Lady Giants advance to district final
MILLBURY – Rachel Gore picked a good time to hit the biggest shots of her life.
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.
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.
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, Ahlia Simms scored on a rebound put-back to grow the lead to five.
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.
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.
Jazmin 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.
For more details, visit the Ross Sports Report.