LAFAYETTE – The Griffith boys basketball team came so close to writing the perfect ending to their incredible saga Wednesday night.

The Panthers came up just short in their bid to win a semistate championship just four days after being involved in an accident involving their team bus.

A late rally by Marion, capped by a rebound basket just before the final horn, lifted the Giants past Griffith 60-58 in a Class 3-A semistate game at Lafayette Jefferson High School.

Marion (22-7) advances to play Evansville Bosse (19-10) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Class 3-A state championship contest in Indianapolis.

The Panthers are left to wonder what if and to count their blessings.

The semistate game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed after the Griffith team bus was sideswiped and flipped into a ditch off of I-65 near DeMotte en route to Lafayette for the semistate. There were injuries among the 27 people aboard the school bus, but incredibly none were life-threatening. Griffith assistant coach Dave Garrett and Al Williams could not make the trip Wednesday, due to injuries suffered in the accident. Head coach Gary Hayes had a back injury and a cut above his eye from the accident.

The IHSAA allowed Griffith to determine if they wanted to play the semistate game. IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox was among those in attendance at Jeff Wednesday night.

The Panthers, who arrived via charter bus Wednesday night after taking a different route to Lafayette than the one used on Saturday, led 49-42 entering the fourth quarter.

Marion rallied late to claim the semistate title in thrilling fashion on a cutback bucket by Gage Pinkerton just prior to the final buzzer.

Griffith, who was the Class 3-A state runner-up in 2015, finishes its season at 25-4.