Recapping the 7A Finals

<strong>Recapping the 7A Finals </strong> By Michael Wholey 3/2/22 12:00 PM EST <em>Miami Senior HS and Dr. Phillips took care of business in the semi-finals after defeating Vero Beach and Colonial, setting up a great matchup in the 7A State Championship which Dr. Phillips took home the victory in the final seconds! </em> <em> </em> <img class="wp-image-379812 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/RAINEY-1000-POINTS-DP-2022-300x268.jpg" alt="" width="263" height="235" /> Dr. Phillips defeated Vero Beach 79-57 in the semi-finals to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2014.  The game was never in question and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="248320" first="Trinity" last="Turner"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91573" first="Kalea" last="Rainey"]</strong> were too much, accounting for more than 50% of their teams points with Rainey dropping a team high 23 points and Turner finishing with 22.  But it was the finals game, which accounted for the dramatic finish in the final game of the FHSAA State Tournament Saturday night.  Miami Senior HS led 23-25 at the half, 33-28 after 3, and held that lead for most of the 4^th quarter.  But the deadly duo of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="248320" first="Trinity" last="Turner"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91573" first="Kalea" last="Rainey"]</strong> picked up the intensity on the defensive end, speeding up Miami Hi on offense, and helped spark a comeback.  Dr. Phillips took a 42-41 lead with 3 minutes to go, then lost the lead on a 4-0 run by Miami Senior Hi and trailed 42-45 with 1 minute to go but scored the games final 5 points, including a late steal and a 3-pointer by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="247197" first="Asiana" last="Govan"]</strong> to give DP a 47-45 lead and take home the 7A State Championship.  Rainey and Turner were the show, Turner leading her team with a team high 19 points, scoring 17 points in the second half.  Rainey finished with 12 on 6/14 from the field.  But it was Govan who hit the shot of the game, which was her only made shot of the game.  0/7 through the game’s first 31 minutes, Govan let it fly from deep, giving Dr Phillips the lead with 22 seconds to go, and they held on tight in the game’s final moments! <img class="wp-image-393362 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/Janay-Quinn-Miami-Suns-Team-Fowles-300x266.jpg" alt="" width="204" height="181" />The game’s final shot was felt hard by opposing coach Sam Baumgarten from Miami Senior HS. <em>“It’s a hard one to swallow for sure,”</em> the Miami Senior Head Coach was quoted in the post-game press conference.  <em>“We were right there for 31 of the 32 minutes, and one shot was the difference.”  </em>Miami High advanced to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year defeating Colonial 56-53 in the semifinals.  After trailing early in the first quarter, Miami Sr HS outscored Colonial 21-7 in the 2^nd quarter and went into the half with a 29-19 lead.  Luckily, they built up the lead, as Colonial outscored Miami HS 22-13 in the 4^th quarter but didn’t have enough fire power to complete the comeback and Miami Hi pulled out the 3-point victory.  Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243961" first="Janay" last="Quinn"]</strong> finished with a game-high 17 points while Junior <strong>Joelle Wilson</strong> notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. And in what was the game of the tournament, Miami Sr controlled a large majority of the 7A State Championship game versus Wekiva but fell short, dropping a 47-45 loss in the finals.  Full court pressure D and 3-point shooting were the early keys to the game with [player_tooltip player_id="243961" first="Janay" last="Quinn"] knocking down 3/5 from 3 and helping force DP into 23 turnovers.  The Stingrays got solid contributions from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243966" first="Danajah" last="Peterson"]</strong> (8 points), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="221633" first="Sydney" last="Wilson"]</strong> (8 points), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="154900" first="Cameron" last="Araujo"]</strong> (5 points), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="353655" first="Dumiya" last="Fenelon"]</strong> (4 points).  But some costly late game turnovers and a big 3 but Wekiva, had Miami High School come up short, dropping the championship game by 2 points. &nbsp; <img class="wp-image-382798 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/Barreiro-Dribbling-Colonial-2023-e1646076367480-176x300.jpg" alt="" width="111" height="189" /> Colonial HS wrapped up a stellar season with a 24-7 record falling to Miami Sr HS 56-53 in one of the top games of the week.  After trailing by as many as 17 points in the 3^rd quarter, Colonial staged a major comeback and cut Miami’s lead to 3 but in the end, they ran out of time and were not able to pull it out in the final minutes. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243934" first="Milan" last="Santos"]</strong> (14 points), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243892" first="Carmen" last="Richardson"]</strong> (12 points), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="166212" first="Sophya" last="Barreiro"]</strong> (12 points), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="248877" first="Jaiden" last="Ross"]</strong> (9 points) were the teams four leading scorers, but they also combined for 17 of their teams 20 turnovers.  The squad is uber talented and extremely young with a large majority of their squad coming back for next season.  Look for Colonial to be back in Lakeland next season! &nbsp; <img class=" wp-image-310971 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/07/IMG_2063-e1627342939116-257x300.jpg" alt="" width="164" height="191" /> &nbsp; Vero Beach also wrapped up a stellar season with a hard-fought loss in the semifinals.  The Lady Indians finish the season with a record of 23-4. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="346835" first="Jaida" last="Civil"] showcased why she is one of the state’s top Freshman, dropping 18 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.   who finished with a team-high 18 points and 16 rebounds, while <strong>Davionne</strong> Stinson added 14 points, and <strong>Ratajah Dawson</strong> finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds. &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong>Michael Wholey</strong> is the lead scout for Florida Prep Girls Hoop Florida and a former division one Assistant Coach at American University, University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech.  Wholey and the rest of the Prep Girls Hoop staff, seek to cover the entire state of player, keeping subscribers up to date with player evaluations, recruiting info, and statewide news.  Our audience often supplies us with some of our best information.  If you have any information on players, teams, or statewide news in the state of Florida, emailing Michael Wholey at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM him through Twitter or Instagram @WholeyPrepHoops.