LAKELAND — Brandon Stewart paused his answer.

His Mainland Buccaneers had just lost the 5A state finals to American Heritage 60-55 in overtime Friday. As he sat between seniors Tia Dobson and Anovia Sheals during the postgame press conference, the coach halted his response to a question to give his players an instruction.

“Chin up.”

In a rematch of the 2023 championship, No. 1 American Heritage killed No. 2 Mainland’s repeat dreams. The Patriots avenged their one-point loss from a year ago for their sixth Florida High School Athletic Association title in seven years.

For the Bucs, Stewart called Friday the end of an era. Three straight district championships. Two region crowns. Back-to-back state finals appearances. Dobson and Sheals led the way, having plenty to hold their heads high about.

“We may have come up short (today), but we created a legacy at Mainland,” Dobson said.

HOW MAINLAND GOT HERE: Mainland dominates River Ridge in FHSAA semifinal, books return to title game

The Bucs controlled the early parts of the contest at the RP Funding Center. They possessed a 13-8 lead after one quarter and a 22-21 advantage at halftime.

Overall, they spent 19:46 with the lead, compared to 12:53 for American Heritage.

The Patriots jumped ahead for the first time on a bucket by sophomore Jasleen Green a minute into the second half. That foreshadowed things to come.

Green paced all scorers with 27 points and did her best work in the second half and beyond. She tallied 11 points in the fourth quarter and four in overtime.

The third quarter featured four of the game’s seven lead changes, but Mainland remained in front 35-33 entering the fourth.

The pace picked up. During the first three minutes of the period, the teams combined for 18 points. American Heritage charged to a 47-43 lead at the quarter’s midway point.

Green accounted for the Patriots’ final nine points in regulation.

Sheals did the same for the Bucs, collecting 8 of their final 10. She knotted the game at 47 with a layup through contact at the 2:22 mark but missed the ensuing free throw.

Green responded with a bucket with 2:07 left.

Following timeouts by both squads, the Bucs tied it again on an and-one layup by junior Jade Parks but, again, the charity shot rimmed out.

Neither team scored in the final 1:23 of regulation, sending it to overtime at 49-49.

“Since it was nip-and-tuck throughout the game, I don’t think either team changed much, in my opinion,” Stewart said. “I think, at that point, the players on the court were going to make plays. That’s what was happening.”

Mainland struck first on a steal-and-score by sophomore Ronneisha Thomas 24 seconds into the four-minute period.

Then, the Patriots embarked on the run that won them a title.

Sophomore Taniyah Davis nailed a 3-pointer right after Thomas’ bucket. A minute later, with a defender in her face, she sank another. Green capped the 8-0 run with a layup that put American Heritage up 57-51 with 1:43 left.

A Sheals layup kept Mainland alive with 90 seconds left.

Green erased that progress, though, draining two free throws to push the margin to 59-53. After two free throws by Sheals with 28 seconds left, freshman Yinuo Wang tacked on an extra point of her own to solidify the 60-55 final score.

“For me, I would say we were thinking too fast, trying to hurry up and get a bucket so we wouldn’t be down so much,” Sheals said. “We weren’t focused on playing like a team like we were from the beginning and the other three quarters. I wouldn’t say it was jitters. It was really just trying to make another play after they made a play before.”

The numbers were roughly the same.

The Bucs shot 39.6% from the field. American Heritage sat at 39.3%. Each team turned the ball over 14 times. Each squad hoisted 17 threes — Mainland converted five, and the Patriots made seven.

In addition to the seven lead changes, there were six ties.

Sheals poured in a team-best 18 points and nine rebounds for Mainland. Junior Olivia Olson joined her in double figures with 11 points. Dobson had nine points and a game-high three steals.

The Bucs finished their season with a 18-13 record.

“It’s a blessing to even be able to feel this,” Stewart said. “Obviously, it doesn’t feel good, but everybody doesn’t know what this feels like, and I think it creates them to be better people, creates them to be better players in the future.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mainland High School girls basketball: Bucs lose 5A finals in overtime