At the start of the 2007-08 girls basketball season, there wasn’t much separating Buffalo Grove and Young.
They were considered the two best teams in Class 4A. And they still were entering the weekend. Both reached Friday’s state semifinals at Redbird Arena. But only one could emerge to play for the title.
That turned out to be Young, which held Buffalo Grove without a field goal in the final quarter to overcome the Bison 38-32. The Dolphins (28-3) will face Bolingbrook on Saturday night for the title.
Young trailed 27-20 with 5 minutes 19 seconds left in the third quarter, but D’Frantz Smart and Porsha Harris led the charge back. Smart’s basket with 6:28 left in the game gave Young its first lead, 30-29, since early in the first quarter.
“It feels great; I have no other words but great,” said Smart, who had a game-high 14 points.
Harris finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Kaitlin Hillner had nine points for Buffalo Grove (32-4).
Buffalo Grove used its three-point shooting to take a 20-15 lead at halftime.
The opening shot was from Heather Nisbet, whose three-pointer with 4:58 left in the first quarter broke a scoreless tie. Nisbet hit another and Hillner knocked one down seven seconds before the end of the period for a 13-10 lead.
Young went on a 6-0 run late in the third quarter to pull within 27-26, but Maggie Mocchi’s driving layup with 42 seconds left gave the Bison a 29-26 edge heading into the final period.
