- February 10, 2026
Nereyda Campos knew her basketball career was on borrowed time.
The Flagler Palm Coast senior has been a standout on the Bulldogs’ flag football team since her freshman year. She didn't start playing basketball until last season.
In the District 1-7A semifinal against Jacksonville Sandalwood on Feb. 4, Campos knew she this could be her final game with the FPC girls basketball team. She wasn’t going to go out without a fight.
Campos had the best game of her short career, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, and supporting leading scorer Ava Works, who poured in a game-high 27 points, in the Bulldogs’ 74-40 victory at the FPC gym.
“I just had the mindset that we had to start out strong and finish,” Campos said. “And if this was my last game, then just push to the end. But it wasn’t.”
Two days later, the Bulldogs lost to St. Johns Creekside 67-47 in the district final, but on Monday, Feb. 9, they still received a ticket to the state playoffs. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs (18-5) will visit No. 2 Orlando Colonial (20-5) on Friday, Feb. 13, in a Region 1-7A quarterfinal. Tipoff is 7 p.m.
FPC is making its first trip to the playoffs since 2020.
When veteran coach George Butts took over the team in 2023, he knew he had to find players who could help change the program. That’s how he found Campos, playing against boys in a flag football game at Indian Trails Sports Complex.
“I went out there to watch somebody else,” Butts said. “And I saw her running and guarding boys. I said, ‘I need her.’ She was just what I was looking for. I knew I had to have that type of player here to kind of change the program. If I had one, then the rest of them would catch on.”
Campos became a starter during her first year on the team.
“It was tough,” she said. “But I said if I want to get the starting spot, I have to work as hard as anybody else on the court.”
“She’s just a great person,” Butts said. “She’s a hard worker, she runs fast, she’s disciplined, focused and tough.”
Campos’ strength on the basketball court is her defense, a role she hopes to provide against Colonial, which has won eight of its last nine games and is ranked fifth in Class 7A.
“My mindset is just keep going, and that hypes the team up,” Campos said.
