By Eric Goldwein; WASHINGTON POST

Carly Rivera and her teammates laughed about the shot when the game was over and St. John’s had secured its second consecutive D.C. State Athletic Association title, but there wasn’t much smiling before it happened.

At that point, the Cadets were clinging to a one-point lead and in need of a bucket late in the fourth quarter of Sunday afternoon’s final against Georgetown Visitation. Rivera, a sophomore guard, saw the defense playing back and drove into the paint, sending an awkward, off-balance runner off the glass and into the cylinder for the and-one. The unintended bank shot was part of a game-ending 15-1 run as St. John’s pulled away for a 63-51 victory at George Washington’s Smith Center.

“I feel like I had to play a bigger role, but at the end of the day it wasn’t just me,” Rivera said. “Everybody stepped up. Everybody did their part.”

MORE