She's fine on the line

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:24AM

Ashley Parish said she wasn't nervous at all.

"I was in the zone," she said.

With 3.5 seconds left in the game, and the score tied at 40-40, the senior power forward calmly sank a pair of free throws as Griffith advanced to the championship game with a 42-40 victory over pesky Knox.

The Panthers will play Northwest Crossroads Conference rival Andrean in tonight's championship of the Calumet Sectional as the 59ers easily defeated Rensselaer 49-26.

Parish, who is shooting less than 60 percent from the line, led all scorers with a double-double - 12 points and 10 rebounds - while hitting 6-of-8 free throws.

"We weren't going to lose this game," Parish said. "I was going to do whatever I needed to in order to win."

The Panthers needed everything Parish could provide them against Knox, a team determined to compete until the last second.

"I'm so darn proud of our girls," Knox coach Dan Huizenga said. "They left everything they had out on the floor. It would have been easy for them to fold after being down by eight."

The Redskins (8-14) had a chance to take the lead and potentially win the game on Brittany Tetzloff's free throws with 25.2 seconds to play. But the senior guard only tied the game at 40-40 as she missed the second shot.

Knox stayed within striking distance despite trailing and chasing the entire game. The largest deficit was 27-19 as Brooke Brinkley converted a pair of free throws with 3:14 left in the third.

Griffith led 23-17 at halftime and 30-23 heading into the final period. In the fourth quarter, Knox made it very interesting as the offense came to life and the Griffith offense fell asleep.

With less than four minutes left in the game, Knox put together a 10-2 run. With 1:13 left, Tetzloff drained a 3-pointer before her game-tying free throw.

After a timeout called by Griffith, the Panthers ran their play that was originally designed for Parish, but Corich ended up with the look that hit the back iron and Parish was there for the rebound.

In the second semifinal, Andrean came out on fire, stringing together a 20-0 run to start the game and limiting Rensselaer to one field goal in the first half as it took a 24-12 lead into the locker room. An 11-0 run to start the second half put the game out of reach.

The 59ers (14-8) had a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense that forced 12 first quarter turnovers. Leading the charge was Brittany Andersen with 12 points.

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