blackshear 5'7" | SG Benjamin School | 2023 State FL for Benjamin School was excellent for the entire event. The Sophomore shooting guard averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game.
Yeimar Perez was solid in the game v Benjamin School scoring a team high 14 points. The 5’1 Junior is 2nd in the team in scoring through 11 games averaging 12.8 PPG.
Ester Joseph had 17 points at halftime to help North Miami jump out to a 30-11 first half lead over Everglades, ultimately going onto win the game 52-27. .
Lena Girardi (Westminster Academy), Khadee Hession Khadee Hession 5'10" | CG St Thomas Aquinas | 2024 State FL (American Heritage Delray), Jamesha Card Jamesha Card 5'10" | PF South Broward | 2024 State FL (South Broward), and Taylor Blackshear Taylor Blackshear 5'7" | SG Benjamin School | 2023 State FL (Benjamin School) were all named player of the games on the final day of the event. The group represents a youth movement in South Florida as Girardi is just an 8th grader in the class of 2025, Hession and Card are Freshman in the class of 2024, and Blackshear is a Sophomore and a part of the class of 2023.
Michael Wholey is the Senior Scout of Prep Girls Hoops Florida. You can reach him at WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @WholeyPrepHoops.