The Postseason Palm Beach County Five

My final postseason selections take me to Palm Beach County. The area had some strong performances from local teams. West Palm Beach King’s Academy went 24-6 overall before falling to Cardinal Mooney in the 3A Final four. Loxahatchee Seminole Ridge finished with a 16-2 record before losing in the 6A regional finals to eventual champion St. Thomas Aquinas. Boca Raton Spanish River went 20-4 overall before dropping a 70-61 decision to Vero Beach in the 7A regional finals. Let’s look into the picks... MVP: [player_tooltip player_id="243896" first="Jade" last="Jones"] - King’s Academy 2025 [player_tooltip player_id="243896" first="Jade" last="Jones"] helped King’s Academy to their first final four in school history. The 5-foot-11 small forward/shooting guard averaged 12.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 51 percent from the floor. Jones scored a season-high 20 points while shooting 9-of-13 from the field against Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in the 3A regional finals. Overall, she scored in double-figures in 21 contests. Jones also added eight games with eight or more rebounds. I think Jones and King’s Academy should be rewarded for their incredible season. [player_tooltip player_id="166162" first="Kendra" last="Bentley"] - Santaluces 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="166162" first="Kendra" last="Bentley"] was the state’s 10th leading scorer. The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 24.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. Moreover, she went 71-of-194 (37 percent) from deep. Bentley scored 30 or more points six times and finished in double-figures in all but two contests. She also grabbed a season-best 13 rebounds while adding 29 points against Spanish River. Santaluces went 18-10 overall before falling to Vero Beach in the 7A regional semifinals. [player_tooltip player_id="91586" first="Aly" last="Avrach"] - Spanish River 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="91586" first="Aly" last="Avrach"] had a good season for Spanish River. The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 18.4 points and eight boards per game while shooting 42 percent from the field. In addition, she went 43-of-134 (32 percent) from deep. Against Vero Beach (23-4), Avrach scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds while shooting 8-of-16 from the floor. She recorded five double-doubles and posted a season-high 34 points and 14 rebounds against Palm Beach Gardens. Avrach also hit five 3-pointers in four games and shot 38 percent or those contests. She also scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons. [player_tooltip player_id="219938" first="Taylor" last="Blackshear"] - Benjamin 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="219938" first="Taylor" last="Blackshear"] helped Benjamin to a 15-6 overall record. Furthermore, Benjamin did not lose to a team in Palm Beach County. The 5-foot-7 guard averaged a double-double with 18.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 7.6 steals and 4.2 assists per game. Blackshear scored 20 or more points in nine contests. She also recorded five triple-doubles and 11 double-doubles. Blackshear scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while adding six steals against Western. [player_tooltip player_id="154898" first="Ashley" last="Thornton"] - Seminole Ridge 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="154898" first="Ashley" last="Thornton"] was a big part to the Lady Hawks’ 16-2 season. The 5-foot-5 guard averaged a team-best 17.5 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and three steals per game. Thornton scored 20 or more points in seven games and scored a season-high 27 against Miami Pace while dishing out seven assists and six steals. Against Santaluces, Thornton had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. Mercer commit [player_tooltip player_id="353478" first="Aspen" last="Johnson"] was also strong here with 15.7 points an 5.9 rebounds per game over seven listed games. Seminole Ridge has been a strong program over recent seasons. Others considered: [player_tooltip player_id="247134" first="Janessa" last="Williams"] - King’s Academy (10.9 ppg/7.1 rpg) [player_tooltip player_id="145087" first="Checorey" last="Bouie"] - Cardinal Newman (13.2 ppg/10.1 rpg) [player_tooltip player_id="166165" first="E’Zaria" last="Adams"] - Palm Beach Central (14.7 ppg/4.1 rpg) For any South Florida Prep Hoops Girls news or information...please contact Michael Costeines @Steins_23 on Instagram or follow him on Twitter @Mungertown_Mike23.