McNeal, a senior center, lived up to that reputation yesterday at Gloucester when she scored on a layup at the buzzer to lead Wildwood to a 41-39 upset of the host Lions in an NJSIAA South Group 1 semifinal.

Wildwood (19-7), the fourth seed, will meet second-seeded Salem for the South Jersey Group 1 title tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Southern Regional High.

McNeal, who scored nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds, was swarmed by her teammates after she led them to their first victory over their Classic Division rival in three tries this season.

"We hoped the game wouldn't go into overtime," said McNeal, who was parked under the hoop on a set play drawn up by Wildwood coach Dave Troiano. "They beat us in overtime [53-51 on Jan. 11] the first time we played them.

"I took the shot and prayed that it would go in, and it did."

Shakirah Bishop helped answer McNeal's prayer with a perfect feed when Gloucester's defense collapsed on her as she drove to the net.

"Latifah McNeal is dependable," said Bishop, who led all scorers with 15 points. "She's always in the post and has more than 1,000 [career] rebounds. I was supposed to draw a foul or dish. I gave Latifah the ball.

"This win means a lot, because we are in the finals again. We lost in the finals to Palmyra last year. Salem and us are a great rivalry."

Wildwood placed second in the division behind Salem. The teams split their two games during the regular season.

Gloucester (19-8), the No. 1 seed, started slowly against Wildwood's diamond-and-one defense. The Lions turned over the basketball seven times in the first quarter and trailed by 22-15 at intermission.

Gloucester took its first lead, 35-34, with 6 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the game when junior guard Kaylee Conner scored on a putback. But McNeal and junior guard Loretta Kelly tied it at 37 and 39 points.

Conner, junior point guard Erin McAdams, and junior forward Marissa Cooper outscored Wildwood, 8-7, in the final quarter, but none of the Lions recorded double figures in the game.

Wildwood 9 13 12 7 - 41

Gloucester 2 13 16 8 - 39

W: Shakirah Bishop 15, Jamie Bottoms 4, Loretta Kelly 11, Latifah McNeal 9, Shaniqua Roper 2.

G: Kaylee Conner 8, Marissa Cooper 6, Kristin Jacobs 3, Jessica Lindsay 4, Erin McAdams 7, Cori Conner 4, Brittany Bouldren 7.

or biezzi@phillynews.com.