Evangelical Christian girls win first regional championship

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – When the Evangelical Christian School girls basketball team gets going, it's hard to stop. And when the Sentinels find their rhythm early, it's bad news for their opponent.

In the Class 2A-Region 3 championship game on Friday, ECS did what it's done all postseason. The Sentinels built a big lead in the first quarter and never looked back in a 54-32 win at home over Keswick Christian.

ECS has held a double-digit lead at the end of the first period in all five district and regional games. As a result, the Sentinels (24-4) won the program's first regional championship and earned the first trip to the state semifinals in Lakeland.

"It's hard when you come out and you're down 10 in the first quarter," ECS coach Dwayne Donnell said. "That's demoralizing. It sets the tone."We pride ourselves on that. We've been stopping people early and giving us a chance to get ahead and get a little wiggle room."

In Friday's regional final, the Sentinels scored the game's first six points and were up 11 in the first five minutes. Keswick Christian, which drove south two hours from St. Petersburg, trailed 18-7 entering the second quarter.

The Crusaders actually stayed closer to ECS than any other opponent in the playoffs. In their first four postseason games, the Sentinels' average lead after the first quarter was 25 points.

"We practice against guys, so that makes us play faster," ECS junior Zaira Mitchell said. "It helps because it makes it easier in games."

Mitchell scored a game-high 30 points and nearly outscored Keswick all by herself. She scored 10 points in each of the first two quarters to give her 20 at the half (Keswick had 15).

Mitchell had more points than the entire Crusaders team until 2:17 left to play. They both had 30 until Keswick hit a shot at the buzzer to finish with 32.

"I give all the glory to God," said Mitchell, whose season high is 34. "I couldn't do it without him."

Although Mitchell was the star Friday, Donnell said any of his players can lead the team in scoring on any given night.

"Our five kids are better than your one," the Sentinels coach said. "We believe in being a team. (The players) don't mind sharing the ball, getting it to the open kid. That's why we're playing so well."

The ECS defense held Keswick to nine field goals. The Crusaders made just one field goal over a 10-minute stretch in the second half when ECS pushed its lead to 26 points.

Ava Graham led Keswick with 17 points.

The Sentinels will play Friday in the Class 2A semifinals. And although they are new to Lakeland, Donnell isn't. He took another Fort Myers girls team, Dunbar High School, to the state semifinals five times, winning a state championship in 2012.

Donnell, who won his 600th game this year in his 29th season as a coach, plans to give his players this advice:

"Live this moment," Donnell said. "Don't get so caught up in the excitement of the moment that you don't enjoy what's going on – the first regional championship in school history, the first team to go to the final four."