By Troy Mauriello
Francis Lewis was looking for a fairy tale ending to its season and to send off its seniors with a championship. Instead, its final game was more like a horror story.
The second-seeded Patriots were held scoreless in the second quarter and had just six points at the half on their way to suffering a 55-39 loss to top-seeded and defending champion South Shore in the PSAL Class AA girls’ basketball championship game at Madison Square Garden Saturday.
A nightmarishly bad first half that saw Francis Lewis make just one of its 17 shots from the field (6 percent shooting) was enough to dig the Patriots into a hole early and have them playing catch-up for the entire second half.
“We were rushing a lot, we were making a lot of mistakes, bad turnovers, we weren’t listening… so at the end of the day that all falls down on us, nobody but us,” said senior guard Taliyah Brisco.
Francis Lewis’ lone basket of the first half was a three-pointer from Sabrina Vitale with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter. On top of that, Francis Lewis turned the ball over 14 times and gave up 15 points off turnovers in the half.
“I thought we made some bad decisions offensively,” said Francis Lewis coach Steve Tsai of the first half. “We weren’t hitting our shots and I think sometimes we get frustrated and we want to force things, and I think that made things worse.”
But despite all of that, the Patriots were still alive heading into the second half. They trailed just 21-6 at halftime and had to consider themselves lucky that South Shore didn’t take full advantage of their poor shooting.
However, once the Francis Lewis offense found its footing in the second half, defense became the Patriots’ issue. Brisco started to find her stroke in the third quarter with eight points, however Francis Lewis was only able to cut the South Shore lead by one heading into the fourth.
A 13-0 South Shore run to open up the final frame ended any last hope for a comeback. While Francis Lewis shot a much-improved 10-for-26 (39 percent) in the second half, South Shore still shot 12 for 30 (40 percent) in the second half to roll to an easy victory and avenge a loss to Francis Lewis in the 2014 title game.
Brisco led the way for Francis Lewis with 11 points, while her fellow senior Sierra Green scored 10 and led the Patriots (22-4) with six rebounds in what was her final high school game.
Even in defeat, the duo along with senior Sabrina Celement and Dominique Williams have a title to their credit, three semifinals and two trips to the final.
“It is an amazing opportunity just to play in The Garden and Barclays,” Brisco said. “People don’t get this opportunity, so the fact that we even go to those places to play is amazing.”
