Avery Fantucci of
Marist (Atlanta, Ga.) is a Division I softball prospect who as a junior committed to the University of Michigan. On Wednesday she etched her name in Georgia high school sports history on the basketball court.
The 5-foot-8 point guard made two buzzer beaters to give Marist an improbable 58-56 win in Georgia's AAAA state title game against top seed Luella (27-4).
With the score tied at 56-56 inside 10 seconds, Marist (28-3) stole the ball and relayed it to Fantucci ahead of the pack for a layup off the backboard, just beating the final horn and setting off a wild celebration.
But frankly, it was her first buzzer-beater that was far more remarkable (see it in the video).
Luella scored on a layup to go ahead 46-43 with five seconds left in regulation. With no timeouts, Marist inbounded the ball to Fantucci, who took two dribbles and let go a two-hand set shot from just beyond mid-court.
Swish.
Both sides were in disbelief as Fantucci's teammates mobbed her for the first time. About 20 minutes later they would tackle her to celebrate the championship. The fifth-seeded War Eagles had pulled off the upset.
Fantucci had one point at halftime, but finished with 19 to go along with seven rebounds and four steals.
"It felt awesome," Fantucci told Fox 5 Sports after the game. "The best part about it was doing it with my teammates. We have six seniors on the team and everything we worked together for four years finally came together and it was an awesome feeling."
The fact all six seniors don't plan to play basketball in college gave Fantucci extra incentive to come through in the clutch.
"This was our last game," she said. "We laid it all out there on the court."
Fantucci floored a lot of people on Wednesday.
Avery Fantucci, Marist
File photo by Ben Ennis
