Heritage Academy basketball picked up wins in both varsity girls and boys games against Washington School on Tuesday night, putting both teams at 1-0 to start district play. The student body and community showed up to create an intimidating environment for their Patriots, and it gave the occasion the energy it deserved as both teams came alive to entertain and add to their respective win columns.
Despite an eventual 49-28 win, the Patriots girls got off to a slow start on offense Tuesday. They had difficulty getting shots to fall and the game was slowed down by long possessions. Head coach Moe Reed addressed this at halftime, and the adjustments paid off.
“I told them at halftime we’ve got to shoot out of the slump,” she said. “You can’t make a shot that you never take, so it’s not a time to doubt ourselves. We have to keep taking the shots that we did in the first half with the belief that eventually they’re going to fall.”
The improvement was noticeable as the Patriots pressed high on defense and turned turnovers into points. Ellie Dawson in particular became an influential player in the second half, putting up 15 points after going scoreless in the first half. Big buckets came from Reagan Merchant and Lucy Sharp as well, with both stretching the court by hitting from beyond the arc as they closed out the victory.
“It was a good win for us,” Reed said. “We struggled a little bit offensively in the first half but picked it up defensively in the second half which allowed for some easier buckets. Shots on the outside weren’t falling, so we had to generate some layups, and we got some steals in the second half with the press that we threw at them.”
Reed was proud of the effort to get the win after an emotional win against Jackson Academy. The Patriots avoided a hangover performance and are now 5-5 on the year after opening district play with a win.
The boys team (2-3) had less trouble on offense and looked the stronger team from the start in a 51-21 win. The Pats quickly brought their energy to the floor, knocking down shots from beyond the arc and muscling their way in for layups.
By halftime, they were up 32-15 thanks to their energy on both ends of the floor, but the focus in any game or practice is always defense.
“Defense is the focus every single day that we practice or play, so that carries over,” head coach Zach Allison said after the game. “You practice how you play, and we’re trying to bring that effort every night.”
The Patriots were determined to keep up the effort out of the break and did just that with a Spencer Singley to Jack Ketchum alley-oop layup to start the second half. Ketchum followed up with a pair of corner 3s, and Trey Naugher hit a layup to open up a 25-point advantage midway through the quarter.
Ketchum led the team with 16 points on the night, followed closely by Collin Adair with 13. Overall, Heritage Academy only allowed six points in the entire second half.
It was a strong performance headed into Thursday’s home district games against Pillow Academy.
“I’m proud of all of our guys’ effort, but we’re going to enjoy it tonight, then we’ve got a game on Thursday, a conference opponent in a really good Pillow team,” Allison said. “You’ve got to bounce back, and we can’t have a hangover game.”
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