By Kyle LoJacono
It was a memorable night for the Academy at the Lakes girls basketball team.
The Wildcats (21-5) dismantled Winter Haven All Saints’ Academy (ASA) 71-33 in the Class 2A regional quarterfinals in their home gym on Feb. 9, setting a program record with a 38-point playoff win.
Andrea Mauger also had a special moment with 1:35 left in the first quarter. The junior forward cut up the right side to the baseline and hit a jumper from 10 feet out for her 1,000th career point.
Mauger, who finished with 22 points and seven steals, started her high school career at Wesley Chapel High and transferred to the academy last year, the same season coach Karim Nohra moved from Wildcats to Wildcats program.
“Coach Nohra has believed in me since I was a freshman. He said ‘Mauger, you’re going to be a 1,000-point scorer when I’m done with you,’” Mauger said with a laugh.
Academy senior point guard Samantha Fernandez added, “Andrea works so hard, and she really is like the core. She holds it all together. I love having her as a teammate.”
Mauger is the second player in program history to reach 1,000-point mark, following teammate Amelia Oliver a few weeks ago.
“As soon as I saw her back in eighth grade I thought she was going to be a nice player,” Nohra said. “I thought wow that girl is going to be tough. … I told her she was going to be the next 1,000-point scorer I’d have, but I didn’t know Amelia was coming here.”
Oliver transferred from Sunlake this year. The senior guard finished with a team-high 24 points against ASA.
“We have a nice dynamic duo in Amelia and Andrea,” Nohra said. “If one’s off I go to the other. If both are on it’s lights out.”
The Seahawks went 9-17 last year, a far cry from the heights Oliver has helped academy soar to this season.
“I’m happy me and my teammates have been able to accomplish this together,” Oliver said. “It’s definitely different from any other team I’ve been on.”
The Wildcats ran off a 12-2 start, but ASA (9-6) closed the gap to 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Kaylaina Young put up seven of ASA’s first-quarter points, a trend that soon stopped.
“We denied (Young) the ball and made the other girls bring it up the floor,” Nohra said. “Then the turnovers started to happen.”
Nohra put in Alex Gittens to lock up Young. The senior accomplished her mission, holding Young to five points the rest of the night.
“Alex Gittens did an awesome job,” Mauger said. “We wouldn’t have won without her I don’t think.”
Fernandez, an Oldsmar Christian transfer, put her team on her back in the second, scoring 15 of her 19 points to send the academy into halftime up 55-20.
“I told her all you need to do is attack their wide zone,” Nohra said. “If they don’t collapse you shoot; if they collapse you kick out.”
The Wildcats’ 35-point lead forced a running clock during the second half, illustrating how far the program has advanced under Nohra’s watch.
“They were 0-15 the year before I got here, and the mentality was we’ll get our uniforms on and go get our butts whipped,” Nohra said. “That mentality had to change, and they started working hard.”
That mentality is different from anything Fernandez had experienced before as Nohra demands maximum effort and quick decision-making.
“Before I just used my speed, but he’s made me look at the floor more, and I’ve come so far mentally,” Fernandez said. “I’m so happy I came to Academy at the Lakes.”
The Wildcats travel to Avon Park Memorial Academy for the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
