By Dylan Butler
Alaina Davis said she and her teammates on the Francis Lewis girls’ basketball team have been reminded about last year’s shocking overtime loss to Curtis in the semifinals since September.
Whenever Patriots coach Mike Eisenberg was upset with his club from the start of the season, he brought up that defeat.
Despite the constant reminders, there were the Patriots Saturday at St. John’s University, their 10-point lead with 1:18 left down to just two with 5.4 seconds left before Dawn Coleman sunk a pair of free throws to lift No. 2 Francis Lewis past Midwood, 45-41.
The Patriots, who advance to the PSAL Class A title game for the third time in four years and fourth time since 1998, will take on five-time defending city champion Murry Bergtraum in a game scheduled for Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
Led by Epiphany Prince, who scored 21 points, and Kisha Stokes, who added 18 points, the top-seeded Lady Blazers, ranked No. 3 in the country, defeated No. 4 Lincoln, 67-44, in the other semifinal Saturday at Alumni Hall.
“Going to Garden, I mean, we’ve been there and there’s not the excitement of just going there,” said Davis, who had eight points and eight rebounds. “Now we want to win.”
As was the case last year, when Francis Lewis beat Curtis by 30 points during the regular season, the Patriots thumped Midwood, 54-24, on the same Alumni Hall floor Dec. 30.
But also like last year, Francis Lewis (26-4) found itself in a much tougher game in the semifinals.
With James Madison-bound Jasmin Lawrence struggling, the Patriots went to their strength inside as 6-foot-3 Jessica Fuller (13 points, 17 rebounds, eight blocks), 5-foot-10 Coleman (12 points, seven rebounds) and 5-foot-11 Davis stepped up for the Patriots, who led 42-32 with 1:18 left thanks to a pair of free throws by Diatiema Hill.
“Other than Christ the King, we’re the biggest front line in the city,” Eisenberg said. “Our goal is to get the ball inside. … We did a great job of that in the first quarter, we did a good job of that in the third quarter and we didn’t do such a good job of that in the second quarter.”
But sixth-seeded Midwood (20-10) roared back on three straight three-pointers by sophomore sensation Melanie Murphy, who scored a game-high 29 points. On her fallaway three from the top of the key with 6.7 seconds left, the Hornets were within 43-41.
“We got caught in one of those offensive ruts, a lull when we scored just seven points in the third quarter,” said Midwood coach Artie LeGreca, who returns nearly his entire team next year after reaching the semifinal for the first time in school history. “Melanie got hot in the end. She’s one of those special players. She didn’t miss down the stretch.”
After seeing her team go 1-for-8 from the foul line in the final 1:04, Coleman knocked down a pair of free throws to end Midwood’s late rally.
“No one expects us to win and that’s OK. If my life was on the line, I might not bet on us, either,” Eisenberg said of playing Bergtraum in the final. “But we’re going to take our best shot.”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
