The Eagles, who likely will finish the season atop the MaxPreps Top 25 high school girls basketball rankings, outscored the Crusaders 40-20 in the second half and 19-6 in the final period. South Carolina commit
Sahnya Jah led the way with 15 of her game-high 20 in the second half and Illinois commit
Cori Allen added 13 of her 15 over the final 16 minutes.
After burning the nets with 5 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc in the opening period, Long Island Lutheran was 0 for 11 over the final three periods from range.
The New York Class AA state champs, however, continued their torrid pace in the second period, building a 30-16 lead at one point before carrying a 34-20 edge into intermission.
But Montverde kept grinding. The Eagles opened up the third with a pair of 3-pointers from Allen and eight points from Jah as they trimmed Long Island Lutheran's lead to 48-41 heading into the final frame.
Montverde Academy, which beat Long Island Lutheran 67-60 on Jan. 20, got within four to open the fourth on
Rusne Augustinaite's third trey of the game before Jah muscled in the paint to cut the lead to 48-46 with more than seven minutes to play. They pulled even at the 5:10 mark on a Jah bucket in the paint and took the outright lead on Allen's jumped a few possessions later.
Heckel, who finished with 15, knotted it up after cleaning up her own miss, but Allen's 3-pointer from the left wing gave Montverde a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
After a pair of Heckel free throws, Long Island Lutheran had the ball with less than a minute to play, but couldn't convert on four shots on one possession as Montverde finally corralled a rebound and Jah capped the title with an and-one for the final margin.
Freshman Savannah Swords was the only Long Island Lutheran player besides Heckel in double figures with 12.
