Heritage girls’ basketball takes solace in what it overcame to return to state
A program with the prestige of Plantation American Heritage’s girls’ basketball team might typically be disappointed after coming up short of a state championship.
But while the Patriots obviously weren’t happy with Tuesday’s result, they could be proud of the fact they overcame the odds just to return to the state final four.
Three starters, including All-Broward first team players Jasleen Green and Taniyah Davis, transferred to other schools and Heritage lost four starters overall before the season.
But an undaunted cast of juniors and sophomores made sure Heritage made it to the state semifinals for an impressive 10th consecutive season.
Advancing further was not in the cards for the Patriots, however, following a 52-38 defeat against Jacksonville Bishop Kenny in a Class 4A state semifinal at UNF Arena. The loss snapped a streak of eight consecutive seasons for Heritage advancing to the state final.
Still, a team counted out at the start of the season and not even ranked in the top 100 in the state, finished ranked in the top 20 overall and the No. 3 seed in Class 4A.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these girls. We had no issues whatsoever this season,” American Heritage coach Greg Farias said. “All they did was play for each other and this is one of my favorite groups that I’ve coached. They committed to each other and the team and didn’t care about stats and offers. They and their parents were amazing.”
Junior guard Wang Yinuo, who was the only returning starter for the Patriots (17-9) from last season, led Heritage with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting and played all 32 minutes for a squad that had nine players overall on the roster and played seven.
Sophomore Isabella Aloisio also had 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Aloisio and juniors Kristijana Carattini and Sarah-Renne Ingraham were among the key players, who had to step up into key roles this season after playing off the bench a year ago.
“I feel like this was the best coaching job we’ve done,” Farias said. “We had girls that last year were fifth and sixth options on this team and they stepped up and became first and second options this season. The stage was a little big for them today, and they weren’t used to it.”
The more experienced Crusaders (27-4), who advanced to the state final for the third time in the past four seasons, jumped all over Heritage in the first half and opened up a 33-13 edge early in the second half.
To Heritage’s credit, it did not allow the game to turn into a rout.
The Patriots battled back and cut their deficit to 48-38 with 2:14 left in the game by intensifying their full-court pressure.
But Heritage was unable to find the mark enough on the offensive end and get any closer as Bishop Kenny pulled away for good, led by junior Kathleen Crawley’s 15 points.
“That’s who these kids are. Even when we were down, they kept answering, but in a game like this, you can’t let teams make easy shots,” Farias said. “They’ll learn from this and come back stronger.”
Heritage will enter the offseason looking to build off this season’s experience since it loses only one senior, Kayla Smith, who has a 5.6 GPA and is headed to USF.
“We’ve always got a target on our back and people always want to knock us off,” Farias said. “We have to come back and prepare even harder to get back here.”
