St. Frances senior forward Kandice Green finally ran out of people to hug.
After being mobbed by her teammates, friends and family, she had a moment alone on the floor at Villa Julie College, holding the Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference Tournament trophy her team had just won by upsetting top-ranked Seton Keough, 43-39 in overtime on Sunday night.
“They all just jumped me after the game,” Green, the team?s lone senior, said with a smile. “I think there was a lot of pressure but everyone made plays.”
The second-ranked Panthers claimed their sixth consecutive conference tournament title and seventh in the past eight years, but to Green, none topped the won she won in her final league game.
“They were all so great,” she said. “But I think this is number one.”
The Panthers (24-3, 17-1) knocked the Gators out of the tournament in the semifinals last year, 58-57. But Seton Keough (26-3, 17-1) dominated St. Frances, 62-40, in the team?s only meeting of the season on Jan. 7.
St. Frances led, 8-5, after the first quarter and didn?t allow a field goal until midway through the second, but the Gators took momentum late in the period and led, 15-13, at intermission. Seton Keough maintained its lead for much of the third quarter and extended its advantage to 33-27 with a little more than four minutes remaining. St. Frances, however, scored the next seven points and sophomore guard Shatyra Hawkes made one of two free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime at 37-37.
In the extra session, the Panthers never trailed and secured the victory with 7.8 seconds left when sophomore guard Tasia Bristow?s free throw capped the scoring.
Green and Hawkes each finished with 14 points, with Seton Keough standout junior center Asya Bussie had just nine points and eight rebounds.
“Kandice is our leader,” Hawkes said. “We wanted to win for her.”
