The Flyer Group Newspaper

 

By Todd Taylor

INDIANAPOLIS – With its 11-point fourth-quarter lead vanished and its leading scorer fouled out, the Ben Davis girls’ basketball team had one chance to win Saturday’s Class 4A state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in regulation.

Surrounded by a trio of South Bend Washington defenders, sophomore Bria Goss banked home an off-balance shot from about 12 feet out with 2.4 seconds remaining. The shot gave the Giants a 71-69 victory, a perfect season (30-0), and a state title.

“I just kind of threw it up with a prayer,” Goss said. “I looked at my bench because I didn’t see it go in. They were all yelling and screaming so I guessed I made it.”

After a timeout, South Bend guard Skylar Diggins heaved a shot from beyond midcourt for the win, but it fell short.

“I’m proud of them,” South Bend coach Maurice Scott said. “To bring it down to the wire and then have Ben Davis knock down an off-balance shot … are you serious? In the end, it didn’t happen. It wasn’t meant to be.”

The Giants appeared to have the game in hand after Alex Bentley made a layup with 2:56 left to play to push the Ben Davis lead to 65-54. But Bentley fouled out with 2:43 left and the Panthers rallied.

The Giants committed three turnovers and a missed a pair of free throws down the stretch and the Panthers took advantage.

Diggins made back-to-back layups for South Bend, the second of which tied things up with 45 seconds remaining, 69-69, before Goss’ game-winning shot.

“I felt terrible, I felt so bad,” said Bentley. “But you know what, I had faith in my teammates and I knew they were going to pull it out. I’m so proud of them.”

Bentley scored a team-high 18 points before fouling out, Goss added 15 points and six rebounds, and Goss’ sister – DeAirra – had 12 points and eight rebounds.

“It’s hard to believe it’s over,” Ben Davis coach Stan Benge said. “What a run, what a group of kids. I thought we had ‘em, we were up 11. Boy am I proud of my girls.”

Diggins nearly willed South Bend to victory, scoring a game-high 29 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

“She was phenomenal,” Scott said. “She showed why she’s the best high school basketball player in the state. She left no questions that she is Miss Basketball.”

South Bend never trailed in the first quarter and led 16-15 heading into the second. Behind eight points from Bentley, the Giants took control in the second quarter and led 35-25 at the half.

The Giants maintained their lead throughout the third quarter and pushed it to a 12-point margin, 52-40, with 51 seconds left in the period.

A layup by Diggins with 4:08 left in the game cut the Panthers deficit to seven, 61-54, but the Giants quickly extended their advantage to 11 before South Bend’s rally.

After Diggins tied things up with 45 seconds left, Benge decided not to burn his final timeout and let his team try for the go-ahead shot. Bria Goss did the rest.

“She does that all the time … what great body control she has,” Benge said. “What a great chance for Bria to be a star.”

Eight Giants scored in the game. Emily Huber and Dee Dee Williams both chipped in eight points for Ben Davis.

Karis Phillips and Jasmine Watson each had 12 points for the Panthers, who fell to 26-1.

It was South Bend’s fourth trip to the state title in as many years. They won the championship in 2007.

The state championship was the third for the Giants – they also won in 2000 and 2001.

Ben Davis will graduate four seniors – Huber, DeAirra Goss, Chanel Simmons, and Bentley.

“This is a very special group and I’m going crazy having to leave them,” Bentley said.

Several national polls had Ben Davis ranked No. 1 heading into Saturday’s game and Benge saw no reason for that to change.

“They’ve gotta be … they’ve gotta be,” he said. “How could they not?”