RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
After allowing the Heritage girls’ basketball team to take a two-point lead late in the first quarter, the Leo Lions reeled off 41 straight points on their way to routing the Patriots, 55-23, at the Lions’ Den Thursday night.
Freshman guard Trinitee Brown hit a three-pointer from left of the top of the key with a little over a minute left in the opening period to give Heritage (0-1) its last lead of the game at 9-7. Moments later Leo forward Kayla Adams tied it with a bucket on the right block. Teammate Malina Lape scored on a putback on the Lions’ next possession to give Leo (2-0) an 11-9 advantage at the quarter.
That’s when the thermometer started to register below freezing for the Pats as missed shots and numerous turnovers prevented them from scoring again until Danica Fuller finally broke the ice with a three-pointer ten seconds into the fourth quarter.Â
By then, of course, the Lions were out of reach. Fuller’s bucket only cut the lead to 48-12.
Leo’s Leah Shappell scored 11 of her game-high 13 points in the middle quarters, the 6-0 sophomore star showing her versatility with a mix of jumpers, drives, and free throws. She got plenty of help from Malina Lape’s eight points in that same stretch and seven points from Adams in the third quarter.
The Patriot offense did wake up a bit in the final quarter, hitting four threes to outscore Leo 14-7.
The Patriots graduated 75% of their scoring from last year’s 7-16 team, so coach Nicole Sisson knows there will be growing pains while she relies heavily on a strong freshman class. “Our offense went a little stagnant there for a couple quarters,” she said, “but we have a young group, and they have to learn to work through that.”
Brown’s quickness at point guard helped get the Patriots off to a good start, as did fellow freshman Audra Bickel, who scored Heritage’s first four points. “Both of them were kind of forced into roles that they have to learn on the fly,” noted Sisson, “but with both you got glimpses of what eventually they’ll be capable of as basketball players. They’re fun to coach. They’re very coachable, and they’re just going to get better. That’s the exciting thing.”
Three of Sisson’s starters (Brown, Bickel, and Kaydence Wallace) are freshmen, and another rookie, Olivia Lybarger, saw significant playing time. The fourth-year Heritage coach knows it will take time for her young crew to adapt to varsity ball.   Â
“There isn’t a shortcut to experience and all the things you learn as a high school player,” she said. “But we’re optimistic. We’re going to get into the gym tomorrow and work to get better.”
For Leo, Adams finished with 11 points, Lape with 10. Fuller led Heritage with five. Bickel had four. Lybarger, Wallace, and senior Natalie Otte each scored three.
A bright spot for the Patriots was a strong opening game by their JV team. Though they lost 38-26, it was a big improvement over last year, when Heritage only occasionally had enough available athletes to play a JV game.
“Our JV kids came out and played well,” praised Sisson. “For having mostly freshmen on JV and having them come out and play like they did in their first high school basketball game, we’re pretty happy with that.” Heritage freshman Ellie Hissong led all JV scorers with 18 points.
The Patriots’ next game is at Garrett on Tuesday, November 7.