Murry Bergtraum’s Shequana Harris netted 18 points. (William Thomas)
South Shore’s Jenice Winter grabs a rebound. (William Thomas)
The word revenge wasn’t uttered by anyone from South Shore, but there was plenty of talk about the maturity they showed.
Murry Bergtraum ended the Vikings season the last three years, twice in the PSAL title game at Madison Square Garden and the semifinals in between. The Lady Blazers appeared ready to break their hearts again.
Star guard Shequana Harris buried her second straight long 3-pointer to claw her team back and put it up a point with 3:30 left to play in the game.
“In years past we probably would have shrugged, got mad, but we didn’t do that,” junior guard Aliyah Cooley said. “We kept playing.”
Harris’ trey was the last Bergtraum point and South Shore scored the final eight for an emotional, 48-41 win over the 13-time defending city champions in a PSAL Class AA girls basketball crossover game Friday in Brooklyn.
The Lady Blazers beat South Shore, 57-48, in last season’s title game and they met for the first time in the regular season thanks to the newly reformatted PSAL Class AA league.
“It’s the hunger from losing to them three times,” said Fannisha Price of the team’s motivation to finish the win.
The Marshall-bound forward scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and Jenice Winter, who is headed to VCU, had 11 points and showed off her mid-range jumper in the first half.
Cooley, who sat the entire first half because of a coach’s decision, sank three second half 3-pointers. The biggest came after Price scored for the second straight time from the block to put South Shore (5-1, 5-0 ‘AA’) ahead for good with 3:14 left. Cooley then buried a trey from the top of the key and Harris missed a pair of free throws to send the Vikings on their way.
“We couldn’t finish the deal,” Lady Blazers coach Ed Grezinsky said. “We had it. We couldn’t finish the deal.”
Budding freshman Brianna Fraser added nine points for South Shore, which held one-point leads after halftime and heading into the fourth. The Charlotte-bound Harris led all-scorers with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half for Bergtraum (2-3, 2-2 ‘AA’). Widley Couloute had eight points and Dionne Coe added seven first-half points. Freshman big Alexandria Smith played a pivotal role on the boards and on defense to aide in the comeback.
“It’s only Dec. 9, but it feels good, to get a big win this early in the season,” said South Shore coach Anwar Gladden, who called a key timeout after Harris buried her first trey of the fourth.
His team led 38-32 with 5:32 left in the game after Price scored off a feed from Cooley. They had a chance to add to it, but Ashanae McLaughlin collected a steal and a 3-point play and Harris buried her first of consecutive 3-pointers to tie the score at 38 with 4:01 remaining.
“I was practicing those shots this week,” Harris said. “I had to get my rhythm back.”
South Shore knows this win doesn’t bring two PSAL championships banners to Brooklyn, but it gives them confidence that this could be the year it finally happens. The players said they always believed they could beat Bergtraum in the past, but finally doing so gives them confidence in the early season and any possible future meetings.
“I don’t want to call it revenge because we didn’t get the championship yet,” Price said. “But it’s a good win.”