After tough battle, the American Heritage girls’ basketball team advances to the final 4

On a night where most of the shots weren’t going in, that wasn’t a problem for the Plantation American Heritage girls’ basketball team.

In a matchup between two teams ranked in the Top 20 in the nation (MaxPreps) that normally would’ve played in front of a packed house if not for COVID-19 restrictions (no fans were allowed), the No. 5 ranked Patriots just turned to their stout defense.

That proved to be more than enough as the three-time reigning Class 5A state champions knocked off Miami Norland 42-29 in a Region 4-5A final at Norland High School.

The win sends Heritage, 23-2 and whose two losses came to No. 1 ranked Montverde Academy and No. 7 Winston-Salem Christian (N.C), to its fifth consecutive state final four.

With designs on becoming only the sixth team in state history to win four consecutive state titles, the Patriots will take on Clearwater in a 5A state semifinal on Feb. 25 at 4 p.m at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

“Norland’s a very good team so we knew we would have to come out and work our tails off tonight,” said Heritage coach Greg Farias. “What I always preach to our girls is that I never worry about how many points we score. The points will come, I just always want to be the best defending team and the one that plays the hardest. That’s what wins championships and that’s what we got out there tonight.”

So defend they did.

With Norland employing a defensive strategy to try to collapse down low and try to take away Heritage’s two best offensive weapons, the Wyche twins, Taliyah and Tatyana, it worked for the most part. That’s because the Patriots struggled mightily from the outside, hitting just 2 of 15 shots from beyond the arc through the first three quarters.

But the two seniors showed exactly why they will excel at the next level when they move on to the University of Florida next season as they combined to pull down 28 rebounds and block nine shots.

“Our defense is the main thing coach preaches to us all the time,” said Tatyana Wyche, who recorded 16 of those rebounds and blocked five of those shots while scoring nine points as well. “That’s all we work on in practice because we know that scoring is going to come, the better we play defense will create more scoring opportunities on the other end.”

Leading just 16-13 at the half, Heritage finally was able to open up a small lead in the first five minutes of the third quarter by going on a 13-5 run to lead 29-18. Norland never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“This is really exciting,” said Tatyana Wyche. “I’ve been here since ninth grade and all I know is winning state championships so I’d love to finish out strong with another one before moving on to college.”

For Norland coach Carla Harris, it was a frustrating end to a great season. The Vikings brought a 13-1 record and No. 15 national ranking into the game. But, after making it to Lakeland six times in a seven year stretch from 2009-2015, they haven’t been back since and have fallen in the regional finals five of the past six years.

“Heritage is just a great team, a real load to try and handle,” Harris said. “I’m proud of my girls and couldn’t have asked for a better defensive effort from them. We controlled the tempo but just struggled offensively. We did everything we could tonight to try and get it done but it didn’t happen.”

Girls’ soccer

▪ Regional Semifinal 3A — Westminster Christian 2, Palmer Trinity 1: Alyssa Espinosa and Nina Silva each had a goal each. Westminster hosts Miami Country Day in Regional Final on Tuesday.

▪ 7A district 16 Finals — Palmetto 3, Coral Gables 0: Kyara Ormazabal 2 goals, 1 assist; Catherine Green 1 goal, 2 assists.

Boys’ lacrosse

▪ Gulliver (3-0) d. Columbus(1-1) 9-7: Wyatt Kraft 13 saves; JP Cortes 70% faceoff win percentage; Tyler Cancio 1 goal, 3 assists; Ryan Noyes 3 goals; Tanner Jenkins 2 goals, 1 assist’ Lucas Zayden 4 takeaways, 4 groundballs.

▪ Cooper City d. Coral Glades 5-3: Cowboys: Ryan Volk 5 goals, 2 ground balls; Mackenzie Segev 2 assists, 1 ground ball; Jack Keffer 1 ground ball; Jacob Glantz 4 ground balls; Logan Wilcox 2 ground balls; Drew Chin 1 assist, 3 ground balls.

Girls’ lacrosse

▪ Cooper City d. Coral Glades 16-0: Cowboys: Grace O’Malley 7 goals, 2 assists, 2 draw controls and 6 ground balls; Cameron Sen 2 goals, 2 assists, 10 ground balls, 6 draw controls; Mackenzie Sauer; 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 ground balls; Lexi Crespo; 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 draw controls, 5 ground balls; Triana Soler; 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 ground balls.

Softball

▪ St. Thomas Aquinas 18, Nova 3: Bella Ligotti HR 5 RBI; Isabel Cohen winning pitcher 1-0.

Water polo

▪ Belen Jesuit 28, Mast Academy 6: Carlos Veccio jr 10; Zachary Callejas 4; Dylan Veccio 3; André de León 3; Adolfo valencia 3; Nelson de León 1; Antonio franco 1; Alesandro di marzo 1; Raúl Rodríguez 1; Andrés castillo 1.

This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 11:40 AM.