Heritage’s Farias, Aquinas’ Berens, WA’s Wallhoff Broward girls’ basketball coaches of year

American Heritage won its fifth consecutive girls’ basketball state title, St. Thomas Aquinas its second in a row and Westminster Academy its first in more than three decades.

As such, Greg Farias, Oliver Berens and Shannon Wallhoff are the Miami Herald’s Girls’ Basketball Coaches of the Year for Broward County.

Farias and Berens get co-coach of the year honors for the 7A-5A classes, while Wallhoff wins it solo for the 4A-2A grouping.

Farias’ American Heritage team reloaded after losing four starters from last season and still managed to go 25-4 and win the Class 5A state title in blowout fashion — 69-31 over Orlando Bishop Moore. McDonald’s All-American and senior Ta’Niya Latson, who transferred in after two years at Atlanta Westlake, paced the team by averaging a staggering 27.2 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, 5.3 steals and two blocks per game. Fellow seniors Joey Delancy (16.1 points) and Emani Theodule (12.2) as well as junior Sydni Studesville (10.1) also averaged in double figures.

Berens led St. Thomas Aquinas to a 27-4 record and a second consecutive Class 6A state title, with the Raiders holding off Apopka Wekiva for a 59-45 win in the championship game. St. Thomas relied on a balanced scoring attack on its way to a repeat, with juniors Karina Gordon (13.8 points) and Alancia Ramsey (12.9 points) the only players averaging in double figures while seniors Bre Gustave and Jada Green came up with big moments during the season.

And Wallhoff’s Westminster Academy team finally broke through and won its first girls’ basketball state title since 1991. The Lions finished the season 27-5, finally beat Miami Country Day in the regional finals after losing to them for five consecutive seasons, rolled through their state semifinal against Tallahassee FSU High and held off Sarasota Cardinal Mooney for the title.

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 11:00 AM.