Lady Cavs Buzzer Beater

Soph. Burk caps the comeback

56-54 Cavs claw back against Wildcats

 By Rich McGowan

 RICHMOND HILL-While Caroline Burk only made one field goal Tuesday night, it was the biggest basket of her life. With the score tied and the final seconds ticking off the clock, Calvary's Emily Carter heaved a desperation shot from just inside halfcourt. The ball fell short of the hoop but Burk, standing under the basket, caught the ball on its way down, went back under the basket and hit a reverse layup for the game-winning bucket as time expired to give the Cavaliers a 56-54 victory over Richmond Hill. "The words going through my mind were 'I wanna do a reverse layup.' I honestly threw it up for fun. I thought time was out until the crowd's reaction," Burk said. "I thought (Carter) shot it and the game was over until the buzzer went off. "It felt awesome." Burk's bucket capped a tremendous Calvary rally. The Cavaliers trailed 45-30 entering the fourth quarter and had been trailing by double digits since the second quarter. Calvary opened the fourth quarter by going on an 8-2 run in the first three minutes, closing to within nine. Senior Sonny Canady then scored a pair of baskets within 20 seconds of each other to bring Calvary to within five. A couple minutes later, sophomore Rachel LeGear scored off an assist from Kelsey Ellis. Less than a minute later, Carter set up Ellis, who scored on a layup to tie the game while drawing a foul. Ellis hit the free throw to finish the 3-point play and Calvary took its first lead of the game, 50-49, with 2 minutes, 57 seconds to play, capping a Calvary run of 20-4 in five minutes. "The fourth quarter, defensively, we got some turnovers. We hadn't done that the other quarters and that led to some baskets and made it tougher for them to score," Calvary coach Jackie Hamilton said. "Defensively, we picked it up from the end of the third quarter on, and that was the difference." Richmond Hill coach Elizabeth Bennett, whose team was playing its first game since Dec. 19, said her team's foul trouble made it difficult to stop the Cavaliers' momentum. "I had three or four players with four fouls," Bennett said. "They were afraid to step up, afraid to take anything because they didn't want to be out of the game. "We were 9-1 (in calls against) at one point and that's an uneven scale," she added. "I'm not saying the officials caused us to lose, but we were in foul trouble and they weren't." Carlson's effort Led by senior Tyler Carlson, Richmond Hill scored 10 of the game's first 12 points. Through the first three quarters, whenever Calvary got a bucket, the Wildcats always had an answer. Carlson finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Tay Reynolds scored 13 points and Alyiah Johnson added 11 for the Wildcats (8-3). When Calvary (11-1) found itself trailing, at one point by as much as 17 late in the third quarter, Canady kept the Cavaliers from packing it in. "Sonny is the leader of the team," Burk said. "She was telling us to keep it up, she is the one who kept us going and she told us to never lose passion. It was all her." Canady scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed five rebounds. "She pretty much took over from the third quarter on," Hamilton said. "Offensively she either scored or made something happen. Because (Richmond Hill) had been aggressive, I thought they had to back off a little bit and that enabled her to get a shot or pass it off to somebody." Ellis finished with 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. But the biggest points of the night were Burk's. "She's been playing spots and she has earned her spot," Hamilton said. "Defensively she is a good player for us and she happened to be in the right spot there. It was a tough shot." CALVARY DAY (56) Sonny Canady 21, Kelsey Ellis 19, LeGear 8, Badger, Burk 2. RICHMOND HILL (54) Tyler Carlson 19, Tay Reynolds 13, Alyiah Johnson 11, Myers 6, Davis 2, Goolsby 3. Halftime-RH 30-19. Records-CD 11-1 overall, RH 8-3.