GO KNIGHTS!

The atmosphere was electric, Saturday, February 23rd at ACND, as your Knights took on the Lions of Sagemont.  The gym was packed with die hard fans of all ages - future Knights, alums, parents, faculty, friends and students.  At the final buzzer, ACND had closed an amazing season just 4 points shy of returning to the final 4 for the first time in 12 years.

As you will see in the article below, printed in the Miami Herald, Saturday, February 23rd, 2008, Coach Charlie Funk gives all the credit to the team. Yes, the team deserves tremendous accolades for their dedication and amazing feat but this is all attributed to having a leader like Coach Funk and his staff.

Thank you to all who made this season so memorable.  Thank you to all of you who came out and showed your Knight Pride (especially all the former players). . .and a special THANK YOU to Coach Funk for rekindling the excitement and reminding all WE ARE ACND. 

 

REGION 4-2A FINAL

• Sagemont 43, Archbishop Curley 39: For Sagemont, it was unfinished business. For Archbishop Curley, it is business that has been left unfinished.

Behind 20 points from Marlon Rivera, the Lions edged host Curley to advance to the final four Thursday.

After being upset in the regional quarterfinals last year by Horeb Christian, Sagemont battled through a tough week after 6-11 center Garvin Hunt broke his ankle during practice Monday.

''It's been a tough week, Ivis, our other big guy, his grandfather died [Friday]. It was a trying week. It was unfinished business. We worked really, really hard. We are here. We are where we want to be now,'' Sagemont coach Jorge de Cespedes said.

SAG (23-7) -- Ivis 10, Rivera 20, DeLucia 2, de Cespedes 3, Higgs, Jr. 4, Days, Jr. 4, DeLucia 2. AC (24-5) -- Teijeiro 12, Christian Ortiz 19, Christopher Ortiz 5, Gaudin 3.

Half: Cur 20-19. Three-Pointers: Christian Ortiz 3, Gaudin, Christopher Ortiz, de Cespedes. Rebounds: Days 9, Higgs 9. Assists: DeLucia 9. Steals: Rivera 4.

 

Curley enjoying success

BY ANDRE C. FERNANDEZ a1fernandez@MiamiHerald.com

It's hard to set foot in Archbishop Curley's gym these days without hearing words like ''legendary'' in reference to boys' basketball coach Charlie Funk.

Funk, however, is quick to re-direct the praise to his players.

''I don't know about all that,'' Funk said. ``These kids are the ones that deserve the credit. They are dedicated and they've put in the hard work to get us where we are today.''

Funk, who is in his first season at Curley after a 30-year coaching career in Miami-Dade County, has led the Knights to the biggest turnaround season by any Dade team this year.

After winning only four games last season, the Knights (24-4) enter Saturday's Region 4-2A final against Weston Sagemont with a chance to make it to the state final four for the first time since 1986. They have not played in a regional final since that season.

''When I came to practice for the first time after football season, and I saw what was going on, I couldn't believe it,'' said senior point guard Ronald Gaudin, who was the Knights' starting quarterback last football season. ``We looked like a real basketball team. The last couple of years we were just a bunch of athletes trying to play basketball.''

Funk said most of the Knights players did not participate in a summer league the way most high school players typically do. Funk did not begin working with his full squad until September and did not have a full coaching staff until two weeks prior to the team's season opener.

In spite of the setbacks, it did not take long for his players to develop chemistry on the court.

''We just had more intense practices from the start and people knew their roles much better,'' Curley forward Mijail Tejero said. ``We started showing up to the gym sometimes at 5 a.m. before school to practice.''

Curley guards Christian and Christopher Ortiz have become one of the top backcourt tandems in Dade. The twins moved from Puerto Rico two years ago and transferred to Curley before this season.

Christopher is averaging a team-high 17 points, and Christian is scoring 15 per game.

Gaudin and Rodrique Anilus have become key contributors in the starting lineup, as well as Tejero, who is averaging eight rebounds per game.