EAST LANSING — One miracle finish was do-able. A second was asking a bit much.
After a thrilling, buzzer-beating shot advanced Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard into the MHSAA Division 2 girls’ basketball state championship, the Fighting Irish ultimately saw their quest for a title fall short last weekend in the final game played at Michigan State University.
Detroit Edison Public School Academy set back Fr. Gabriel Richard, 41-33, dealing the Irish their first loss of the season in Saturday’s championship final.
Ann Arbor fell behind by six points in the second quarter and expended lots of energy trying to catch up to Edison, a quick, tenacious and athletic squad that has now won five of the past seven tournaments.
The Fighting Irish (28-1) closed to within one point on two occasions. Charlotte Miller’s fast-break lay-up set the score at 24-23 with 4:50 to play in the third quarter, and again after Cora Williams’ three-point play made it 34-33 with 4:51 left in the fourth. However, Fr. Gabriel Richard didn’t score again for the duration of the contest and had two players foul out.
“We had that sense of urgency, but maybe it came just a little bit too late,” said Miller, the team’s high scorer with 12 points. “They’re a good team, and we did our best. I am confident that we pushed through so much adversity this season, and we just couldn’t get it done tonight.”
Cold shooting contributed to Fr. Gabriel Richard’s downfall. The Fighting Irish made only 12 of 38 shots — including just one of 12 three-point attempts. Edison (22-4) outshot Gabriel Richard 45% to 31%, and pulled away down the stretch with four free-throw makes and a late lay-up.
“We knew they were a great team, and we knew we were going to have to make shots to win, but obviously it didn’t go our way, and it’s unfortunate,” said Vanessa Rodriguez, who was limited to three points. "We have nothing to hang our heads about. The nerves were there, and we just had to grind it out, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”
Although coach Tim Cain expected a more up-tempo game, he wasn’t surprised that it was a battle, given Edison’s championship history. Edison controlled the scoreboard for nearly three-quarters of the game, and Cain said it was frustrating not to see his team get a big break after playing so close for so long.
“It would have been big, but I don’t know if it would have rattled them. They have really talented seniors,” he said. “Our girls have played a lot of basketball; they’ve been in moments like this where the shots just wouldn’t fall. Even if we took the lead, I don’t think it would have mattered that much. We had confidence at times. I always tell them, ‘keep shooting,’ and that’s what we’re all about. Today just wasn’t our day.”
The prior day — Friday’s semi-final — was Fr. Gabriel Richard’s day. The Fighting Irish pulled out a thrilling victory, 35-33, over Grand Rapids West Catholic after Miller drained a three-point shot at the final buzzer.
West Catholic actually led by four points, 33-29, with 11 seconds left, and it looked like Fr. Gabriel Richard’s fine season would be coming to an end. But Rodriguez was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all of the free throws to close the gap to 33-32. Fr. Gabriel Richard fouled a West Catholic player on the ensuing in-bound pass, and she missed both of her free throws.
That gave Fr. Gabriel Richard one last chance. Running a designed play called “Victory,” Veronica Fredericks passed the ball up-court to Miller, who was open opposite of her team’s bench. She swished the shot as the horn sounded, and was mobbed by her teammates at midcourt.
“I felt confident that I could make it. … I believe in myself, and I knew I would make it,” said Miller, whose prior heroics included a lay-up to win a game in her freshman year, and another three-pointer to send last year’s Operation Friendship game into overtime.
Those outcomes improved the confidence of Miller and her teammates.
“We’ve been in that position before, and we know not to panic,” said Rodriguez, who led the team with 13 points Friday. “We always have to stay calm and trust each other. We knew we could make a comeback, and luckily, Charlotte made that shot.”
As emotional as the semi-final win was, the championship game outcome set the players’ emotions at the opposite end of the scale. Fighting back tears, both Rodriguez and Miller vowed that the Fighting Irish would be contending for a state championship in 2025.
“I will remember sitting on that bench, watching that other team get that trophy and how much that hurt, and how much every one of my teammates cried,” Miller said. “I’ll remember that feeling, and I never want to go through this again. And I never will.”
“Obviously this run was huge for us, and we’ll have a grudge on our shoulder, and we’ll be back next year,” Rodriguez said. “I know that for sure.”
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