The Bishop Kenny girls basketball team is headed back to familiar territory.
The top-ranked team in the News4JAX Super 6 all season long routed Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons 69-47 in the Class 4A state semifinals at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
The Crusaders (30-1) will face three-time defending state champion Lake Highland Prep on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. for the state title. The Highlanders (24-6) beat the Crusaders for the state title in 2020.
For Kenny, the finals appearance is its third since 2019. The Crusaders will be trying to win their first championship since the final title in a threepeat in 1992.
Coach Will Mayer has taken Kenny to Lakeland the last two seasons.
This one wasn’t even close.
The Crusaders led from start to finish, going into halftime with a 3-pointer from Sophia Rueppell to grab a 31-10 lead on Gibbons. Rueppell led Kenny with 17 points.