Lakeland Fl- Bishop Kenny defeated Cardinal Gibbons 69-47 in the FHSAA state semifinals Thursday, to advance to the state championship game Saturday. BK had their way with the Chiefs jumping out to a 15-point lead at halftime, and eventually winning by 22-points in enroute to the Final 4 win.
Sophia Rueppell led the team in scoring with 18-points, including going 3 for 6 from 3-point land. Sydney Roundtree scored 12-points, Riley Talbert chipped in 11-points, and Clare Coyle rounded out the double digit scorers with 10-points against Cardinal Gibbons. Definately an all-around effort on offense for the team.
On defense the Crusaders marched all over the court with 4 steals from Reese Mayer, 2 blocks from Roundtree and Abby Baker. Both Baker and Coyle finished with a team high 7 rebounds. Konstantina Mantziori scored 17-points for Cardinal Gibbons. However, the constant pressure from Kenny was just too much for her team to handle.
A “Whopper” of a performance by BK and Will Mayer, who guides his team to the state championship for the first time as head coach. In just his second year, Mayer has guided the team to two straight Final 4 appearances.
The Crusaders willl face state power and defending 4A champion Lake Highland Prep for the title on Saturday at 12:30pm in Lakeland, Florida. The two teams have lots of history in a short span of time down in Lakeland. Bishop Kenny moved to Class 4A in 2019-2020 and made it all the way to the state championship game where they fell to the Highlanders 61-46. They would fall to Lake Highland Prep again the next year in the State Semifinal 44-32. They now face them in the championship again, with hopes of having it go their way.
