Steph Perez, McDaniel (photo by Dave Munch/Carroll County
Times)
WESTMINSTER, Md. – With 43.3 seconds remaining, McDaniel found itself trailing by two and inbounded the ball in the front court. With 25.9 seconds to play, Steph Perez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) finished an off-balance shot putback on the right side of the basket to even the first Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball semifinal at 48-all.
The senior was fouled in the process of making the shot and stepped to line. She calmly sank the free throw to put the top seed up by one – the squad's first lead since 6-4 with 14:36 to play in the opening stanza.
Haverford had two attempts in the final 10 seconds to win the game but both shots were off the mark and the Green Terror (24-2) advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 49-48 victory.
It will be a 1 vs. 2 matchup on Saturday after Muhlenberg topped Johns Hopkins 56-46 in the night's second semifinal.
No McDaniel player reached double figures. Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) led the way with nine points while Perez and Emma Wingerd (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) added eight each. Alyssa March (Fallston, Md./Fallston) and Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) chipped in seven points apiece. March also added 10 rebounds while Wingerd had eight.
Elizabeth Lynch paced the Fords (16-11) with 13 points. Sierra Berkel added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds – part of a 45-31 advantage on the glass.
Two March free throws with 16:33 to play in the opening half were the first two points of the game before Lynch hit a putback jumper with 15;55 showing to tie the game and account for the first field goal of the contest.
Wingerd and Samantha Wetzel traded baskets before Jacquelyne answered a Wingerd layup to tied the game at 6-all with 14:08 showing.
Baskets from Olivia Walsh and Berkel capped a 6-0 burst to put the visitors on top 10-6 with 11:56 showing.
Berkel stretched the lead as large as 17-11 with 4:41 showing before Lauren Ballenger (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) and Jasmine Smith (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) canned back-to-back triples to even the game with 3:27 remaining.
The Fords tallied seven of the game's next nine points to open up a 24-19 edge before Wingerd made it a 24-21 game at the break.
Shannon Smith capped a 6-0 stretch early in the second half to help Haverford build a 34-25 lead with 14:07 on the clock.
McDaniel rallied to pull within one on three separate occasion before a March free throw and second-chance basket evened the game at 46-all with 1:24 to play.
A Berkel putback with 47.8 seconds on the clock put the No. 4 seed back in front before Perez's late-game heroics.
Wingerd added four assists and two steals.
The Green Terror will try for its fifth CC title at 4 p.m. on Saturday.