Wyche named Florida Dairy Farmers Class 5A Player of the Year

Three local girls basketball state champions earned state-wide awards on Tuesday.

American Heritage senior standout Taliyah Wyche was named the Florida Dairy Farmers’ Class 5A Player of the Year, and her coach, Greg Farias, was named the Class 5A Coach of the Year. Additionally, St. Thomas Aquinas coach Oliver Berens was named the Class 6A Coach of the Year.

Wyche is a finalist for Florida Dairy Farmers’ Miss Basketball. Berens and Farias are finalists for the all-classification Coach of the Year.

Wyche, who was the Sun Sentinel’s Broward County Class 5A-1A co-player of the year as a junior, had a strong senior season. She averaged 15 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 2.3 assists per game as she helped lead the Patriots to the program’s fourth consecutive state title. She is signed to play at Florida.

Farias led the Patriots to a 25-2 record in his sixth year as Heritage’s coach, winning the team’s fourth straight state championship. Farias, who was the Sun Sentinel’s Broward County small schools coach of the year after the 2020 season, has a 182-43 career record, including a 144-31 record with the Patriots. He was the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 5A Coach of the Year last year.

Berens got the Raiders over the hump this season, winning the program’s first state championship. St. Thomas went 17-4 and earned its second trip to the state Final Four in three years. St. Thomas beat Wekiva 62-60 in the state title game. Berens is 75-28 in four seasons at St. Thomas.

Several other local players and coaches also earned votes for state awards. Palm Beach Lakes senior Zaida Gonzalez and coach Cassandra Rahming each finished third in Class 7A. St. Thomas Aquinas senior Samara Spencer finished second in the balloting in Class 6A. American Heritage-Delray sophomore Alancia Ramsey was second in the voting in Class 4A.