APArnold, center, gets a lift from teammate Bria Goss after Ben Davis defeated South Bend Washington 71-69.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Not even Super Woman could pull South Bend Washington (South Bend, Ind.) to a win in Indiana's 4A championship.
But it didn't stop Skylar Diggins from trying.
The Notre Dame-bound senior played all 32 minutes and scored 29 points, including the top-ranked Panthers' final eight, but Ben Davis sophomore Bria Goss' hit a miracle shot and No. 2 Ben Davis won the game, the 4A title and a likely national championship.
The 71-69 Ben Davis (Indianapolis) win was the crown jewel in a day of incredibly close, competitive and impressive miracle victories Saturday for Indiana state titles in front of a record crowd of 21,522 for the day at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In the 3A championship, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Elmhurst edged Owen Valley, 62-59, behind 23 points and 12 rebounds form senior Lecretia Smith. In 1A, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Canterbury came back from nine points down in the fourth quarter for a 72-66 overtime win against Vincennes Rivet.
And earlier in the day, Heritage Christian became the first school to win four consecutive Indiana 2A titles with a 60-58 overtime win against Oak Hill. Senior Claire Freeman, who finished with 11 points, hit a crazy bank layup with three seconds to go to win the game.
Freeman's shot was a preview of what was the come at the end of the night, as South Bend Washington (26-1) came back from a 12-point deficit to tie the game with 45 seconds remaining. But with three seconds left on the clock, Goss hit nearly the same shot as Freeman, falling down under the basket as she released the improbable winning bucket that banked high and into the net.
After Diggins' hit the Panthers' last bucket, the final of her impressive high school career, to tie the game, Ben Davis (30-0) worked the ball back down the court and worked about 35 seconds off before running a play.
"We weren't going to lose it in regulation," Ben Davis coach Stan Benge said after the game. "It wasn't designed for any one player. ... Bria can manufacture shots."
The win was the cake for Benge, who has guided the Giants, which became the first team in Indiana history to win 30 games in a season, to a 468-125 record and three state championships in 24 years. The icing, he learned Friday, was being named the Naismith National Coach of the Year.
Goss, who averaged 11.3 points per game this season, was one of the many talented players on Benge's squad this season, including Penn State-bound guard Alex Bentley, Western Michigan signee and Bria Goss' older sister DeAirra Goss and junior Dee Dee Williams, who has verballed to Purdue.
Bentley, who fouled out of the game with 2:43 remaining, led the Giants with 18 points, while the DeAirra Goss added 12.
Seniors Karis Phillips and Jasmine Watson each scored 12 for South Bend Washington, which shot just 3-of-12 from behind the arc, including 1-of-7 from Diggins.
"Skylar's shots just weren't falling, but she kept going to the basket," Panthers coach and Diggins' stepfather Maurice Scott said. "Legitmately, they had five Division I players. What have we got, two? She showed why she's the best player in the state and, in my mind, the best player in the country."
Both teams arrived to fanfare and huge crowds, as students, parents, staff and alumni came out in support of the teams, who got plenty of coverage in the local press leading up to the game. The Panthers, ranked No. 1 in the ESPN Rise Fab 50, and the second-ranked Giants had managed the nearly impossible -- setting up the Indiana 4A title as a national championship battle.
But the deeper Giants with their incredible pressure defense and handful of talented players overwhelmed South Bend Washington in the second quarter, going on a 16-5 run that put them up by 10. They held the lead until Diggins' run in the final minutes of the game.
"It's unexplainable," Bentley said of the win. "It was amazing. It was an amazing game, and amazing atmosphere and we got the win, too. ... I knew they were going to pull it out and they did; I'm proud of them. ... This is a special group."
