Park coach Robin Willard repeatedly told his team yesterday to run its offense -- to get the ball inside.
The message finally got through in the fourth quarter of the game at Park.
Rebecca Shapiro and Alexa Wilder sparked a fourth-quarter rally that saw the top-seeded Bruins score 19 of the game's final 23 points for a 51-43 victory over third-seeded Friends in an Association of Independent Schools A Division Red Bracket semifinal.
Park (16-5) will play Severn tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the College of Notre Dame for the division championship. Friends ended its season at 9-6.
The Bruins, who lost to Friends earlier this season, used driving and close shots from Wilder (16 points), Shapiro (18 points) and others as it led much of the first half. But Park slowly turned away from that and began taking low-percentage outside shots.
Combined with a 13-0 Friends run in the second and third quarters, the Quakers appeared to be in command.
Park turned the ball over seven times in the third period and missed eight of 12 shots from the field as Friends took a 39-32 lead early in the fourth quarter.
"We just fell apart in the third quarter," said Wilder.
But the fourth quarter was a different story for Park. The Bruins stepped up the pressure on defense, keeping top Friends scorers Kirsten Campbell (13 points) and Summer Downing (11 points) in check and forcing turnovers.
Park limited Friends to one shot -- a Downing layup -- in a four-minute stretch as it caused four turnovers in five possessions. The miscues led to nine Park points.
The turnovers came at the same time that Park got back to its offense. Willard had just moved Jessica Schiavone (nine points) from forward to center and shifted Shapiro from center to forward, putting her on the baseline and freeing her more.
"It was just running the offense and being patient," said Willard. "As long as we get good ball movement, we get good shots."
Trailing 39-32, the good shots started coming for Park. Wilder (six points in the fourth quarter) made a layup off a baseline drive and, although she missed the ensuing free throw, Shapiro (nine in the fourth quarter) made a close-in shot.
After the layup by Downing, Park scored eight straight points to take control. Wilder and Schiavone each sank a free throw to cut the lead to three. Shapiro then hit a jumper, and Schiavone did the same for a 42-41 Bruins lead with 2:12 remaining.
Kris Heard stretched the lead to three with a short jumper at the 50-second mark. Friends' Simone Stalling (eight points) cut the lead to 44-43 with a layup before Wilder made a free throw, and Shapiro added a basket and two free throws to seal the victory.
Park scored 19 points in the final 4:38 and most of them came on, or as the result of,baseline drives. Shapiro and Schiavone drove for close shots time after time in the fourth quarter to help Park rally.
"We were giving away the baseline [in the fourth quarter]," said Friends coach Judy Turnbaugh. "We were making turnovers we shouldn't have been making. But that's basketball."
* Lutheran 38, St. Timothy's 25: Amanda Minor scored 12 points and Kristin Wollman added 10 to lead No. 2-seeded and host Lutheran (8-11) over St. Timothy's (5-7) in a AIS B Division tournament semifinal game.
* Glenelg Country 40, Seton Keough 33: Forward Sonia Fernandez had 16 points and nine steals to lead host Glenelg Country School over Seton Keough in the semifinals of the AIS B Division tournament.
Fernandez, an exchange student from Spain, used her speed and aggressiveness to dominate, scoring eight during an 11-0 first-quarter run that gave the Dragons (12-4) the lead for good. Guard Jaime Johnson had 10 points to lead the Gators (6-11).