'They just beat us.' South Bend Washington magic runs out in semistate loss to Lake Central

HUNTINGTON, Ind. — As the final seconds of the South Bend Washington girls basketball season ticked away, head coach Steve Reynolds stared down his bench, soaking in the end of an era.

Thirty-Four straight wins, a quest for a third-straight trip to Indianapolis and a second consecutive state title all came crashing down in one afternoon when the undefeated, No. 1 ranked Panthers were upset by No. 15 Lake Central, 62-57, in Saturday's 4A Huntington Semistate semi-final.

It was a moment few expected and everybody wearing green inside of Huntington North's gym feared.

UpsetNo. 15 Lake Central shocks No. 1 South Bend Washington in Huntington Semistate

This team? Lose? No chance — until it did.

Tears swelled from the eyes of all of Washington's players when the final buzzer sounded, sending the Lake Central bench into ecstasy, and into Saturday night's semistate final against No. 4 Fishers.

But not Reynolds. His emotions told a different story.

Disappointed, yes. Sad, of course. But angry? With this group, that for the better part of three seasons has been the best girls basketball program in Indiana, how could he be?

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"I was really thinking about how proud I am of all of them," Reynolds said. "They just fought."

'They just beat us'

It was against better judgment to ever count out these Panthers, a team that had passed every test in front of them since last January.

Even as Lake Central (23-5) grew its lead to 20 points in the second quarter, you just knew Washington (27-1) had a run in them.

This group being down 17 at halftime (35-18), isn't the same back-breaking deficit as it would be for normal programs, ones that didn't have four Division I-caliber players on the court at all times, even without injured point guard Amiyah Reynolds, who didn't get to dictate the end of her own career due to a foot injury.

Just last week, the Panthers erased an eight-point halftime deficit to Valparaiso to win its third-straight regional title.

Sure enough, late in the fourth quarter, a once-seemed insurmountable Lake Central lead was down to three points with under two minutes to go.

Washington never tied the game. It never took the lead.

"They deserve all the credit," Reynolds said of Lake Central. "They were phenomenal. They just beat us."

Vanessa Wimberly led Lake Central with 17 points while Nadia Clayton added 16 and Riley Milausnic added 10.

Kira Reynolds led Washington with 27 points, while Rashunda Jones scored 11 and Monique Mitchell added 10 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Lake Central did everything it needed to, hitting seven 3-pointers, and coming up with key defensive stops and free-throws down the stretch, to put itself in position to win its first semistate title since 1998.

An end of an era

It was almost 20 minutes after the Panthers walked off the court for the final time this season before players and coaches began to emerge with puffy eyes and red cheeks.

You didn't have to hear the crying to know the emotions floating throughout that locker room. It was sadness for a season ended unexpectedly short of its goals, but also for knowing what was walking out the door in Amiyah Reynolds and Jones.

It is rare for South Bend-area schools to have Miss Basketball candidates. The Panthers had two.

In Jones, a Purdue signee, Washington loses a do-it-all dynamic guard who flashed scoring skill very few could keep up with.

"Everything is over now," Jones said following the game. "The practices, film, the fun moments in the hotel. It is all over. I was really close with this team and now it is over."

During this year's playoff run, Jones was tasked to be the leader when Reynolds went down with a foot injury in the regular-season finale at LaLumiere.

Amiyah Reynolds may be the biggest 'what-if' of the year. Because with Reynolds, now off to Maryland to join sister Mila, Washington looked unstoppable on the court.

"Those two are the best seniors I ever had," Steve Reynolds said. "I wish things were different. They had a young group to lead and did a fantastic job of it. That is going to go a long way when we talk about building our program and culture. We will look back at the Rashunda Jones and Amiyah Reynolds era as something special."

There had been signs for Washington that a slip-up was possible.

A lackluster first half in the sectional-opener against Mishawaka, then last week's game against the Vikings. Each time, the Panthers had answers. Not on Saturday.

"This is basketball and the best teams can get beat," Steve Reynolds said. "I still believe we are the best team. We got beat today and we weren't the best today. They were. It is rare you finish an entire season undefeated, otherwise it wouldn't be special."

So, where does a program that has experienced so much success, a group of girls where some had never lost a high school basketball game before Saturday go from here?

In Reynolds' eyes, nowhere.

"As long as they want to continue to develop," he said. "We are going to continue to have success."

LAKE CENTRAL 62, SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON 57

LAKE CENTRAL (62): Rylie Milausnic 2 5-9 10, Nadia Clayton 5 4-6 16, Vanessa Wimberly 6 3-4 17, Aniyah Bishop 1 3-5 5, Ayla Krygier 4 0-1 10, Alexa Iwema 2 0-0 4 TOTALS: 20 15-25 62.

SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON (57): Zion Belcher-Arill 2 0-0 6, Rashunda Jones 5 1-2 11, Ryiah Wilson 1 1-4 3, Kira Reynolds 11 4-11 27, Monique Mitchell 5 0-0 10 TOTALS: 24 6-17 57

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 'They just beat us.' Panthers fall short of undefeated season, 4A title