Heritage falls behind early, loses big to Vista Murrieta

 Reg'inae Hardin tries to hold off a defender while running up the court. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Heritage High girls basketball team lost its last regular non-league game Thursday night at Vista Murrieta, 72-51.

The Patriots, who are now 2-4 on the season, were led by sophomore Sierra Maxwell, who put up 21 points on the night with 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Junior Mariah Logan contributed 13 points of her own with 2 rebounds and 4 steals, and sophomore Reg’inae Hardin added 7 points and 5 rebounds.

From the start of the game, Heritage faced several height mismatches from the tall Broncos roster, which led to the Patriots being outscored 41-23, in spite of Vista Murrieta’s early foul trouble. In just the first six minutes of game time, the Patriots already trailed by double digits and head coach Deanna Meijer said it was a symptom of intimidation.

“We showed up intimidated, then we got in a hole that’s hard to come out of,” Meijer said. “We told them at the beginning that whoever was going to be more aggressive was going to win the game and Vista definitely came out more aggressive than we did.”

That aggression manifested in not only the final score of the game but the total of 28 fouls for Vista Murrieta, as they doubled their early foul count in the second half.

But Heritage also racked up more fouls and more aggression in the second half, achieving over half of their total 25 rebounds in the second half alone. Senior Skyla Lamb put up 7 of those in just her second-half performance. If the record showed only the second-half score, the Patriots would have been within three shots of the Broncos.

“I felt like we worked more as a team in the second half than we did individually,” Maxwell said. “We weren’t as scared as we were in the first half.”

Meijer had been hoping for just a little more of a halftime turnaround.

“I was trying to motivate them at halftime. I told them, ‘We’re better than this,’” said Meijer. “I wanted them to fight, but it just didn’t work out.”

Though she and her team were not on top at the end of the night, Maxwell said she hopes people know they’re not done yet. Meijer added to that sentiment, saying, “We’re tough; we’ll be alright.”

The Patriots will play a series of tournaments over the holidays before starting league play in the New Year with a home game against Temescal Canyon on Jan. 3. 

Sierra Maxwell goes up for two in the lane Thursday night. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

 Heritage High guard Mariah Logan shoots from the outside. (Photo by Rick Rowell)