Cardinal Mooney girls basketball falls in state championship game

Three years in a row, the Cardinal Mooney High girls basketball team has reached the sport's biggest game. 

Three years in a row, the Cougars have returned home disappointed. 

On Saturday, the Cougars (21-6) fell 54-38 to Miami Country Day School (25-7) in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A state championship game at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Mooney trailed by a single point, 8-7, after one quarter, but Miami Country Day broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Cougars 23-12 for a 31-19 halftime lead. Mooney cut the lead to 39-29 after three quarters, but the Spartan's air-tight defense prevented the Cougars from scoring enough points to mount a comeback. 

"Our girls, I'm proud of them," Mooney Coach Marlon Williams said. "(But) we missed key shots. There were a few details that we missed, a few players missed defensive assignments, and they're a well-coached team." 

Spartans Coach Ochiel Swaby said his team's defensive plan was to take away Mooney senior Olivia Davis' shot-making ability with double-teams and force other players to beat them. Davis, a University of Tampa signee, finished the game with 10 points on 2-10 shooting. Mooney sophomore Kali Barrett led the Cougars with 16 points. 

The Spartans were led by senior Kristina Godfrey, a Florida Atlantic University signee, who had 20 points on 9-13 shooting.