Heritage boys, girls basketball earn wins against Wakefield

The Wakefield Wolverines came away empty-handed on Thursday night, as both boys’ and girls’ teams fell to host Heritage.

The Huskies girls escaped with a 46-37 victory right before the boys went out and grabbed an 83-65 win.

Huskies boys dunk their way to victory

Sam Katowitz, Jarren McAllister, Jayden Gardner and Ian Hinkley all dunked for the Huskies on Thursday night. Katowitz’s dunk came in the first quarter, while the other six slams took place in an action-packed third period. Both McAllister and Gardner had multiple stuffs, McAllister throwing it down three times to Gardner’s two.

“It started on the defensive end,” Huskies coach Tilden Brill said. “I told them that if you want to play like that, it starts on the defensive end. So I was proud of them from that standpoint.”

Dunking wasn’t all the Huskies did.

Thayer Thomas, Dante Williams and Colton Reed hit three 3-pointers apiece to help Heritage come out on top. Lyle Register hit one late triple to bring the team total to 10.

“We’ve been working on trying to get a little bit more ball reversal and finding the open shots,” Brill said.

The game meant a five-game losing streak for the Wolverines. They forced some turnovers with their press in the final period, but the third-quarter collapse prevented any chance of a comeback.

“It was the turnovers and they knocked down several 3s,” Wakefield coach Mickey Bissette said. “It’s one of those life things where you’ve got to keep grinding. And somewhere along the line, it’s going to turn the corner.”

Tyler Wilson was the lead scorer for Wakefield, notching 12 points. Kyle Lim added 11, while both Christon Knight and Aaron Burress scored 10 points.

With the win, Heritage improved to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the Cap-8, while Wakefield dropped to 3-13 on the year and 0-7 in conference play.

Heritage gets first win over Wakefield girls

The Huskies girls made a little school history.

“That’s our first time ever beating Wakefield. To be able to check that box is huge for us.” Heritage coach Pat Kennedy said. “I was happy with our defense. Overall, I thought our defensive energy and focus was pretty good.”

Heritage’s defensive pressure proved to be beneficial. Wakefield (10-7, 3-4) struggled to hold on to the ball throughout the game and its turnovers led to points for the home team.

“It all goes back to toughness,” Wakefield coach Art Wollett stated. “It’s about that mentality of being tough, outworking them, and wanting it more.”

Cydney Johnson had a big game for Heritage (14-2, 6-1). After the break, the freshman came out and scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half. Johnson’s activity helped Heritage keep the lead, as she attacked the basket, moved without the ball and grabbed her fair share of rebounds.

“Cydney’s a fantastic basketball player. She’s a tough cover for other teams,” Kennedy said.

Wakefield freshman Jada Peebles was the lone Wolverine to score in double digits, pouring in a team-high 12 points. Gabby Donaldson and Peris Pavlinac added nine and eight points, respectively.

After starting the season atop the conference, the Wolverines seem to have hit a bump in the road. Thursday night’s loss was their fourth in a row.

“We’ve got to figure out our identity,” Wollett said. “I was just telling the girls that not everybody is going to go out and score 18 or 20 points a night. You may be that person who needs to go get 12 or 15 rebounds a night. And I think there’s a little struggle in trying to figure out who that is.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Heritage boys, girls basketball earn wins against Wakefield."