FAMU Routs Grandview Prep to Win Class 2A Title

LAKELAND, Florida -- Forget offense. Tallahassee FAMU rode its pressure defense to its third Class 2A girls basketball state championship in four years Thursday.

The Baby Rattlers (27-2) forced 36 turnovers by Boca Raton Grandview Prep in defeating the defending Class 2A state champion Pride, 75-45, at The Lakeland Center.

It is FAMU's fourth state title overall and the first for first-year head coach Ericka Cromartie, who played in the state tournament for FAMU in 1999 and 2001.

"I'm very familiar with the program having played here,” Cromartie said. “When we started in September, I told them the team I played on, I knew this team was better and if we stick together and play hard, we will win state. They did and they deserved it."

FAMU, which won state titles in 2012 and 2013, scored 29 points off of those turnovers and used its defense to keep the Pride from getting its offense going.

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