Boo Abshire did all she could.
The senior point guard for Maryland's
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) didn't let sophomore
Lindsay Allen of
St. John's (Washington, D.C.) penetrate, and she didn't give her much room to get off a jump shot.
But Allen, one of the premier recruits from the Maryland/D.C. area, managed to create just enough space for a buzzer-beating elbow jumper that gave No. 7 St. John's a heart-stopping 71-70 win over now No. 25 Good Counsel on Jan. 14. That gave Allen 29 points for the night, and also capped a stirring comeback for the Cadets, who trailed 62-52 with six minutes left on the Falcons' home court.
It's not often that two Xcellent 25 teams are in the same league, but when they are, any meeting becomes a big-time event – and this was no exception. The gym in Olney, Md., was packed, and the standing-room only crowd saw something special from the opening tip.
Good Counsel took advantage of the home court by draining four 3-pointers in the first quarter, and led 23-14 after the first eight minutes. Eventually that margin stretched to 37-22 with 2:30 left in the first half, but St. John's guards Allen and
Mooriah Rowser combined for 25 points before intermission, though the Cadets trailed by nine, 39-30, at the break.
The Falcons maintained their lead throughout the third period – and in fact trailed for only 43 seconds in the entire game – and extended it to 10 early in the fourth quarter.
But then, as so often seems to happen, a lucky break turned the tide.
Kazzidy Stewart launched a 3-pointer for St. John's and banked it in, which sparked a 15-5 Cadet run that tied the game at 67 with 2:42 left on an Allen 3-pointer.
St. John's eventually went ahead 69-68 with 1:39 left on a
Tori Oliver bank shot in the lane. Good Counsel sophomore
Amanda Fioravanti, who finished with 15 points, countered by drawing a foul and earned two free throws with 56 seconds remaining.
This was not necessarily good news for the Falcons, who at that point were 10 of 21 from the free-throw line, and Fiorvanti was just 1 of 4. But the sophomore made both, and now the pressure shifted to St. John's.
The Cadets missed a 3-pointer, and Good Counsel worked the 30-second clock (in effect in this game) before missing with 12 seconds to go. St. John's coach Jonathan Scribner didn't call a timeout, which didn't allow Good Counsel to set up anything special on defense, and he put the game in Allen's hands. With the other four Cadets along the baseline, Allen worked one-on-one against Abshire. She came down slightly to the left side of the top of the key, crossed over and pulled up at the right elbow with the 5-foot-10 Abshire closing out quickly.
But despite Abshire's solid defense, Allen's offense was better, and the jumper settled into the net to give St. John's the win in one of the most thrilling girls games in the area in recent memory.
If you missed it, though, not to worry: The teams will play again, this time at St. John's, at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 15. One bit of advice, however: Get there early – there probably won't be any room in the stands at 7.
