Girls basketball: Berean Christian dominates Dade Christian in 2A-Region 4 semifinal round

WEST PALM BEACH – From the opening tip, second-seeded Berean Christian sent a very clear message to sixth-seed Dade Christian.

The Lady Bulldogs (22-4) were not messing around in the Class 2A-Region 4 semifinals last night (Feb. 15). It showed from start to finish, as they never trailed in their 58-37 blowout win over the Lady Crusaders (3-12 final record).

Case in point: It took only 14 seconds for Berean Christian to get the game’s first bucket. This came from sixth-grader and point guard Aliya Harris, who set the play in motion by pushing down the court and getting the ball movement flow in place, resulting in an easy midrange jumper for a 2-0 lead.

Berean Christian raced to an 8-0 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. But Dade Christian, led by sophomore Daniela Aybar (25 points), rallied back and cut the lead to 12-10 at the end of the first frame.

The Lady Crusaders would not get any close than that, as the Lady Bulldogs followed the lead of sophomore Ashley Hendricks (11 second-quarter points; game-high 28 points overall) with two runs of 6-0 and 7-2 in the second frame.

At the half, Berean Christian had a 28-22 lead over Dade Christian.

The second half was when the home team pulled away for good, as Hendricks scored 15 points combined in the third and fourth quarters, while Harris added nine to make it 16 total individual points in the game.

Overall, it was a collective effort with all of the Lady Bulldogs engaging in shared ball movement and displaying a willingness to dominate the boards in action. In addition, they took care of business at the free throw line, going 12-of-21 in the process.

“We knew coming in that was going to be key – a whole team effort,” Berean Christian Lady Bulldogs head coach Kevin Green said. “These girls have been determined all season. They’ve been prepared since the beginning of the season. We’ve been a team the whole way, two feet in. That’s the all-in mentality we have. That’s the culture here. We did a great job of executing it.”

Green on Dade Christian:

“That’s a good team over there,” Green said. “We knew they were going to continue to fight. We knew they were going to give us some tough times in different spots. But once we got focused, we just stayed locked in and kept playing. That was the memo. Keep playing. Keep playing.”

As a result of last night’s win, Berean Christian has advanced to the Class 2A-Region 4 title game on Friday night. The next one will be on the road at top-seeded Miami Christian (18-8), with the tip-off set for 7 p.m. on Feb. 18.

The winner of that one will advance to the Class 2A State Final Four Series at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

“We expect to go hard. We expect to play hard,” Green said of the expectation for his team in the regional final. “We already knew the work that we put in since the preseason…We knew where we wanted to be. Last year, we talked about this. We’re just living it out right now. We’re going to continue to do what we do.”

OTHER 561 FINAL SCORES: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL ROUND

3A-REGION 3: No. 1 seed King’s Academy 43, No. 5 seed Cardinal Newman 25

King’s Academy (23-5) advances to 3A-Region 3 final on Friday night; Cardinal Newman (12-16) ends inspiring playoff run in regional semifinal round

3A-REGION 3: No. 3 seed Holy Trinity Episcopal 62, No. 2 seed Benjamin 44

Benjamin (15-6) ends season in regional semifinal round

3A-REGION 3 FINAL: No. 1 seed King’s Academy vs. No. 3 seed Holy Trinity Episcopal (20-7) – Friday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. tip-off

6A-REGION 4 SEMIFINAL: No. 2 seed Seminole Ridge 61, No. 3 seed Everglades 57

Seminole Ridge (16-1) advances to 6A-Region 4 on Friday night

6A-REGION 4 FINAL: No. 2 seed Seminole Ridge at No. 1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas (24-4) – Friday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m.

7A-REGION 3 SEMIFINAL: No. 1 seed Vero Beach 61, No. 4 seed Santaluces 46

Santaluces (18-10) ends inspiring season in regional semifinal round

7A-REGION 3 SEMIFINAL: No. 2 seed Spanish River 66, No. 3 seed Freedom 58