HARRISONBURG — A week after beating Brunswick by 20 in the regional championship, Buffalo Gap couldn't find the same magic Friday night in the Class 1 state semifinals when the two teams met again.
Buffalo Gap let a five-point third quarter lead slip away in falling to Brunswick 49-48. It was the second straight year Gap has lost by one point in the state semifinals.
"It was a great year," Buffalo Gap coach Phillip Morgan said. "We can't let this loss at the end define the season, define how we played. I'm super proud of them."
The game marked the end of the high school basketball careers for three seniors — Bailey Talley, Chloe Emurian and Avery Bradley.
"They're great girls, they're great workers," Morgan said of the three. "They've gotten involved, not just with practices and playing, but they come to little league to help, and the little camp during the summer. They've put a lot into this. I'm hurting for them right now because I know how much they put into it and how much it meant."
Gap had a chance at the end. With 6.5 seconds left, coming out of a timeout, the Bison trailed by one. They got the ball into Talley's hands on the left wing. She took three dribbles, got into the paint and put up a jumper just past the free throw line. It bounced off the back of the rim. Gap got the rebound but didn't have enough time to put up another shot.
Morgan said he thought Brunswick would come out on the shooter, so he wanted to get it to the middle and get a shot about 10 to 12 feet away. He didn't want to go all the way into the basket where he knew Brunswick's center, Alexandria Harrison, would cause problems.
"We got us a little shot," Morgan said. "It was kind of like last year. We had a little shot there at the end and just didn't get it to go."
Harrison did cause problems for Gap all night. The Region 1B player of the year scored 20 points Friday, a week after scoring 29 in the regional championship loss to the Bison. The difference Friday was that she got some help.
A week ago, the rest of her team only scored 11 points. In the state semifinals, Harrison's teammate Lakera Hill scored 19, including three 3-pointers. In the first meeting, Hill went scoreless.
Before the game, Brunswick coach Terry Stith said that someone besides Harrison would need to step up and knock down some shots from the outside. Hill responded.
"That was huge that she would step up to the challenge," Stith said. "She handled the ball, got into tough situations and used her speed and quickness to get out of it. It was huge for us."
Gap led 35-30 in the third quarter after a layup by Hannah Coffman, but got outscored 9-2 the rest of the quarter. In that stretch, Gap went 1-for-8 and turned the ball over four times.
The Bison reclaimed the lead, momentarily, early in the fourth on a 3 by Kayleigh Hemp, but Brunswick scored the next five points to take a 44-40 lead.
Another 3 by Hemp tied the game at 48, but Buffalo Gap failed to score in the final two minutes of the game, missing six free throws down the stretch. Harrison, who scored her team's final eight points, hit one of two free throws with 1:53 remaining for the final margin of victory.
Morgan said his team got too concerned about the perimeter game of Brunswick late and allowed the Bulldogs to get the ball to Harrison more than he would have liked. He also thought his team panicked late after Brunswick got the lead.
"Overall we didn't play bad," he said. "We just couldn't get the ball to go in the hole like we would have liked."
Gap's pressure defense, for the most part, worked. Hill was able to break the press more than she did in the first meeting, a bonus for Brunswick. The Bison forced 17 turnovers in the second half, but came away with just five points from those turnovers.
"We just didn't finish at the other end with some of those turnovers in transition," Morgan said.
Buffalo Gap finishes the season 24-4, winning 11 straight before Friday night's loss. They won the Region 1B championship and finished the Shenandoah District regular season unbeaten.
Emurian led Buffalo Gap in scoring Friday with 13 points. Hemp had 11, Bradley had nine, Talley eight and Coffman seven.
Brunswick (25-1) will now face Eastside for the state championship in Richmond Thursday.
"It means a lot," Stith said. "These ladies have been saying they wanted to play in the last game of the season all year. To be down early (to Buffalo Gap) and battle back, and play tough and hard, they really ground it out."
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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite . Subscribe to us at newsleader.com .
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Buffalo Gap falls by one in state semifinals, ending season short of goal for Bison
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