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MILLBURY – Rachel Gore picked a good time to hit the biggest shots of her life.

Rachel Gore (center) celebrates with her teammates following the Lady Giant’s win over Whitmer in the district semifinals.

The junior forward/guard hit a long jumper with 7.5 seconds in regulation to send Fremont Ross into overtime of its district semifinal against rival Whitmer.

Moments later, she hit a 3-pointer to give her team the lead to begin overtime.

Gore’s buckets capped a remarkable comeback by the Lady Giants, who overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, to rally for a thrilling 54-51 victory.

“That was an amazing feeling, doing it for my team and everyone feeling the excitement,” Gore said.

“Beating Whitmer was our goal and we practiced so hard all week for it. It was the best feeling ever, hitting those shots.”

Rachel Gore

Making the victory sweeter was knowing it came at the expense of TRAC rival Whitmer, a team, that defeated Ross twice in the regular season and whom the Lady Giant had not defeated in five years.

“Our girls kept on playing and battling,” coach Juan Vela said. “We tried different stuff, moved Jazmin down to the post. Olivia and Brooklyn did a hell of a job with the ball. Rachel hit some great, big shots. Ahlia had those offensive rebound-putbacks. Jazmin was hitting free throws tonight.

“Everything that had to go right at the end, did for us. That’s one thing that we’ve been trying to stress all year, stick with it, stick with until that clock says zero.”

The rally began with six minutes to play in regulation. As Ross trailed 39-28, Brooke Baptista scored from the baseline. A minute later Jazmin Bulger, who nearly single-handedly kept Ross in the game in the first half, connected from 3-point range to trim the deficit to five.

With 3:30 to go, Bulger found Ahlia Simms in the post to make it a three-point game. Soon after Olivia Baptista set up Gore for a layup to get within one with two minutes to play.

Whitmer, however, answered, retaking a three-point lead and forcing Ross to continue to play catch-up. With 41.1 seconds to go in the fourth, Simms scored on a rebound put-back to tie the game only to see Whitmer re-take the lead thanks to a pair of free throw with 18.2 seconds remaining.

The Ross girls basketball team huddles following its upset win over Whitmer in the district semifinal.

With the game on the line, Brooke Baptista found Gore wide open in the far corner. With her toe just over the 3-point line, Gore nailed the shot to tie the game and send it into overtime.

“Clutch. So clutch,” Bulger said. “For Rachel to go in there and hit those, instead of our 3-point shooters, like Liv and Brooklyn, for her to go in there and hit those, I’m so proud of her.”

Early in the overtime period, Baptista and Gore pulled off a carbon-copy of the end of the fourth. Baptista found Gore alone in the corner and, this time with her foot behind the line, Gore hit nothing but net to give the Lady Giants their first lead since the early moments of the game. A minute later Simms scored on a rebound put-back to grow the lead to five.

Now, instead of trying to overcome a deficit, Ross found itself trying to hold onto a lead and found how difficult it can be. The Lady Giants suffered three consecutive turnovers, allowing Whitmer back into the game.

The Ross girls basketball celebrates its district semifinal win over Whitmer.

“I just tried to stay calm,” Brooke Baptista said. “If you’re not calm then you get nervy and if you get too nervous you force mistakes. I had to stay calm.”

With a minute to play in the overtime, Whitmer’s Rhegyn Blood hit a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 51-50 lead.

Olivia Baptista, however, after drawing a Whitmer foul, hit a pair of foul shots to re-take the lead.

“The very first one, I was nervous. But after that, I was like, ‘I got this,’” Olivia Baptista said. “I knew everyone was behind me. It felt good.”

With 16 seconds to play, needing to make a play, Whitmer stepped out of bounds, turning the ball over. Olivia Baptista was soon fouled once again, and just as before, she sank both free throws giving Ross a three-point lead with 4.8 remaining on the clock. The Panthers’ last-ditch attempt from half-court wasn’t close and the Lady Giants completed their improbable comeback.

Bulger scored a game-high 26 points while Simms added 11 and Gore finished with nine. Ross (15-8 overall) will play Perrysburg at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lake High School.

“I think we had the fight and more heart,” Gore said. “We wanted it more than them. It just comes down to who wants it more and who fights more and we fought more and we won.”

 

 

Fremont Ross 54, Whitmer 51 (OT)

W| 12—10—12—11—6  51

FR| 5—12—6—22— 9  54

WHITMER (51)

Bonds 0 2-2 2; Thomas 4 5-10 13; Blood 3 1-1 8; Brown 1 5-7 7; Hickey 4 8-8 18; Henkle1 1-2 3. Totals, 13 22-30 51.

ROSS (54)

Bulger 9 6-11 26; O. Baptista 1 4-4 6; Gore 4 0-0 9; Simms 5 1-2 11; B. Baptista 1 0-0 2. Totals, 20 11-17 54.

3-pointers: FR, 3 (Bulger 2; Gore 1). W, 3 (Hickey 2; Blood 1).

 
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