By Joseph Staszewski
Sierra Green was burning up inside, and her fiery determination helped the Patriots torch Murry Bergtraum, ending its 15-year reign atop PSAL girls’ basketball.
“I was getting tired of them walking over us,” Green said.
The Francis Lewis sophomore guard had been angry with herself for letting defender Joella Gibson shut her down for most of the game. Green was mad the Patriots were down 10 with 3:14 left in the contest and headed for a third loss to Bergtraum this season. She saw tears in a few teammates’ eyes.
She put an end to all of it by helping third-seeded Lewis rally for a 61-57 victory over the No. 2 Lady Blazers in the PSAL Class AA semifinals at Lehman College Tuesday night.
Green scored all 13 of her points in the second half, including seven during a 16-2 run of the game’s final 3:14. She leapt into teammate Taliyah Brisco’s arms at midcourt after the final horn to celebrate Lewis’ first title game appearance since 2006.
“Today we had it in ourselves and we knew we were going to beat this team,” said Lewis guard Brisco, who scored 15 points before fouling out. “We were going to beat Bergtraum. Their 15-peat is over.”
Green and Robyn Francis hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to two with just 2:19 left. Green later hit a 30-foot trey from the top of the key to tie the score at 56-56 with 1:03 remaining and her throw with 38.2 seconds left gave the Patriots its first lead of the game at 58-57 that it never relinquished.
“She just has no conscience, and for her in the biggest moments, she doesn’t think about it,” Lewis Coach Steve Tsai said of Green.
The usually unflappable Lady Blazers imploded in the final minutes. They missed free throws, took bad shots and watched center Alexandra Smith reach her fifth foul on Lewis center Chelsea Robinson with 24.5 seconds left. Robinson made 1-of-2 free throws. Dominique Williams stripped Bergtraum’s Ashanae McLaughlin on a drive and Cassidy Khan made a layup to provide the final margin.
“We had a good run,” Bergtraum Coach Ed Grezinsky said. “You try to win as much as you can. We worked very hard. We had the game all the way and we lost at the end. That’s the way it goes. What are you going to do?”
Grezinsky declined further comment on Robinson, who played her first game for the Patriots in the opening round of the playoffs after transferring from The Taft School in Connecticut in January. Earlier in the week he said her being allowed to play was a “clear cut” violation of league rules because Robinson, who scored eight points, took the court for Taft this season.
“This group always felt like we believed,” Tsai said. “Before Chelsea we felt like we believed.”
He thought the most important thing was that his team kept the score close early on in the game. Bergtraum center Alexandra Smith dominated inside and scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half. Lewis (20-3) trailed just 28-22 at the break and by just 10 after three quarters. McLaughlin scored 19 points for Bergtraum (20-5) and Chi La Bady had 10 for Lewis before fouling out.
“I think we had the lead for … 30 seconds,” Tsai said. “They were dominating us most of the first half.”
Tsai wants his players to realize that breaking the streak isn’t enough. They have a chance to win a city title when they take on top-seeded South Shore in the final at the Barclays Center at noon Saturday.
“We have cities. We have states,” Brisco said. “We just have to keep working hard and just keep improving to the next level. Once we have it all, then we can party.”
