Kristina Godfrey takes charge, leads Miami Country Day over Cardinal Mooney for Class 3A state championship

LAKELAND, Fla.- The standard at Miami Country Day is winning state championships.

Falling short of that goal last season and losing to Westminster Academy in the region finals was unacceptable to the Spartans' standards. It's safe to say Saturday morning was more of a return to greatness for Miami Country Day - They're back at the top.

Florida Atlantic commitment Kristina Godfrey fueled a second quarter run, scoring 10 of her game-high 20 points and leading Miami Country Day to the program's eighth state championship in a 54-38 win over Cardinal Mooney for the Class 3A crown. Now back as a state champion for the first time since 2021, Ochiel Swaby had to poke at Godfrey a little bit to motivate her leading the club after an injury to the team's leading scorer Kayla Nelms (17.9 points per game) late in the season occurred.

"(Kristina Godfrey) has been apart of some really good teams in the past," Swaby said. "One of the things I've been saying, I told her as a leader of the team if they were going to be able to carry the match to win one. Once Kayla (Nelms) got hurt, Kristina found a sense of freedom offensively."

The early morning risers to start things off was Cardinal Mooney, whom kept Godfrey in check with just two points in the period. The Cougars held a 4-0 lead to start, but that would be the only time they'd hold the lead at any time throughout the contest.

What became the difference maker was the second period. Oh, and Godfrey getting hot from the perimeter. The future Owl looked like she couldn't miss from deep, knocking down two 3-pointers and keeping the foot on the proverbial gas pedal in the second half.

Godfrey opened up the second half with a driving layup to put Miami Country Day (25-7) up 33-19 and the rout was on from that point. A 3-pointer from Jada Johnson and another layup from Godfrey extended the Spartans advantage to 38-19, with no answers defensively from the Cougars.

"With our team, we've been in a lot of games where it was a game of runs," Godfrey said. "I think in the last couple of games, we've been able to overcome that. We were on the advantageous side of those runs. I kind of just took over knowing I needed to be a leader in this moment."

The Cougars (21-6) didn't go down quietly into the afternoon and made a run of their own to cut the deficit down to 38-29 in the third quarter. That lull included a scoring spurt from Cardinal Mooney guard Olivia Davis, who ended the morning with 10 points. Kali Barrett scored a team-high 16 points for the Cougars in the loss.

In a game of runs, the Spartans made one more to start the fourth quarter and that's when Godfrey started to take over once again. Building the lead up to 45-30, Miami Country Day knew midway through the final period they would likely be raising championship No. 8 in program history. Sofia Mendez, who won her first title with the team, added 10 points for the Spartans.

Four state championships for Godfrey and in her senior season with the Spartans and she said this one felt better than the previous three.

"This one feels the best for sure," Godfrey said about her fourth state title with the program. "(Coach Ochiel Swaby) was bugging me all year saying 'You can't win a meaningful game as you as the leader'. It just feels great to prove him wrong."

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.