FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 Calvary Christian junior guard Caden Daughtry scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to break open a close game as host and defending state champion Calvary Christian Academy throttled St. Andrew\u2019s 88-65 in a 3A boys regional final.<\/p>\n
The Eagles (22-1), who defeated the Scots 80-66 on February 7, led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, and jumped out to a 39-25 halftime cushion thanks to Daughtry\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of work that we put in, I couldn\u2019t let this team down,\u201d Daughtry said. \u201cWe just stuck with it. I knew I had to separate the score, and I did. Our team is playing with all of the drive in the world. Right now, we are 22-1, and we\u2019ve come too far to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nation\u2019s second-ranked team, according to MaxPreps, is headed back to state for a fifth time. The Eagles have won the previous four times (2017, 2021, 2022, 2025). Calvary Christian Academy will face the winner of the Cardinal Gibbons-University School regional final in the final four on March 9 in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Qualifying for the state championship wasn\u2019t the first thing on Eagles coach Cilk McSweeney\u2019s mind. In the past two seasons, the Eagles haven\u2019t lost to a South Florida team since a 50-48 setback against North Broward Prep in the regional semifinals on Feb. 24,\u00a0\u00a02024. They\u2019ve won 23 straight against local teams during that span.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn two years, we haven\u2019t lost to a local team, so to me, that is big-time,\u201d McSweeney said. \u201cWe have beaten some nationally ranked teams along the way, but the biggest thing is let\u2019s dominate at home. We dominate at home among our peers and our community. We are about greatness. That\u2019s been our culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job is not finished,\u201d he added. \u201cFor us, the biggest thing is we have to finish the job. Let\u2019s dominate and get this done. It takes a lot of practice to develop the chemistry, and this is a special group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvary Christian senior forward Aiden Bolden had six points in the first quarter, including two impressive dunks, and senior guard Jacob Zhu scored six straight points as the Eagles seized a 9-2 advantage and were never threatened. Bolden finished with 17 points, off five dunks. The team finished with 13 dunks in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting those early dunks gets my team going,\u201d Bolden said. \u201cWe just wanted to sign the game off early. We tried to come out here and make them not want to play no more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior wing K.J. Francis and Zhu each finished with 11 points for the Eagles. It also marked the eighth win in a row over the Scots, who finished the season 24-5.<\/p>\n
St. Andrew\u2019s senior guard Xander Gerard finished with a game-high 25 points, all in the second half when the game was already decided. He was the lone player to hit double figures for his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe things we tried to do were eliminate turnovers, get back on defense, and make sure their guys didn\u2019t leak out and score easy baskets,\u201d said St. Andrew\u2019s coach John O\u2019Connell. \u201c(Calvary) is an exceptional team, and you have to play perfectly to beat them. We didn\u2019t do that today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regional finals<\/p>\n
Saturday<\/p>\n
7A<\/p>\n
3. Coral Glades at 1. Miami Columbus (n)<\/p>\n
6A<\/p>\n
3. Miramar at 1. St. Thomas Aquinas (n)<\/p>\n
5A<\/p>\n
2. Belen Jesuit at 1. Pembroke Pines Charter (n)<\/p>\n
4A<\/p>\n
2. Stranahan at 1. Suncoast (n)<\/p>\n
3A<\/p>\n
1. Calvary Christian def. 3. St. Andrew\u2019s 88-65<\/p>\n
2. University School at 1. Cardinal Gibbons (n)<\/p>\n
2A<\/p>\n
3. Benjamin at 1. Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic (n)<\/p>\n
1A<\/p>\n
2. Dade Christian at 1. Sagemont Prep (n)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 Calvary Christian junior guard Caden Daughtry scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[38889,249,251,250,38890,3745,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-173342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-boys-high-school-basketball","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","11":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","12":"tag-high-school-soccer","13":"tag-high-school-sports","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}