Lady Sharks Comeback Season Ends At State Tournament Quarterfinals
Despite ending their season with a 74-70 loss to Chipola College in the quarterfinal round of the State Tournament, the Lady Sharks gave their fans a lot to cheer about this year.
The squad’s 21-10 record—a stark difference from the previous year’s 24-loss campaign—was their best mark since the 2018-19 season when they finished 22-9.
To get to 21 wins, the Lady Sharks overcame a pedestrian 5-4 start, ripping off three winning streaks of at least four games, including a six-game run that started in late November and stretched into December.
On Jan. 4, the Lady Sharks high-octane offense scored 132 points in a 64-point win versus Montgomery College at Palm Beach State College.
“I was so focused on coaching that game that I didn’t look up at the score until the third quarter, and I saw we had 85 points, I said to myself, ‘Is this really happening?’,” said Lady Sharks head coach Susan Summons. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Three weeks later, the Lady Sharks saw Summons collect her 700th career victory at Kendall Campus during a 77-51 win versus Florida Southwestern State College.
The team also received some individual accolades. Three players, guard Shameir Quimby, forward/center Clearia Peterson and guard Kiara Harris, were tabbed First Team All-Conference by the Florida College System Activities Association.
Quimby led the team with a 19.3 points per game average on an efficient 48.6% field goal percentage. She ranked second on the team in rebounds with 8.1 per game.
The sophomore guard’s most impressive performance was during a 109-81 road win versus Daytona State College. She tallied 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Peterson, a freshman from Detroit, was dominant in the paint averaging a double-double the entire season. She led the team with 12.1 rebounds per game and was second in scoring with 18.1 points per game.
Her biggest game of the year was on Feb. 1 when she snagged 24 rebounds and scored 21 points during a 105-100 road loss to Hillsborough Community College.
Harris was another big contributor as a freshman. She led the team with a 38% shooting percentage from beyond the arc and ranked third on the team in scoring with a 15 point per game average.
The sharp-shooter made nine three-pointers in three separate games this season, including a 39-point effort on Jan. 15 in a 99-46 home win versus St. Petersburg College.
“In high school, I was more of a distributor who passed more often than I shot,” Harris said. “Coach Summons and Shameir were the most impactful on that front letting me know as soon as they saw me, to shoot.”
Peterson, Harris and guard Jazmyn Bynum, who averaged 14.6 points per game and was selected Second Team All-Conference, are expected to make up the nucleus of next year’s team.
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