- April 25, 2024
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BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
Brianna Ellis, Kiara Rodriguez, Hope Hodges, Faith Hodges and Yasmin Perez are all leading the Calvary Christian girls basketball team.
And they’re good. Real good: 19-4.
And they’re young. Real, real young.
Brianna Ellis is a sixth-grader; the other four are in eighth grade.
They aren’t playing small, middle school teams, either. Calvary is playing a high school varsity schedule, including many games against Class 8A teams.
Most recently, Calvary beat Mainland, 47-40, behind Ellis’ 17 points and seven rebounds.
Calvary began the season 15-0 — the best start in the program’s history — before losing four games, two of which came against Class 8A schools (Miami and Jacksonville).
First-year coach Brian Morris said he expects his team to continue to win and break school records heading into the district tournament, which begins next week. Calvary will be the No. 2 seed behind Trinity Christian Academy.
“Our team is playing great right now,” Morris said. “We have an eight-man rotation, which gives us great balance. We are a very young team with only one senior.”
Ellis, who Morris said is the No. 1-ranked sixth-grade female player in the state playing high school basketball, leads the team with 13 points, six rebounds and five steals per game.
Morris used the word "special" to describe Ellis, adding that she has already gotten the attention of college programs.
Perez is averaging 15 points and seven steals a game, and Drew Good (sophomore) is dropping about 10 points and snatching five steals a game.
Ellis, Rodriguez, Hope Hodges and Faith Hodges all live in Palm Coast.
Last year, Calvary won just four games. Morris said the goal is to win 20 games, and the Lady Lions could do that Thursday night, when they host Eagle’s View (Jacksonville) on Senior Night. (Perhaps it should be more like Middle School Night?)
Morris hopes to win a district championship and make a run in the state playoffs, too. It’s all about getting his team to be noticed.
“We are on pace to meet all of our goals,” he said. “The future is very bright for the Calvary Christian girls basketball program.”
With that youth, bright might be quite an understatement.
