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Sophomore Bria Goss banked home a driving runner in the lane with 1.4 seconds left on the clock to give top-ranked Ben Davis a 71-69 victory over No. 2 South Bend Washington in the 4A state championship game. The game-winning shot turned away a furious fourth quarter rally by Washington that saw the Panthers overcome an 11 point deficit over the last 2:56 before Goss’ shot.

It was Ben Davis’ third state championship to go along with titles won in 2000 and 2001 allowing them to finish a perfect 30-0 and become the first girls team to win 30 games in a season.

The Giants finished their season ranked No. 1 nationally in USA Today. Washington, ranked fourth in that same poll, settled for the runner-up spot for the third time in four seasons. The Panthers were playing in the state title game for the fourth straight year.

Senior guard Skylar Diggins scored eight of her game-high 29 points in the last 1:40. Her layup with :45 seconds left tied the game at 69-69. She finished her career with 2,790 points good for third best in state history.

Ben Davis was led in scoring by senior Alex Bentley with 18 points. Goss finished with 15 points, and DeAirra Goss added 12 points, and eight rebounds.

Karis Phillips and Jasmine Watson both hit for 12 points for Washington. Watson led all with nine rebounds.

Ben Davis head coach Stan Benge, ranked seventh among active coaches in victories, picked up career victory 468. South Bend Washington was led by first year coach Maurice Scott who guided them to a 26-1 finish.

The second session of the state finals drew 13,449 for a state finals record since 1998. The four games also drew a state finals record 21,522 during that same time.

SKYLAR DIGGINS NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Skylar Diggins of South Bend Washington High School as the winner of the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award.

The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by her principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.

Academically, Diggins ranks sixth in her class of 300 students with a 3.91 GPA. She intends to study pre-medicine at the University of Notre Dame next fall where she also will play basketball. She’s also played four years of volleyball with the Panthers.

Diggins has served as an IHSAA Student Leader, a peer mentor and is a member of the National Honor Society. She’s also volunteered her time at the Martin Luther King Center as a youth mentor and worked as a volunteer coach with the River City Basketball League.

She is the daughter of Renee and Maurice Scott.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Washington High School in the name of Diggins.

The award is named in honor of the former IHSAA assistant commissioner Patricia L. Roy, who oversaw the girls basketball state tournament from its inception in 1976 until her retirement in 1999.

CLASS 4A POST-GAME QUOTES

Ben Davis Head Coach Stan Benge
“It’s hard to believe it’s over. What a run. What a great group of kids. Give South Bend Washington a lot of credit. I thought we had them … We just couldn’t keep them off the free throw line. But, boy, am I proud of my girls. You don’t have any idea how special this group is. They love each other. They wanted to be here last year in the worst way, so they doubled their work ethic in the summer so they could get here.”

(On Alex Bentley fouling out with 2:43 left) “Well, we played our bench all year and that really helped us. The other girls didn’t panic at all. The main thing we wanted to do was stay aggressive to the basket and not just try to hold the ball out there, because they were putting so much pressure on us.”

(On Bria Goss’ game-winning shot) “We just ran 1-4 low and Bria does a nice job. Bria and Alex are the ones who do it for us.” (Was it an amazing shot?) “Oh, yeah.  But she does that all the time. What body control she has. I’m so proud of all the kids, and what a great chance for Bria to be a star.”

South Bend Washington Head Coach Maurice Scott

“We played hard tonight. That was the kind of a game you wanted in a state championship. It came down to the last shot. There wasn’t enough time left for us to get off a good shot.”

(On Bria Goss’ game-winning shot) “That was a heckuva shot from the kid for Ben Davis. … She knocked it down – that’s why you play the game.”

(On his team’s play) “We struggled on offense a little bit early in the game. But I’m proud of our kids; they did a good job, working hard to get back into the game. We never gave up tonight. We fought to the end. Ben Davis is a tough team. We dug deep to get back into the game. We kept working and never gave up.”

(On Skylar Diggins, the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award winner) “She’s a heckuva player. I’m so proud of her. She has definitely left a legacy at South Bend Washington High School, and she left a legacy here in the state of Indiana and the state finals.”