The future begins today.
Yandell Harris believes the Heritage Academy girls basketball team can challenge for the top spot in the North Half. For the Lady Patriots to accomplish that goal, Harris said his players will have to learn from a 40-23 loss to Hillcrest Christian on Tuesday in the first round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II tournament in Columbus.
“This group has been fun to coach,” Harris said. “They work extremely hard. They’re just young. If they just go through it and get better with their individual skills, they’re going to be pretty good.”
The loss ended a season for Heritage Academy that saw it lose its head coach (Yolanda Harris) and its best player (Rachel Hollivay). In December 2011, Harris, a former professional basketball player and a standout at the University of Mississippi, resigned her position to complete course work necessary for her to obtain a Ph.D., according to a statement released by the school.
Moore’s resignation came days after an incident at the school during its game against Madison-Ridgeland Academy. After the game, the school announced Hollivay, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Rutgers University, was no longer a member of the team.
Harris, who coaches the boys basketball team at Heritage Academy, took over in the middle of December and guided the Lady Patriots to a No. 2 seed in the North. With only three seniors — Jessie Householder, Chandler Jones, and Lauren Brown — Harris likes the pieces that figure to return next season and a group of ninth-graders that will add more depth.
Unfortunately, a slow start Tuesday doomed the Lady Patriots. Heritage Academy committed 13 of its 18 turnovers in the first half, and went 1 of 14 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 20-3 after eight minutes. Mary Douglas Kirby hit a jump shot off a pass from Householder to cut the deficit to 30-20 with 4 minutes, 16 seconds left in the third quarter. But Hillcrest Christian scored the final six points of the quarter and was never challenged down the stretch as Heritage Academy hit just one field going in the final 12-plus minutes.
“We came out in our press and got a lot of steals early, but we committed a lot of unforced errors early,” Harris said. “They made an 11-0 run early and it was just an uphill climb from there.”
Harris credited the work of Miller Griffin, who has worked with his players to improve their offensive skills. He said the returning players need to dedicate themselves to playing together and honing their skills. If they do that, he feels they can realize the potential he believes they have.
“We’re going to be better down the road,” Harris said. “If they will work in the summer and improve themselves, they’re going to be pretty tough.”
Harris said he told the team it need to make that investment because it needs to take the next step. He said the players have the mind-set and the desire to get better and to make it happen.
“This team could win a North Half and come into this tournament as a No. 1 seed in the very near future,” Harris said. “There are some big girls who are coming up that will give us some help.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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