Heroic finish at state caps Giants' perfect season

INDIANAPOLIS - Truth be told, Bria Goss never saw the game-winning shot she buried Saturday night to lift top-ranked Ben Davis past No. 2 South Bend Washington 71-69. But, that's not to say she didn't hear it. "I just kind of threw it up there, said a little prayer, fell down, got up, looked at my bench and they were all yelling, so I knew I made it," the sophomore said with a blissful smile after her Giants captured the IHSAA Class 4A state title in front of a record crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I was just trying to break my fall and not hurt myself." With eyes wide shut, the state title on the line and her body plummeting rapidly toward the floor as she lost her balance, Goss' heroic heave from 15-feet out gave new meaning to sight unseen. More importantly, though, Goss' decisive bucket with 1.4 seconds left on the clock cemented the Giants' place in history - and possibly a national title to go with the program's third state championship in 10 years. Ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today, the Ben Davis Giants also held the top spot in ESPN RISE's national poll with South Bend Washington pegged at second. On a state level, the "shot heard round the Luke" gave Ben Davis a perfect ending to a flawless 30-0 season and the team's second undefeated season in school history and first since 2000. The Giants' 30-win season marked the first by any team in Indiana girls basketball history. "To go 30-0 with the type of competition we played is unbelievable," Giants coach Stan Benge said after his program claimed its first state title in eight years. "I can't say enough about this team and those girls. They wanted it. At the beginning of the year, we said, 'you need to leave your legacy.' They definitely did." Early in the game, victory seemed inevitable for the Giants, whose largest lead reached 12 points after a 10-1 run midway through the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, however, the Notre Dame recruit and McDonald's All-American guard Skylar Diggins went on the offensive. Diggins scored 12 points in the game's final two minutes, including a game-tying layup as South Bend Washington rallied back with a 14-4 run and both Ben Davis' senior starters Alex Bentley and DeAirra Goss fouled out. "It was a game of runs. We had the last final burst, but (Goss) hit that shot at the end. What can you say about that? That's one-in-a-milion," said Diggins, who finished with a game-high 29 points. "Not a lot of people have the skill to hit that type of shot ... I think she closed her eyes on that shot." Of course, floor placement might have played a factor as well. Earlier in the day during the Class 2A title game, Claire Freeman hit a game-winning runner from nearly the same spot on the court to help Heritage Christian defeat Oak Hill in overtime 60-58. "We just told her to go to the same spot and throw it up, it happens to go in from there," Benge laughed. Bentley, who finished with a team-high 18 points, had another theory. "That's just Bria Goss," the Penn State recruit said with a grin. "That's Bria Goss for you. No other way to explain it." As far as finales go, Saturday's conclusion was beyond words for a group of 10 players linked together by the game of basketball, spanning back to their grade-school days. "We've been together for eight years. That was a great way to end our time together," said Bria Goss referring to the approaching graduations of Bentley, Chanel Simmons, Emily Huber and sister DeAirra. "I knew I had to step up and play a bigger role with Bentley and my sister fouled out. I knew I had to hit that last shot for all the seniors, especially my sister. I did it for her."