American Heritage girls’ hoops’ state title hopes fade away in second half collapse
American Heritage is the only girls’ basketball program in the state to play for a state championship nine consecutive years.
Six times during that span, the Patriots finished their season with a celebration on the court at the RP Funding Center.
Heritage had a seventh championship in its sights on Thursday night.
That was until it was ripped away in an avalanche of turnovers, which allowed Melbourne Palm Bay to rally from an early 14-point deficit and deal the Patriots a crushing 67-57 loss in the Class 4A state championship game.
“They were just really aggressive coming back and determined to come back and beat us,” said Heritage forward Dezuray McGill, who scored a team-high 17 points. “We started really great and that energy just went down. They wanted it more than us.”
The Patriots (21-9) committed 19 turnovers, which Palm Bay (25-7) converted into 25 points often with intense defensive pressure that led to quick transition scores.
The Pirates, who won their first ever state title, outscored Heritage 20-2 in fast break points and also attacked the rim effectively, outscoring the Patriots 32-18 in the paint.
“Their pressure caught up to us,” American Heritage coach Greg Farias said. “We didn’t handle it very well. We were in foul trouble. A team that gambles that much (on defense), you have to make them pay and we didn’t make them pay. We let them come back and make runs.”
Heritage led 50-43 entering the fourth quarter and had not trailed the entire game despite Palm Bay tying the game three times in the third quarter after erasing its large early deficit.
Junior Jasleen Green, who scored 15 points, made a three to push Heritage’s lead to 53-48. But moments later, Green suffered a cramp in her right leg that forced her out of the game for a couple of minutes.
Palm Bay took advantage and started what would end up a championship-clinching 14-0 surge, which continued even after Green re-entered the game.
“It was a bad cramp and I couldn’t walk on it. I had to get out,” said Green, who struggled to contain her emotions after the tough loss. “It was tough but we stayed together and were up five before I caught a cramp. We just have to work harder and keep working and keep getting better.”
Heritage scored the game’s first 10 points and led 13-1. The lead ballooned to 23-9 late in the first period thanks largely to the sharp shooting of guard Yinuo Wang, who hit four three-pointers for all 12 of her points.
Palm Bay turned up the pressure, however, and Heritage struggled from the perimeter. Heritage went from shooting 9 for 14 from the field in the first quarter to shooting 12 for 30 the rest of the game.
“I feel like we battled, but I feel like we should have fought a little harder and maybe communicated a little better,” said McGill, Heritage’s only senior starter who is signed with Long Island University.
The Pirates ended the half on a 13-0 surge that eventually led to their second half comeback.
“We have to learn from our mistakes,” Farias said. “Every year is special. Even though we’re runners-up we don’t take it for granted. But we’re used to winning and that’s the biggest disappointment.”
