By Chris Stevens, Editor
Caravel junior guard India Johnston is known as a scorer, able to create a shot for herself in just about any scenario.
Late in Monday night’s DIAA girls’ basketball quarterfinal vs. Ursuline, she showed that she’s just as good at creating for her teammates. Johnston’s drive and dish to sophomore forward Laila Glover for the go-ahead basket with 3:20 left was the difference as the Bucs held off a determined Raider challenge 42-41. The win vaults Caravel to their fourth final four in the last five seasons.
“That play happened on the fly,” said Johnston, who as usual, led all scorers with 22 points. “I was driving to the basket, it felt like three our four players were around me. Shout out to Laila for making a great shot.”
“It’s great to get the winning points,” Glover said. “I was surprised when the ball came to me, but I was ready.”
Both teams came out good and ready Monday night as Johnston fired in 10 first quarter points for a 13-6 Buccaneer advantage after one. Ursuline (11-5) responded behind Emily Rzcuidlo’s 11 second quarter points to pull within two points (21-19) at intermission.
A seesaw third quarter ended with Rzucidlo (Ursuline’s leading scorer with 14 points) bouncing a pass to a cutting Hannah Kelley for a layup and a 33-32 Raider lead heading to the fourth.
Neither team led by more than a single point until late and with the score tied at 38, Johnston chewed up some clock, went to the basket and found Glover on her left. Glover calmly banked in a six-footer for a 40-38 lead. Johnston added a layup for a 42-38 advantage, but the Raiders’ Sophia Fillipowski knocked down a three to shave the Caravel lead to one in the final minute.
With 9.6 seconds to go, Johnston couldn’t convert the front end of a one and one, but Fillipowski found herself trapped in along the right baseline and Ursuline couldn’t get a shot off at the buzzer, leading to a wild celebration for Caravel (10-5).
“I think this speaks to the tough schedule we’ve played this year,” Bucs coach Kristin Caldwell explained. “We’ve been in a lot of tough situations, whether it’s OT with St. E or coming down to the wire with Sanford. We’ve seen this before.”
“We lost by 17 the last time we played Ursuline. Tonight was all about effort. My teammates and I really put in the effort tonight,” Johnston added.
