By Joe Shuron
In a rematch from last year’s CAAC tournament semi-final round the Griffins late surge lead them to a 51–49 victory over Dominican and put them in the quarter-final round.
Entering the fourth quarter down 40–34, the Griffins needed a play. After a defensive stop senior Kaitlyn Carter hit a post move that put Chestnut Hill down 40–36 with 9:28 remaining.
A dry spell from both teams ended with huge three from CAAC rookie of the year freshman Bridie McCann hit a three cutting Dominicans lead to 44–41.
A quick missed three from Dominican lead to a broken play up top and a couple players on the ball added with a swing pass turned into an easy layup that brought Chestnut Hill to within one.
A huge defensive stopped followed a momentum swinging three from Kaitlyn Carter gave the Griffins their first lead since the second quarter with 5:02 left.
Carter who finished with a double-double said “My attitude was this could be my last game. I went out there with the mentality to play different than I had been all season.”
The Griffins last bucket was a game sealing three from McCann that increased their lead to six with 4:12 remanining. Dominican held on until the final seconds cutting Chestnut Hill’s lead to two.
A series of inbounds plays and timeouts filled the last 23 seconds with angst, Dominican turned their clean play into an advantage leading them to have the chance to foul Chestnut Hill without sending them to the line. This payed off as Chestnut Hill committed an offensive foul on an inbounds play with nine seconds left in the game.
Down two and with a chance to win, Dominican missed an open three to win the game in the waning seconds.
A first half riddled with turnovers and open shots just missing the mark allowed for Dominican to take an early 13–6 lead with 2:28 left in the first quarter. The Griffins went ona late run to finish quarter down 16–11.
Following the break, the teams traded points until a big three from freshman guard Caraline Herb gave Chestnut Hill their first lead of the day up 21–19 with 7:13 remaining.
Dominican controlled the rest of the quarter and entered halftime up 31–27. Coach Daniels told the trailing Griffins at halftime to “To be in the moment. Play your game.”
The Griffins comeback takes them to Caldwell, New Jersey on Saturday to take on the winner of Goldey-Beacom VS Post in a CAAC quarter-final showdown.
