A Bay Area girls basketball team is about to do something no other team in their school history has done: get to a state final-four. 

  • Tampa Bay Tech girls basketball in uncharted, but lofty, territory
  • Tech defeated Naples Gulf Coast on Friday to win the Class 8A region title
  • Tech faces Davie Nova Friday in state semifinals
  • Spectrum High School Sports

Tampa Bay Tech defeated Naples Gulf Coast on Friday to win the Class 8A region title and advance. 

Practices are usually done by now at Tampa Bay Tech. But this year, the Lady Titans aren’t done yet. 

“It’s just surreal right now,” said head coach Reginald Lawrence. 

The ninth-year head coach rallied his team this year with a simple phrase: It’s not about me, it’s about us.   

“Everybody has just accepted everybody. Just the togetherness and how they get along on and off the court has made the difference this year,” Lawrence said. 

A perfect example of that group effort is K’nisha Godrey. She is just a freshman but is the team’s leading scorer. 

“It means a lot to me actually. Coming to Tampa Bay Tech my freshman year and be able to make history a big thing,” Godrey said. 

And history it is. This team is the first Tampa Bay Tech girls team to advance to the final-four.  

“I checked back and I can’t find another girls basketball team that has made it all the way to state tournament,” said athletic director Marisa Carmody. “So we’re excited and feel fortunate these girls are going to put us on the map.”

The Lady Titans are 26-3, including three playoff wins. Now the championship is the goal.

“We’ve worked hard to get to this point,”; said senior Auryel Perkins. “We have to keep pushing day in and day out at practice because we want to bring home the state title.”

The girls make their inaugural trip to Lakeland on this Friday night where they play Nova High School, out of Davie, Florida.