By Anthony Parelli
Sierra Green played every game for the Francis Lewis girls’ basketball team as a freshman. She took her lumps playing at a higher level than a normal 14-year-old, but her time on the varsity made her all the more prepared to break out in 2013.
“This year I’m more comfortable, so winning is more important than last year,” Green said. “I want to get a PSAL championship.”
If a championship is on her mind, then she is off to a good start. She scored 31 points in a season-opening win over Medgar Evers and led the host Patriots past last year’s runner-up, South Shore, 76-73 in overtime Dec. 3. Green, who plays her travel ball with Positive Direction, proved not only her talent by scoring 26 points, but her poise in the big moment.
She connected on a corner three-pointer to put her team up a point with five seconds remaining in regulation. A free throw by South Shore’s Malika Chisolm brought the game to overtime, where Green, who hit five treys in the game, would once again make her presence felt. The sophomore guard drove to the hoop for a three-point play with 4.4 seconds left in the extra period to provide the final margin.
“Sierra has no fear of the moment,” Lewis Coach Steve Tsai said. “She showed that when she hit both shots in regulation and in overtime.”
Green’s propensity for the moment came with a personal vendetta against a team that has had Francis Lewis’ number over the years.
“I wanted to get them once because I’m tired of them beating us,” Green said.
From the opening tip it was obvious that Francis Lewis was undersized, led by guards Dominique Williams, Taliyah Brisco and Robyn Francis, compared to a larger South Shore team and led by junior forward and University of Maryland commit Brianna Fraser. Tsai expects that to be the norm.
“We have to make them guard us,” he said. “If they have size, then we hope we have the quickness advantage.”
Tsai specified that they must work as a team to make up for their lack of height. That is what Lewis did against South Shore. He turned to freshman Christina Huerta and sophomore Sabrina Clement with his team in foul trouble heading into overtime and they did an admirable job keeping Lewis in the game.
“We have to be nine to 10 strong the way we press and the way I want to run,” Tsai said.
For Green, her team’s ability to get contributions from everyone stems from the work they put in during the week.
“Everybody works hard in practice for big opportunities like this,” Green said.
She certainly has been making the most of hers.
