City of Life girls basketball falls two games short of state title

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    PHOTO/METRO
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For one period, City of Life Christian Academy (COLCA) appeared headed for a major upset. But then reality set in.

The Lady Warriors grabbed a surprising 18-16 first-quarter lead over top ranked Miami Christian in the FHSAA Class 2A semifinal game, before failing to score another field goal for more than two quarters in a 71-34 loss.

COLCA finishes its season at 14-7.

“We came out with a solid game plan and we executed it to perfection in the first quarter,” City of Life Head Coach Dewrie Buggs said. “Unfortunately we made a few bad plays, lost momentum and it then snowballed on us. We preach you can only get back in the game one play at a time, but they got the momentum going and we did not keep our composure.”

The Warriors fell behind 16-11 in the first period, but forced some turnovers and hit some key shots, including Gio Rodriguez’s desperation three at the buzzer that bounced off the rim a couple of times before falling to give COLCA the lead.

It would be the last highlight of any type until the fourth quarter. Gabriela Bendeck scored 10 points to key a 29-1 run in the second quarter as Miami Christian took a 45-19 lead into the locker room. COLCA’s only point in the period came on a free throw.

More of the same followed in the third period. Point guard Ambar Ramirez came alive, scoring seven points as Miami Christian outscored City of Life 14-4 in the period – again holding COLCA to zero field goals in the period and allowing just four points via the free throw line.

COLCA played better in the fourth period, outscoring Miami Christian 11-9 but it was too little too late.

“We had some younger kids who failed to understand that you need to keep fighting on every possession,” Buggs added. “I was extremely proud of the efforts of Sophia (Chevres-Rosado), she never quit in the game and fought so hard all four quarters.”

Bendeck led Miami Christian in the game with 20 points, Ramirez had 15 and all eight Victors players on the roster scored. Chevres-Rosado had 13 points for the Lady Warriors; Camila De Pool-Maisonet and Grace Wener chipped in four points each.

Despite the loss both Chevres-Rosado and Buggs called the season a success.

“It was a difficult year because of Covid and other issues but we stuck together and made it to the Final Four,” Chevres-Rosado said. “It is something we can be proud of. Not a lot of teams get to that stage.”

“We continue to build on our success. We had a relatively young team and if we can get the core of them next year, you can’t help to be optimistic. We’ll put this behind us and get back to work in the off-season,” Buggs added.

City of Life is 120-28 in last six seasons under Buggs.