Heritage Boys, Girls Fall in Tourney Opener

By Matt Tobin

Friday, December 28, 2007

After a first quarter in which the Heritage girls were able to match Clarksburg point-for-point, the Pride looked to sustain their play the rest of the way in the opening game of the "Howl-a-Day" basketball tournament Thursday afternoon in Clarksburg, Md.

But it was not to be, as Heritage (2-4) was outscored 58 to 31 the rest of the game, finally losing 71-44.

Heritage head coach Anthony Long attributed the poor play down the stretch to bad decision-making by his players.

Such decisions helped the Coyotes (3-3) cause 19 turnovers in the game -- seven of which Clarksburg guard Courtney Clark had on her own.

The turnovers, as well as a rebound differential of nine in favor of the Coyotes, spelled doom for Heritage.

The Pride will be at it again Friday afternoon as they take on Watkins Mill in the tournament's consolation game at noon.

Boys Fall to Watkins Mill

The Heritage boys (2-4) played their tournament opponent more competitively than the girls, but also fell Friday afternoon, losing to Watkins Mill, 71-64.

From the outset, the game looked to be a close. Both teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter, with the Pride owning a one-point lead going into the second.

The second and third quarters were more of the same point-for-point basketball, as both teams traded leads.

Watkins Mill guard Bobby Bazelias was the only player to separate himself from the statistical pack through the first three quarters, with 13 points, six rebounds and one assist.

Brazelias separated himself even more in the fourth quarter.

After trailing by five as the final quarter started, Brazelias gave the Wolverines a one-point lead off a foul shot with 55.7 seconds left in the game. Seconds later, after being fouled again, he made two more foul shots. Yet a few seconds later, Brazelias stripped the ball from a member of the Pride and made two more free throws off of a foul to put the game at 69-64.

In all, Brazelias scored his team's final seven points -- all from free throws -- to put the game out of reach for Heritage. He finished the game with 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Pride head coach Marquez Mallisham praised Watkins Mill (4-2) for its performance.

"These kids came to compete today," he said of the Wolverines. "All of the credit goes to Watkins Mill. They played hard and were competitive and they didn't back down one second."

As for Heritage, Mallisham said, the mistakes are fixable.

"Basketball is about being resilient, about being able to bounce back," he said. "I think some of the things we did tonight, I saw some good things and some bad things, are things that are correctible. We're not going to jump off a cliff because we lost this game."

Like the Heritage girls, the boys will play in the consolation game tomorrow.

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