For the last four years, the King’s Academy girls varsity basketball team has been one of the strongest squads both in Palm Beach County and throughout the state. Under the guidance of head coach Chris Race, the Lions have made deep postseason runs in the annual Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A state tournaments.
“We have reached the regional finals in each of the last four years. We made it to the FHSAA’s Class 3A final four twice. We also won the district championship in three of the four years,” said Race, whose win-loss record as a coach during the last four years at TKA has been 86-29.
One player who has helped lead the Lions to those 86 victories has been Jade Jones, who graduates in May and will head to the University of Houston to pursue a college degree and play for the women’s basketball team.
Actually, Jones made her debut on the varsity team as an eighth grader, but she really assumed a leadership role as a freshman. While Jones’ career stats are impressive — 1,747 points, 1,108 rebounds, 293 assists and 412 steals — her biggest attribute is her positive mental attitude.
“Jade is a super-talented, athletic player,” Race said. “She is a really good teammate who always wants all of her teammates to be successful and always makes sure they all get in the game. She has volunteered to come out of a game so that someone else can get in the game.”
According to Race, Jones is always willing to do whatever the team needs in order to win.
“Jade’s role has changed over her five seasons with me,” Race explained. “During the first couple years, she was able to play with some great teammates who would sometimes take the pressure off her a little bit. During the last two seasons, she has been the main focal point of our team. With that comes more responsibility. It means other teams are focusing on you and are trying to take you out of the game.”
As Race looks back on the recently completed season, he’s proud of his team, which reached the elite eight round of the FHSAA’s Class 3A state tournament but lost in the regional final against Somerset Academy Canyons from Boynton Beach on Feb. 21. According to Race, the team’s overall 20-8 record was the result of his squad’s commitment to excellence in practice and in games.
“Our starting center, Brielle George, usually took the opposing team’s biggest player,” Race said. “Sophia Kateris also got inside the paint and mixed it up with Jade and Brielle. Those three players were a formidable trio against anyone. Our two guards — Sofia Rathbun and Julia Vazquez — did most of the ball handling and handled most of the pressure other teams tried to put on us. Sofia also usually guarded the opposing team’s best player. Maddy Buccilli was consistently our best outside shooter.”
During the last four years, Race feels that he has also improved as a coach.
“I hope I have evolved as a coach over the years,” Race said. “I think I have tried to incorporate more input from the girls on certain things. During games, I sometimes let them call plays that they think will work. I have also tried to implement more of a player-led team than just me telling them what to do. It is always a work in progress and changes from year to year depending on the roster.”
As Race looks to next year, Jones will no longer be on the team, but the squad remains talented and deep.
“I think that the team will still be competitive,” Race said. “Next year, Sofia Rathbun, Maddy Buccilli, Sophia Vazquez, Cheyana George and Molly Dishington will form a good group of seniors. Ephrosyni Esopakis, Lilly-Kaye Vance and incoming freshman Anna Birmingham will play a large role as well. Anna played up on varsity during the second half of the season. We have some pretty good middle school players moving up next year, as well.”
Race will utilize the summer to get next year’s team as fit and focused as possible.
“We will have off-season training and skill work with strength and conditioning programs over the summer for the girls,” noted Race, whose six-year win-loss record as TKA head coach is 123-41.
