Mainland edges American Heritage for girls 5A state basketball championship

Buccaneers nearly squander a 17 point lead in the final three minutes, but hold on for the victory

LAKELAND, FLORIDA – In an incredible game to decide the FHSAA 5A Girls Basketball state championship, Mainland defeated American Heritage, 62-61, Saturday evening at the RP Funding Center.

To get there, it was a team effort according to Buccaneers head coach Brandon Stewart.

"We've been talking about team basketball all year," Stewart began. "We've been through a lot of adversity this year. For us to be where we are right now, um, I couldn't write it up any better.

"I just appreciate every single experience that we're having."

As exhausted as they were exhilerated, the Mainland Buccaneers pose with their 5A state championship trophy and medals / Photo by Brian Smith

Five minutes into the contest, it was only 8-4 with Mainland leading American Heritage. The key for the Buccaneers was the hot start of Tia Dobson, who had 7 early points, including a 3-point bucket.

Overall, Mainland was a team with the athleticism and basketball skills to manage American Heritage’s full-court press and overall basketball talent. That stated, it was not easy and the game went back and forth.

The game came down to a frantic final few possessions, after American Heritage nearly rallied all the way back from a 17 point deficit, after Samantha Lecas knocked down a left-corner 3-point shot with three minutes to go to put Mainland up 57-40.

The Patriots, however kept fighting and got within eight when Arielle Facyson knocked in two free throws, with 1:37 to play, to close the gap to 58-50.

With 1:10 to go, Facyson hit another pair of free throws, and the 20-point lead was down to five.

A missed 1-and-1 free throw by Mainland’s Ronneisha Thomas led to another bucket, and the lead shrunk to 60-57.

Mainland's Tia Dobson (10) started quickly for the Buccaneers, helping them build a lead that great to as many as 17 points late in the fourth quarter. Here, she works against American Heritage's Jasleen Green / Photo by Brian Smith

With 43.4 seconds left, Thomas hit one of her free throws to push the lead up to 61-57.

The Patriots scored a bucket off the full-court press, as Jasleen Green hit a wide-open layup with just over 20 seconds remaining. That made it 61-59.

Thomas, once again, hit one of two free throws after being fouled. The score was 62-59 with 11.2 seconds remaining and American Heritage had the ball just inside the half court line.

The Patriots missed a 3-point attempt, but Green got the rebound and hit a layup to close the score to 62-61. Lecas was fouled with 0.8 seconds remaining and missed both free throws, but no final shot came after a scrum for the rebound and Mainland held on to win the Florida 5A Girls State Championship.

The game was back-and-forth early on.

With Mainland up 10-8 and 37 seconds to go in the first quarter, big-time American Heritage freshman Green drove down the middle of the lane and scored her first bucket of the contest. That led to a 10-10 tie going into the second stanza.

American Heritage’s full-court pressure began to bother Mainland during the early portion second quarter, and it led to them going up 20-16 with just under 5 minutes in the half.

The American Heritage press is already creating problems. ⁦@SBLiveFL⁩ | ⁦@Andy_Villamarzo⁩ | ⁦@AH__Athletics⁩ pic.twitter.com/iqligpPc9d

— Brian Smith (@fbscout_florida) February 25, 2023

Even with the Buccaneers continually attacking the basket, missed shots and turnovers allowed the Patriots to get out and run. Green scored her sixth point of the contest with a breakaway layup that put American Heritage up 24-18, and Mainland called timeout with 3:15 to play in the half.

That timeout was key, as the lead quickly went away and Mainland dominated the remainder of the half by out-scoring American Heritage 12-1.

To start the run, Mainland scored six quick points to tie it up, and then Dobson gave her squad a 26-25 lead with a drive to the hoop and bankshot that went down. Immediately afterwards, Mainland’s best player, Anovia Sheals, got her first basket to make it 28-25.

The final hoop of the half came from Mainland’s Jordan Boddie, who did a 360-spin move in the lane and knocked in a layup off the glass. Mainland led 30-25 going into intermission.

As the third quarter got going, Sheals was the key. The Patriots could not handle her down low, and she scored a bucket to put the Buccaneers up 41-30 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A minute later, Sheals was at it again. She drove the ball to the bucket and scored a contested layup to give her Buccaneers a 43-30 lead with 3:30 to go in the third quarter. The Patriots called a timeout.

It did not work.

For Mainland, Dobson went down the lane off a ball screen and Sheals rolled to the bucket and received a great pass that led to an easy layup and 45-30 lead. From that point on, it was the Buccaneers in the driver’s seat.

The lead grew to 50-30 going into the fourth, but American Heritage was not completely done.

The Patriots pulled to within 12 at 50-38 and Dobson fouled out. That opened the door for a comeback. Dobson’s Mainland teammates – Sheals in particular – had to battle like crazy.

Sheals was fantastic on the backboards and even helped to bring the basketball up the court against the press. The junior was the biggest difference down the stretch.

Even when Boddie fouled out with just under four minutes remaining, another key scorer and ball handler, the composure from Mainland was still pretty good.

Sheals said afterwards about the final moments where she had to control the ball and score for her team, "Just trying to be a leader. After the big voices (on our team) fouled out, I was trying to be a leader to our younger players so we could still pull out a win."

Sheals led all scorers with 22 points and also had 13 rebounds, Dobson finished with 13, and Boddie had 10.

For American Heritage, Facyson had 17, Green 15 and 10 rebounds, and Studesville finished with 12.

Photo by Brian Smith

Photo by Brian Smith

Photo by Brian Smith

Photo by Brian Smith

Photo by Brian Smith

Photo by Brian Smith