In the opening minute of the the third quarter, the Rockets trailed, 35-14, and had hit only four of their first 20 field goal attempts. R-B switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, and the points followed.

Senior Brooke Legnaioli led the charge with six 3s and 18 points, hitting three long balls in the final quarter. Kayla Malec tied the score at 40-all with 4:30 remaining, but Marian didn't trail until the final shot by David, one that left her hands with less than two seconds on the clock and banked in to complete the comeback.

"My coach on the sideline said, 'You've got two seconds," Davids said. "I don't know ... it's really unbelievable. Our team just never gave up. The fight was always there."

The Rockets advance to face Johnsburg (22-8) in Thursday's regional final at 7 p.m. The No. 2-seeded Skyhawks were credited with a 2-0 forfeit win against Chicago Senn, which did not make it to R-B after having transportation issues.

Johnsburg, which won the Kishwaukee River Conference championship with a perfect record, swept the Rockets in two regular-season meetings.

"I always tell the girls, 'Never quit,'" Rockets coach Todd Severns said. "I always try to stay positive and give them all the cliches. It comes down to making shots, and we made shots. We switched and went man-to-man, because we're at our best when we're in transition. Shots just started falling.

"Marian was really handing it to us, and we just stayed in there. I tell them all the time, 'Good things happen when you make shots.' Everything looks better. And then a half-courter at the buzzer. That's just a kid willing it in."

Davids finished with 17 points, including 15 in the second half, as the Rockets (12-14) scored 13 points in the third quarter and 26 in the fourth, outscoring the Hurricanes, 39-19, after the break.

"We knew that we just had to keep moving the ball around," Legnaioli said. "It was just really nerve-wracking being down by so much, but the comeback was awesome."

Anna Vlasak added eight points and eight rebounds for R-B, and Kayla Malec had four points and assisted Davids' buzzer-beater. Sam Miller also hit a big 3 in the fourth quarter.

Marian was led by junior guard Vannessa Garrelts, who led all scorers with 23 points. The speedy guard entered the game needing six points to surpass 1,000, getting a steal and layup at the end of the first quarter to reach the milestone.

She has 1,017 career points in two-plus seasons. She played in only a handful ofvarsity games as a freshman.

"At halftime, (Marian) coach (Tony Powe) said that was a good half of basketball," Garrelts said. "But he told us anything can happen, especially come playoffs. We came out in the third, made two quick baskets, and just hit a dry spell that killed us.

"It feels good getting 1,000. It was definitely one of my main goals. Bittersweet given how the game ended, but I'll definitely remember it."

Grace Shukis and Katie Littner each had seven points for Marian, and Margaret Palmer added six. Emily Radecki had four points and four assists in the season-ending loss.

"We controlled the first half, and the second half it flipped," Powe said. "They increased their intensity, they made some shots, they were feeling confident, and we had trouble getting in any flow."

UNSUNG HERO

Brooke Legnaioli

Richmond-Burton, sr., G

Legnaioli ignited the Rockets' furious comeback, hitting all three of her 3-point field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-3 guard finished with a team high six 3s and 18 points, going 6 of 11 from the field.

THE NUMBER

10: 3-pointers for Richmond-Burton, including seven in the second half

AND ANOTHER THING…

With 23 points, Marian Central's Vannessa Garrelts joined Johnsburg’s Aannah Interrante in becoming the second local girls basketball player to surpass 1,000 career points this season. Garrelts (1,017 career points) and Interrante (1,178), both juniors, play on the same Illinois Elite AAU travel team.

Richmond-Burton 53, Marian Central 51

Richmond-Burton 8 6 13 26 – 53Marian Central 13 19 8 11 – 51

RICHMOND-BURTON (53)

Davids 5 4-4 17, Legnaioli 6 0-0 18, Vlasak 4 0-0 8, Olson 0 1-3 1, Hahn 0 2-2 2, Malec 2 0-0 4, Curran 0 0-2 0, Miller 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 7-11 53.

MARIAN CENTRAL (51)

Garrelts 9 0-1 23, Shukis 3 1-2 7, Radecki 2 0-0 4, Littner 3 0-0 7, Reynolds 0 2-2 2, Villont 1 0-0 2, Palmer 2 2-3 6. Totals: 20 5-7 51.

3-point goals: Richmond-Burton 10 (Legnaioli 6, Davids 3, Miller), Marian Central 6 (Garrelts 5, Littner).

http://www.nwherald.com/2017/02/15/high-school-girls-basketball-richmond-burton-stuns-marian-central-at-buzzer-in-regional-semifinal/ay7lbmp/?page=1