Bradenton Christian girls breeze past Everglades City, into region final

Even as Bradenton Christian’s lead climbed toward 20 points during the first half, Janelle Hochstetler couldn’t find comfort in her Panthers’ performance. A mix of junk defenses, and Everglades City’s slow tempo ground BCS’ offense to halt at times Thursday, and Bradenton Christian’s eventual 62-18 win took longer to materialize than anticipated.

With five seconds left in the first half, Jessica Jackson rolled the ball out to midcourt where Sophie Giardina could pick up the ball before the clock began to run. The guard slid the ball to her right hand and dribbled five times, swerving around a defender and stepping just behind the free throw line. Giardina pulled up for a buzzer-beating jumper to send the Panthers into halftime with a 19-point lead.

When they left the locker room they continued firing. BCS either scored or attempted a free throw on 10 of its first 11 possessions of the second half to turn an already lopsided edge into a true blowout, complete with a fourth-quarter running clock in Bradenton.

“That felt more like our game,” Hochstetler said. “It felt as though we had some adjusting to do to quite figure out what they were going to do next, so third quarter we finally just played how we normally play and identified what we needed to do.”

A blowout win in the Class 3A-Region 3 semifinals was the expectation for Bradenton Christian. The Panthers (27-1) concluded the regular season atop Class 3A in the final Florida Association of Basketball Coaches/Source Hoops poll of the regular season. The Gators (6-16) were the No. 7 seed in Class 3A-District 6 before their unlikely run to the district championship game and region semifinals.

The end result was an easy path for BCS into Tuesday’s Class 3A-Region 3 championship game against Naples First Baptist Academy. Bradenton Christian will go on the road for the region championship after First Baptist knocked off Saint Stephen’s on Thursday in Naples.

Everglades City found ways early, though, to disrupt the Panthers inside Bradenton Christian School’s gymnasium. On offense, the Gators milked the clock for as long as they could against BCS’ pressure, occasionally pushing possessions up to 45 seconds in length. On defense, Everglades City mixed a box-and-one and triangle-and-two to hold Bailey Sikkema in check after the forward dropped 32 against the Falcons in the Class 3A-District 5 championship.

“We tried keeping the ball out of her hands and make the other teammates score,” Gators head coach Dale Patt said. “They did.”

Sikkema finished with 12 points, but Everglades City’s packed-in defense created space for Giardina. The junior knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, and even when her jumper failed her she weaved her way near the hoop for a mix of finishes below the rim and pull-up jumpers.

Giardina finished with a game-high 21 points, outdueling Amarys Huggins, whose 12 points led the Gators. Panthers forward Jessica Jackson was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.

“We started off too slow,” Giardina said. “We didn’t really know how to adjust to it, but then we kind of just stepped it up.”

BCS could get an additional lift when it travels to Naples for the region championship. Forward Amy Van Ryn, who has been sidelined by illness since the start of the district tournament, could be cleared to return in the coming days.

With Bradenton Christian now only three wins away from claiming its first state championship since 1997 — and only one away from its first appearance in the final four since 2010 — the extra bump could be what the Panthers need as they leave homecourt behind for the final time.

“They had some good support, good fan support,” Hochstetler said. “I told them that they’re playing not just for themselves — they’re playing for the school.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Bradenton Christian girls breeze past Everglades City, into region final."