Riverdale Baptist regains IAABO title over Holy Cross

Flowers defeats Largo in consolation round

Riverdale coach Gina Miller recalled watching her father, former longtime Largo High girls’ basketball coach Bob Blair suffer a bevy of heartbreaking setbacks at the IAABO tournament. Although Blair once guided the Lions to a Class 4A state title, his teams were virtual bridesmaids at the Christmas tournament. On five different occasions, including four straight from 1996-99, Largo finished as the tournament runner-up.

‘‘We wanted to win this one for coach Miller and her dad,” said Riverdale sophomore forward Ataira Franklin, who was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player. ‘‘I think it meant more to her than it did to me. We played a lot of good teams in this tournament. I think all three teams we beat were ranked higher than us before the season started. Now we can focus on completing the rest of our goals.”

Franklin, who scored eight points and added eight rebounds in the championship game, played all 32 minutes and converted on 6 of 10 free throws. The Crusaders hit only 11 of 48 shots (23 percent) from the floor but made up for it by hitting on 13 of 20 free throw attempts. Holy Cross (15 of 47, 32 percent) hit only one of four free throws in the game.

‘‘I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half,” Miller said. ‘‘We focused a lot of our attention on stopping their guards (Shontice Simmons and Lauren Chase) and getting to the boards. Ataira and Tianna (Hawkins) had a great game for us inside, and so did Amanda Moore (9 rebounds, 7 offensive). They’ll get a few days off and then it’s back to work.”

Holy Cross, coached by former Bowie State University women’s coach Russell Davis, shot just 5 of 20 in the second half. The Spartans had won six straight IAABO titles from 1975-80.

Holy Cross led, 24-16, at the break, but the second half belonged to the Crusaders. Following an ugly third quarter in which the two teams combined for a mere 10 points, Riverdale outscored Holy Cross, 16-7, in the fourth quarter. Franklin connected on 5 of 6 free throws in the quarter, Destiny Williams added a three-point field goal and Hawkins converted two buckets inside to enable the Crusaders to prevail.

Two other county squads, Charles H. Flowers (3-3) and Largo (4-3), also competed in the three-day tournament and the two schools would invariably meet in Saturday’s opening contest. Neither Flowers nor Largo won on Thursday or Friday, but it was the Jaguars who avoided the sweep at IAABO by defeating the Lions, 85-65, behind 26 points from senior Keyona Bryant, who was named to the All-tournament team.

‘‘It was good competition and good for our girls to come away with a win,” said Flowers coach Patrice Frazier. ‘‘We only lost to St. Frances by three points in overtime and that was after committing 40 turnovers. Our big girls played well. Keyona had 26 points and 25 rebounds [today]. It was good for our girls to see this type of competition. We had a chance to face some really good teams here.”

Last season, Largo alum and now third-year coach Ayana Ball-Ward guided the Lions to a 26-1 mark and the Class 3A state title. But this year’s squad is composed almost entirely of new faces and the Lions still need some time to mesh together. Largo lost all three games in the tournament, falling to 4A power Arundel, 67-56, St. Frances, 73-53, and then Flowers. But Ball walked away from the event with plenty of optimism.

‘‘I think this tournament will definitely benefit us in the long run,” Ball-Ward said. ‘‘We faced some very good teams and most of them have more experience and more height. Arundel might be the tallest team in the state and Flowers has five girls who have played together the last three years. They’re a lot like we were last year. We’ll be fine. We just need to spend more time working together and playing together.”

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.