The Seminole Ridge High School girls varsity basketball team is having a tremendous season. Under the leadership of Maria Hudson, now in her eighth year as the head coach, the Hawks were 14-1 prior to their game Thursday, Jan. 23 at Santaluces High School. Going into that game, Seminole Ridge was riding a 13-game winning streak. The result was not available at press time.
The on-court productivity and leadership by a trio of seniors — Janiah Suprius, Jayla Midget and Breanna Custodio — have been the biggest reasons why Seminole Ridge is playing so well this year.
Statistically speaking, Suprius is leading the team in seven categories — points per game, total points, rebounds per game, assists per game, free-throw shooting percentage, steals and total rebounds. Midget is second in five of those categories — points per game, total points, free-throw shooting percentage, steals and total steals. Custodio is contributing to the team’s overall success with a number of timely shots, steals, assists, blocks and rebounds.
According to Hudson, the three seniors are leading by example in practice, in games, in the classroom and in the locker room.
“This season, Janiah has stepped up into a leadership role. She is averaging nearly 20 points a game. She shows up to play every day in practice and in games,” Hudson said. “Jayla’s commitment to compete is impressive. She works hard every day on the court. Breanna has grown up so much in the last four years. Just recently, she fought hard to come back from an injury suffered in the travel basketball season.”
The only blemish on Seminole Ridge’s record is a 51-46 loss to Martin County High School back on Nov. 19. Seminole Ridge hasn’t lost since that game. However, Martin County and Seminole Ridge are in the same district (Class 6A, District 13), which means there’s a strong chance that both teams will meet one another in the district tournament final, which is set for Friday, Feb. 7.
Regardless of how both teams fare in the District 13 tournament finale, both Seminole Ridge and Martin County will earn a bid into the FHSAA’s Class 6A state tournament, since both are ranked among the top ten teams in the statewide rankings. That means they could possibly meet for a third time this season in one of the three regional games on Feb. 7, Feb. 18 or Feb. 21.
For the Seminole Ridge squad, the overall goal is to finish the season by playing in the FHSAA’s Class 6A state finals, which will be contested in early March at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center. That would truly be a fitting conclusion to what has been a tremendous season, to date.
