"Bipolar." That’s how Seton Keough coach Jackie Boswell finally summed up last night’s girls basketball game with St. Frances.

That's a great way to put it, because the momentum shift between the third and fourth quarters may be the biggest swing I've ever seen in a basketball game -- maybe any game.

I know I've never seen a more dominating quarter than the one the No. 1 Panthers played in the third. The No. 4 Gators took only one shot in the first four minutes as the Panthers ran right over them, grabbing steals and getting great looks at the hoop. They scored 25 points in the quarter. Even more amazingly, the Gators didn’t score at all.

When the Panthers took a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter and the Gators hadn’t scored for 9 1/2 minutes, it sure looked like game over. But not so fast.

The teams seemed to trade identities. The Gators started attacking the basket with 6-foot-4 Asya Bussie and the Panthers fell apart. Although Bussie hit only two baskets, she shot 11 free throws. Her teammates shot 10 more. Hitting 14 of them helped the Gators get back in the game.

The Gators scored 25 points in the fourth quarter – 22 from Bussie and 5-11 forward Achiri Ade – to pull within four with 30 seconds to go.

St. Frances, however, had enough left to hold on. Tasia Bristow hit two free throws in the final 27 seconds and Shatyra Hawkes picked off a pass with 10 seconds left and fed Deanna Harmon to secure the 55-49.

This thriller gave the six-time defending A Conference champion Panthers their third straight win over the Gators – twice this season and last year’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship.

Stay tuned, because they could meet again -- in the A Conference final at Stevenson University on Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.
--Katherine Dunn