PURCELLVILLE, Va. — Woodgrove had an incredible come-from-behind victory, 50-47, over cross-county rival Briar Woods during the VHSL state semifinal — punching a ticket to the state championship final all while remaining undefeated (29-0 overall).

With a trip to the state championship on the line, Briar Woods started the game strong behind the three-point shooting of senior guard Ainsley Veatch who finished the game with 4 threes. Briar Woods jumped all over the Wolverines with an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Briar Woods continued to dominate the first half with excellent outside shooting and pushed the lead to 13 at the break.

The Wolverines were missing their senior guard Ashley Steadman who was injured late in the quarter-final game. It was really showing as they struggled to find an offensive answer.

The Wolverines came out in the second half and immediately went to Sadie Shores inside for a quick bucket. This seemed to spark the team’s defensive effort led by Maddie Pabon. Woodgrove cut the lead to just 4 behind a three-point basket from Anni Rohs at the end of the third quarter. Sadie continued the second-half defensive effort with play after play while Colette Baine dominated the glass.

With just under 5 minutes to go, a turn around Sadie Shores basket tied the game. Moments later after a Shores block, a huge three-point basket was made by Anni Rohs to put the Wolverines up by 4.

Briar Woods cut the lead to 1 with 13.3 seconds remaining in the game. Briar Woods was driving to the basket for the game-winning hoop only to be met by another Shores block and Baine rebound with 2.4 seconds remaining — sealing the victory and a trip to the finals.

Sadie Shores finished with a game-high 16 points followed by Colette Baine with 11, Anni Rohs with 9, Lisa Nice with 6, Tara Mullen with 3 and Maddie Pabon with 3. Jenna Steadman made two clutch free throws with less than a second remaining to finish the game with 2 points.

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