Game 22 – Marist 47, George Rogers Clark, 43

The showdown between Marist and George Rogers Clark, two teams loaded with talented college prospects as underclassmen, was everything it was projected to be as Marist of Atlanta slipped past the Cardinals from Kentucky in a 47-43 thriller in the day’s final quarterfinal game.

Marist came from behind in the fourth quarter to win it. The War Eagles were behind 38-32 with 5:40 left to play, but Kate Harpring and her teammates took over from there. Abby Lindsay started it with a 3-pointer and after a GRC missed field goal attempt, Harpring, only a sophomore but being courted by a host of major colleges including Tennessee and LSU, drove the lane to score and cut the gap to 40-39.

Another missed shot by the Cardinals resulted in another layup by Harpring, which put Marist in the lead at 41-40. GRC then made a turnover and yet another driving layup by Harpriing moved the lead to 43-40. The Eagles went up 45-40 but a 3-pointer by Ciara Byars cut it to 45-43 with 15 seconds to go.

Forced to foul, Marist got the ball in the hands of Harpring who made two foul shots to ice it with eight seconds to go. She finished the night with 29 points and five steals with two assists. Lindsay scored 11.

GWC was led by Byars with 14 points.

Marist plays Bartlett in Friday’s semifinal at 9 p.m. GWC plays Knox Catholic at 3 p.m.

Game Stats:

GW CLARK (43): Stamper 2-3 2-2 7, Yeast 4=10 0-0 9, Ciara Byars 6-16 0-0 14, Green 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 3-3 0-0 6, Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0, Tabor 1-1 0-0 2, Chestnut 2-6 0-0 5. TOTALS: 18-40 2-2 43.

MARIST (47): Elder 2-3 0-0 5, Janki 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Faklaris 0-2 0-2 0, Abby Lindsay 3-5 4-4 11, Kate Harpring 12-18 4-6 29, Prophater 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18-32 8-12 47.

3-Point Goals: GWC—5 (Byars 2, Stamper, Yeast, Chestnut). MHS—3 (Elder, Liindsay, Harpring).