BCAA and GMAC Titles Claimed by Blanche Ely and Norland

BCAA and GMAC Titles Claimed by Blanche Ely and Norland By Michael Wholey 2/2/21 5:00 PM EST Broward and Dade County annually host the BCAA and GMAC Tournaments at the end of the regular season and before the start of the FHSAA State Playoffs. Recently two champions were crowned.   Blanche Ely Claims BCAA Title with 3-Pointer by Freshman Phenom Hosted over a four-day period at multiple sites, the BCAA hosted its annual tournament last week featuring 8 teams from Broward County. In dramatic fashion Blanche Ely defeated St Thomas Aquinas 57-54 on a game winning 3-pointer by Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="219925" first="Janessa" last="Kelley"] to win their second consecutive Big 8 title. Tied at 54, Junior [player_tooltip player_id="91561" first="Michiyah" last="Simmons"] split several defenders in the open court and found Kelley in the corner for 3. The 5’9 lefty drained the open shot to give Ely a 57-54 lead with 10.8 seconds to go. Check out the shot here: https://youtu.be/p7mTQ3_0P3k   <img class=" wp-image-251987 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/IMG_8742-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="149" height="149" />Facing each other for the second time this season, the game was back and forth with Simmons and St Thomas Aquinas hard [player_tooltip player_id="91572" first="Breanna" last="Gustave"] setting the pace early for their respective teams each of them reaching double digits in the first half. Simmons led Ely with 22 points, while University of Miami signee [player_tooltip player_id="91491" first="Ja’Leah" last="Williams"] did her thing scoring 17 points. Kelley finished with 9 points (all from the 3-point line), while Junior [player_tooltip player_id="91563" first="Mya" last="Kone"] added 3 points and an impressive 13 rebounds. For St. Thomas, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="91641" first="Karina" last="Gordon"] led the team with 19 points and Gustave had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Gordon was named to the All Tournament team while Simmons was named Tournament MVP. Norland defeats Miami Senior High School for GMAC Championship <img class=" wp-image-251988 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Jaiyah-Harris-1K-e1612279269569-262x300.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="200" />Behind 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds from [player_tooltip player_id="91509" first="Jaiyah" last="Harris-Smith"], Norland defeated the defending champions Miami Senior High School to win the GMAC Championship. Freshman post Ka’Zahria Johnson had a double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 3 blocks and [player_tooltip player_id="244203" first="Emoriah" last="Mchenry"] added 9 points and 11 rebounds in the win. For the Miami Lady Stingarees [player_tooltip player_id="243961" first="Janay" last="Quinn"] scored 10 while [player_tooltip player_id="244124" first="Kiara" last="Cruz"] added 7 points.   BCAA Semi-Finals Blanche Ely 92 – Western HS 45 Blanche Ely jumped out to a 14-0 lead to start the game and never looked back. [player_tooltip player_id="91561" first="Michiyah" last="Simmons"] paced the Tigers early finishing with 18 1st half points. University of Miami signee [player_tooltip player_id="91491" first="Ja’Leah" last="Williams"] led Ely with 20 points. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="91568" first="Zaria" last="Blake"] had 18 points, Junior [player_tooltip player_id="91563" first="Mya" last="Kone"] had 16 points and freshman Janessa Kelly had 12 points. [player_tooltip player_id="153108" first="Taja" last="Stephens"] led Western with 26 points.   St Thomas Aquinas 67 – Dillard 30 In what Head Coach Oliver Berens described as STA’s best game of the season, St Thomas Aquinas jumped on Dillard for a 37 point blowout behind a 21-4 second quarter! St. Thomas featured a balanced offense on Friday. 2022s [player_tooltip player_id="91641" first="Karina" last="Gordon"] and [player_tooltip player_id="220011" first="Maya" last="Williams"] led St. Thomas in scoring with Gordon finishing with 16 points and Williams dropping 15. Arkansas signee [player_tooltip player_id="91500" first="Samara" last="Spencer"] chipped in with 14 points and Junior Forward [player_tooltip player_id="154841" first="Jada" last="Green"] had a solid all-around performance. BCAA First Round Western HS 73 - Cardinal Gibbons 69 <img class=" wp-image-251989 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Ashleigh-Battle-Cardinal-Gibbons-278x300.jpg" alt="" width="164" height="177" />In the best opening round game of the event, Western defeated Cardinal Gibbons 73-69 behind 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="153108" first="Taja" last="Stephens"] impressive 4th quarter performance. The 5’9 guard at one point scored 8 straight points including the go-ahead basket to give Western the lead 70-69 with 18 seconds to go. Western outscored Gibbons 22-9 in the final quarter. In total Stephens was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, 14 of which came in the final quarter to lead Western to the win. Jordan Provato (13 points), [player_tooltip player_id="91529" first="Alana" last="Sharpe"] (13 points), and Tamara Elliot (11 points) all reached double figures for Western giving them a balanced offensive attack. Flagler signee [player_tooltip player_id="215662" first="Sharale" last="McCormick"] led Cardinal Gibbons with 22 points while [player_tooltip player_id="243930" first="Ashleigh" last="Battle"] and [player_tooltip player_id="248419" first="Chloe" last="Celler"] each had 14 points.   We will look to continue to cover news all across the state. Our audience supplies us with some of our best information. Keep us updated on Florida news be emailing me at <a href="mailto:WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com">WholeyPrepHoops@gmail.com</a> or DM’ing me through <a href="http://www.Twitter.com/WholeyPrepHoops">Twitter</a> or <a href="http://www.Instagram.com/WholeyPrepHoops">Instagram</a> <a href="http://www.Twitter.com/WholeyPrepHoops">@WholeyPrepHoops</a>.