"It's frustrating when you're trying to go hard to the basket and they're not calling anything," Moses said after her team prevailed, 59-58, in a tense game at Toms River North.
"But in that fourth quarter, I looked up at the scoreboard and just thought, 'We have to win this. I'm not ending my season right now.' "
RV is the first South Jersey team to advance to the T of C finals since Woodrow Wilson won the tournament in 2005.
A fiery Moses (18 points, 13 rebounds) scored the fourth quarter's first nine points, erasing RV's miserable third quarter.
Finally, Moses was getting to the line - three times in the first 21/2 minutes of the period. It changed the tone of the game, and it set the stage for heroics by a host of other Red Devils.
The lead changed hands nine times in the fourth quarter.
With 36 seconds left, sophomore De'ja Brown, who comes off the bench and is generally a defensive specialist, drained a corner three-pointer to put her team up by 57-55.
Five seconds later, Red Bank's Alex Alfano, who led the team with 16 points, hit the team's eighth three-point field goal of the game, giving Red Bank a one-point lead.
Moses fouled out with 29 seconds left. It was left to Dominique Ward (10 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) to play the hero.
Ward grabbed a rebound under the basket, settled herself, and hit a four-foot jumper to give RV a 59-58 lead with 12 seconds left.
"I just try my best to be a complete, all-around player," Ward said. "Whatever I can do to help, I'm going to do it."
With eight seconds left, Red Bank Catholic's Mary Kate Caverly drove to the basket and hit what would have been a go-ahead layup.
But her coach called a timeout while she was driving, the basket didn't count, and Red Bank (29-2) didn't score another point.
"With this team, there is no panic," RV coach Anthony Corrado said. "I just told the team to keep plugging away."
RV (30-1), which will play Shabazz in the final on Tuesday night, comfortably built a 33-22 halftime lead. But Red Bank's lights-out shooting, and the Red Devils' mounting frustration in the paint, led to a disastrous third quarter in which RV was outscored, 25-4.
"The third quarter is usually our quarter, so that was a little unusual," Ward said. "We just talked about getting back to what we do best. And that's what we did."
Red Bank Catholic 10 12 25 11 – 58
Rancocas Valley 13 20 4 22 – 59
RBC: Grace Fallon 7, Caroline Corcoran 15, Alex Barazotti 6, Mary Kate Caverly 6, Alex Alfano 18, Quinn McMenaman 6.
RV: Lauren Moses 18, Jordan Woods 2, Jasmyne Lewis 10, Brianna Logan 8, Dominique Ward 10, Kristin Smith 6, Sabrina Jackson 2, De'ja Brown 3.
Contact Chris Melchiorre at rallysports@phillynews.com.
