In the past four years, American Heritage has grown into a dynastic girls basketball program.
Taliyah Wyche was there for all of it.
When she was a freshman, the Patriots won the program’s first title. As a senior, she won her fourth straight championship.
Wyche finished her dominant career with a fourth ring, and for the second straight year, she is the Sun Sentinel’s Broward County Class 5A-1A player of the year.
When Wyche arrived on the Patriots’ Plantation campus, she and her twin sister, Tatyana (who was co-player of the year as a junior) did not have to handle the bulk of the team’s offense nor take over as team leaders.
“It started slowly because when she came in, we had Femi [Funeus] and [Tyaliah Willis] that were here, and they came in as freshmen and they played behind them,” Farias said. “But they learned a lot from them, and they learned what it would take.”
Farias watched as Wyche developed her game, growing from a tall, athletic forward into a complete player.
“First, she came in, she’s always been very athletic, she could run the court with the best of them,” Farias said. “And then it went from that to rebounding to working on her moves in the summer with her back to the basket. And this year more than ever, her jumper is what she’s been working on. … She’s been amazing with her jump show now. She’s hit at least 10 threes this year, so she’s developed an inside-outside game and she continues to develop and grow.”
The growth paid off. Wyche averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds as a junior. She followed that with a 15-point, 11-rebound-per-game season as a senior on a team that featured not just her twin sister but fellow All-County picks Daniella Aronsky, Joey Delancy and Sydney Shaw.
Wyche ended her high school season with another championship, and her next step is in North Florida as she and her sister move on to play for the Florida Gators next season.
“Her future’s going to be very bright,” Farias said.
