Florida girls basketball state semifinals recap: Bishop Kenny to meet Lake Highland Prep for 4A crown

The Crusaders and Highlanders will face off in Saturday afternoon’s Class 4A state championship

Wednesday kicked off the start of state championship basketball for the girls and boys between the next two weeks at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Over the course of two weeks, the state semifinals and state championship games for both boys and girls will be played from classes 1A to 7A. Six games in total were played on Thursday as the road to the state championship games continued. 

Below are our recaps of the Class 4A state semifinal games that took place yesterday and the results, including the upcoming state championship matchup, day and time.

Thursday’s Class 4A state semifinals 

Bishop Kenny 69, Cardinal Gibbons 47

One of the biggest things that stood out at the opening tip between Bishop Kenny and Cardinal Gibbons was size advantage. 

That being in favor of the Crusaders. Bishop Kenny has lost just one game all season long and that remained true after they dispatched Cardinal Gibbons in the latter state semifinal in Class 4A. 

The lone loss on the season for the Crusaders came up against Westminster Academy back on November 23. Since that time? A 27-game winning streak, which includes Thursday’s victory over the Chiefs. 

Though the game started off close after just one quarter of play, by halftime it was clear that the Crusaders were pulling away. Cardinal Gibbons trailed 12-6 after one period, but by intermission the lead ballooned to 31-10 in favor of Bishop Kenny. 

The double-digit hole created was too much to overcome for the Chiefs, as they end their season with a record of 22-6. Leading the way for Bishop Kenny in the victory was guard Sophia Rueppell, who scored a team-high 17 points. Konstantina Mantziori led Cardinal Gibbons with 17 points. 

Lake Highland Prep 65, Sarasota Booker 35 

Can the Lake Highland Prep Highlanders make it four straight state championships in Class 4A? 

They’ll certainly get their chance to make that dream become reality as they cruised to a 30-point victory over the Sarasota Booker Tornadoes on Thursday afternoon. 

Lake Highland Prep, much like their counterpart Bishop Kenny, kept things interesting for a period before the game looked to be out of reach by intermission. 

What was just a 16-8 game after a quarter turned into a Highlanders’ 36-15 lead by halftime. The third period became more of the same for Lake Highland as they continued to add to its large lead and the contest never became in doubt in the second half. 

Jada Eans (six rebounds, seven assists) and Eleecia Carter (three steals) led the Highlanders in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. 

On Saturday, Lake Highland Prep will take aim at winning a fourth consecutive state championship. 

Class 4A championship matchup 

Bishop Kenny (30-1) vs. Lake Highland Prep (24-6); Saturday, 12:30pm 

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.