Feb 25, 2015 5 min read

CANONSBURG – Don’t call South Fayette’s girls basketball team a “Cinderella Story.”

The label was given to the 10th-seeded Lions after they reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals. Their dominance over the past month, which included winning nine of 10 games, surprised many, but South Fayette’s players and head coach envisioned this moment for quite some time.

It did not matter that one of only two seniors is battling a nagging injury or that the starting lineup includes a freshman. The Lions’ defense has suffocated opponents and left many people wondering just how far they could go in the WPIAL playoffs.

That question was answered by South Fayette’s only active senior Wednesday night.

Forward Lauren Crites scored the game-winning basket with 12 seconds remaining to lift the Lions to a 66-63 upset win over sixth-seeded Elizabeth Forward in a semifinal game at Canon-McMillan High School.

South Fayette (19-6) advanced to its first WPIAL championship game in program history, where it will face top-seeded Blackhawk Saturday at 3 p.m. The Warriors (19-6) qualified for the state playoffs, but were eliminated from the tournament.

“We’ve had this vision. I know a lot of people call us Cinderella or a sleeper, but it’s something we’ve seen in the works for a couple of years,” South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco said. “The kids have bought in and we told them that’s why you work in the gym all summer when no one is there; to get a chance to play for the first championship in school history.”

After seeing a nine-point lead slip away and trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, South Fayette surged back with an 11-2 run and took a 62-61 lead with 1:58 remaining.

Elizabeth Forward had a 63-62 advantage with 46 seconds left after senior guard Abigail Sporio stole an inbounds pass and set up senior forward Breaonna Brinson down low for an easy basket.

Both teams traded turnovers until Bacco took a timeout with 20 seconds remaining. He let his players decide between two plays that would determine their fate.

They chose correctly.

Sophomore guard Carlee Kilgus grabbed the inbounds pass, freshman Sam Kosmacki set a ball screen at the right wing and Crites sprinted behind. Kilgus hit Crites with a pass in stride and the senior laid it in. The ball bounced off the back of the rim once before heading dropping down for a 64-63 South Fayette lead with 12 seconds remaining.

“That was the most stressful play of my athletic career,” Crites said with a smile. “(Kosmacki) had a great screen and Carlee made the perfect pass so it was all about finishing. I saw the ball heading for the girl who was guarding me, so I did everything I could to grab it and drive for the basket.”

Warriors head coach Krystal Gibbs called a double ball screen to get Sporio, who scored 18 points, open. The 5-7 guard collected a pass, but she slipped under the rim while attempting to get it back out to the point.

Crites, who started every game last season but is the Lions’ first player off the bench as a senior, was there to steal the ball and was fouled before making two free throws to clinch the historic win for South Fayette.

“They are a very good team,” Gibbs said. “They kept driving to the basket and we couldn’t stop that.”

Junior Autumn Mozick scored a game-high 17 points for the Lions. Kilgus added 14, Crites had 11 and Kosmacki, who held Sporio to two first-quarter points, finished with 12.

“We put the ball in her hands and she made the game-winning shot,” Bacco said of Crites. “She is a kid who has been there and done that, going all the way back to when she was a freshman. She’s played in state playoff games. She’s a team player. For her attitude, she got what she deserved.”

The Lions traded baskets with the Warriors for the first three minutes until Kilgus and Kosmacki sparked a 17-2 run to grab a 23-12 at the end of the first quarter. Though South Fayette gained momentum, it was an injury that changed the game.

Junior center Emily Anderson, the centerpiece of the Lions’ offense, left early with an injury to her right knee and did not return.

Crites came off the bench and scored six first-half points which led South Fayette to a seven-point lead at the half.

Senior Olivia Barkley led the Warriors with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Sporio grabbed nine.

The Warriors grabbed the lead late in the third quarter, finishing with an 18-5 run, and held on until South Fayette’s adjustments began to work. The Lions shot less than 33 percent from the field in the second half, stuck to the plan.

The Lions trailed by five points at the end of the third quarter, but began to trap the Warriors, which resulted in nine fourth-quarter turnovers and allowed South Fayette to narrow the deficit.

In the end, seven different players scored for the Lions.

“To play for a championship in girls basketball is unchartered territory for South Fayette and I’m just so proud of our group of girls,” Bacco said.

Kilgus echoed that sentiment.

“This is unbelievable. It’s even better than I expected,” Kilgus said. “Words can’t really describe it.”