Girls state final four finally here for AATL

Eight previous times Academy at the Lakes coach Karim Nohra had led a girls basketball team into a region final.

And eight times, he had missed that trip to the state final four.

However, when the Class 2A state semifinals get under way today at The Lakeland Center, Nohra will find himself in unfamiliar territory: on the sidelines in the final four.

The Wildcats defeated Winter Garden Foundation Academy, 64-28, Saturday in the region final to give Nohra his first final four appearance in 20 years of coaching.

Nohra led Wesley Chapel to back-to-back region final berths in 2009 and 2010 and arrived at AATL last season. He was able to take a Wildcats team that was winless in the year prior to a region final appearance.

It has been a long time coming for Nohra, after coaching stints at Tampa Catholic, Seminole Presbyterian/Cambridge Christian, Wesley Chapel and now Academy at the Lakes, but today's game against Tallahassee Florida A&M University Developmental Research will be a culmination of many heartbreaking losses.

"Being there and losing is an awful feeling," Nohra said about the region finals. "Being there and winning — it was exhilarating. I know what we did bad and what we did good in those region finals games. It has been a great journey along the way. I'm hoping my experience can really help us move on to the state championship."

The private school in Land O' Lakes (111 students as of 2011 enrollment figures reported to the Florida High School Athletic Association) has had success in both of its basketball programs this season. The boys team plays tonight in the Class 2A region semifinals for the first time in school history.

But Nohra also knows throughout his tenure as a coach, a lot of things had to come into play for his squad to make the run that it has made so far.

"It's nice to see the culture at Academy at the Lakes change into being used to just winning games," Nohra said. "It's a great atmosphere at the school right now. It's basketball fever. Timing is everything. Everything has to come together for your team to be at the state tournament. The team is better than it was last year. I'm saying we had a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill getting to the (final four). Also a lot of hard work has helped out."

A lot of motivation for Nohra's group going into Saturday's region final against Winter Garden Foundation also played a huge role for Academy (23-5) as four players are seniors and forward Andrea Mauger has played for Nohra since she was a freshman at Wesley Chapel. Nohra explained he set three goals for Mauger from Day 1: score 1,000 points, reach a final four and earn a college scholarship.

Two of the three have been accomplished and the last could be accomplished Wednesday.

"Just being able to win the region final game for (Nohra) was amazing," Mauger said. "He's been my motivation since Day 1. Going to the final four is just unreal. We've played fast teams and big teams. If we can execute the game plan that's been laid out then we can win. We're right there on the cusp of a championship. We just have to go grab it."