American Heritage coach Greg Farias was concerned about his team having a 10-day layoff between the regional finals and Wednesday night’s Class 5A state semifinal against Port Charlotte at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Farias opted to open the game with a full-court press, and it worked to perfection as they blitzed the Pirates 21-9 in the first period and outscored them 24-2 in the second en route to a 63-24 domination on Wednesday night, with Farias emptying his bench to start the second half.
“Because we were off for a while, I wanted the girls to start with a lot of energy,” Farias said by phone. “From the opening tipoff, we guarded them 94 feet in a 2-2-1 and a diamond press, to make sure the girls were not flat, and we didn’t let off from there.”
American Heritage will play on Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Daytona Beach Mainland in a state championship rematch won by the Buccaneers 62-61 last year.
“I was scared with having 10 days off for the first time in so many years, but we put full-court pressure on them from the beginning and we tried to run on them,” he added. “It took us a few minutes to get some of the rust off and we showed good skill from there.”
Sophomore guard Jasleen Green finished the game with 14 points, two assists, two rebounds, and one steal to lead the Patriots. Fellow sophomore guard Taniyah Davis had 11 points and was 3 of 4 on 3-pointers in her 13-minutes, 48 seconds of action. Junior center Dezuray McGill nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
American Heritage closed out the first half and opened the third period with a 15-0 scoring run to break the game wide open at 48-11 on a 3-pointer by Davis. Port Charlotte (19-12) never led in the game and American Heritage scored 30 points in the paint and added 16 second-chance points.
Mainland (18-12), winners of eight straight games, also won in a blowout with a 62-31 victory over New Port Richey River Ridge in the other semifinal. The defending state champion Buccaneers are ranked third in the state in Class 5A.
Five-time state champion American Heritage (24-6) hasn’t lost since a 58-37 setback against Central Pointe Christian Academy National (Kissimmee) on Feb. 1.
The Patriots’ loss in the championship game last season ended a run of five straight state titles. American Heritage, which trailed by 20 points in the second half and came all of the way back to lead late in the game, shot 56% from the free-throw line in that contest.
“I believe if we had made just one more free throw that we would have gone to overtime and we would have won it,” Farias said of last year’s game. “We are really looking forward to playing them again because they are very confident, and we want the championship back.
“They are a lot better than their record,” Farias continued. “They had some injuries and suspensions which cost them a couple of core players that led to their 12 losses. Both of us are clicking at the right time.”