Short of a nuclear holocaust, nothing was going to stop Mt. Edgecumbe from winning the 3A state girls basketball championship.
The Braves won three tightly played elimination games in the regional playoffs and two more close contests at state and came into the title game as big underdogs against two-time defending champion Anchorage Christian.
But with a pesky defense and a never-give-up attitude, the Braves held the Lions without a point over the final seven minutes of Wednesday's 32-26 win over ACS at Sullivan Arena.
"We were joking that we are going to have to change our mascot to the Cockroaches," Mt. Edgecumbe coach Carl Blackhurst said. "The kids just won't quit, no matter what you can't kill them off."
Mt. Edgecumbe lost to Haines in the Southeast tournament and had to battle back through the loser's bracket, beating Craig and Petersburg by three and two points, respectively, before topping Haines by a point in the second-place game with a state-tournament berth on the line.
The Braves beat Glennallen 40-38 in the first round on a bucket with 28 seconds left, held off a late Barrow rally to win 35-31 in the semifinals, then scored the final 10 points in the fourth quarter of the championship game to topple the Lions.
"No matter how many times we get beaten down, we always come back up," said senior forward Nicole Pingayak, who led the Braves with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Mt. Edgecumbe lost 38-24 to ACS in last year's title game, but despite losing four starters from that team, bounced back to beat ACS this year.
"We laid it all out there," Pingayak said. "We didn't have anything to lose, so we just played. We played with heart."
It was the final game for ACS seniors Debbiey Simmers, Karyley Madren, Chantell Bennett, Charis Erhardt and Elizabeth Leach. Coach Daniel Skipworth is also stepping down after nine years at the helm.
"I wasn't sure I was going to come back this year, but I didn't leave because I wanted to finish up with these seniors," Skipworth said. "I leave here with no regrets. I'm very happy I coached this team. They are super kids. One game doesn't make or break who we are."
The Lions relied heavily all season on Simmers, the 3A player of the year, but the Braves put together a defense designed to stop Simmers, and they played it to perfection.
The Braves/Cockroaches employed a 2-3 zone defense with a twist, with the players on Simmers' side picking up the star guard.
"It was kind of a morphing box-and-one," Blackhurst said. "We wanted to chase Simmers and harass them as much as we could."
Simmers was held to eight points. She grabbed 14 rebounds and tried to get her teammates involved in the offense, but had a number of passes go off fingers and out of bounds.
Still, ACS held a 26-22 lead a minute into the fourth quarter after consecutive baskets by Bennett.
A 3-point play by Pingayak followed by a basket from junior forward Christina Fields and a 3-pointer by senior guard Whitney Weber put Mt. Edgecumbe up 30-26, and had the large contingent of Braves fans cheering loudly.
"I think the game was closer than what they expected," Skipworth said. "When time was running down I think we just got more and more tense out there."
ACS missed a couple of easy looks late and failed to take advantage of two missed 1-and-1 opportunities by the Braves before Pingayak put the game away with a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left.
"I could hear my mom yelling. She was like 'Put it away,' " said Pingayak.
Pingayak did put the game away and the Braves huddled in celebration in front of the bench with the 16 team cheerleaders running out to surround them in a joyous cardinal-and-gold mass. The Mt. Edgecumbe boys waited at the side of the court to congratulate their compatriots.
Some of the players began heading to the locker room but had to be called back on the court for one last task -- the cutting down of the nets.
Afterward, family and friends on the court to take pictures and Blackhurst wandered happily around from fan to family member to interviewer with a big smile and a net draped around his neck. A net that had been gnawed through by Cockroaches.
First National Bank Alaska/Alaska School Activities Assocation
Class 3A Girls State Basketball Championship
At Sullivan Arena
ACS 8 8 8 2 -- 26
Mt. Edgecumbe 8 9 5 10 -- 32
ACS -- Madren 2, Simmers 8, Bennett 8, Leach 4, Erhardt 4.
Mt. Edgecumbe -- Beaver 2, Hale 3, Weber 2, Binkowski 2, Fields 6, Pingayak 17.
Sitka 53, Barrow 24
The Southeast champion Sitka Wolves rebounded from a semifinal loss against ACS to overwhelm Barrow 53-24 in the third-place game.
Senior guard Justine Chapman poured in all of her game-high 18 points from beyond the 3-point line, hitting 6 of 9. Senior guard Karimae Carlson added seven points and seven rebounds for the Wolves.
Junior Melissa Gerke led Barrow with six points and 14 rebounds.
Sitka 7 20 10 16 -- 53
Barrow 8 6 2 8 -- 24
Sitka -- Albee 1, Ramil 4, Ady 2, Carlson 7, Huddlestun 6, Medinger 7, Chapman 18, Wathen 2, Puletau 6.
Barrow -- Lowery 4, Frankson 6, Matthews 4, Gerke 6, Havea 4.
Nome 34, Glennallen 12
A day after forcing 37 turnovers in a win over Monroe, Nome's defense smothered another opponent, hounding Glennallen into 28 turnovers and 8 percent shooting to take fourth place with a 34-12 victory.
Freshman Devynn Johnson led Nome with 13 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Senior Richelle Horner added eight points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Senior guard Jubilee Sutherland led Glennallen with six points and five steals. The Panthers hit 4 of 50 field-goal attempts, including 1 of 22 from 3-point range.
Nome 9 5 10 10 -- 34
Glennallen 6 2 2 2 -- 12
Nome -- Lammer 2, Horner 8, Warnke-Green 4, Stiles 5, Mattheis 2, Johnson 13.
Glennallen -- Peters 2, Sutherland 6, Stumpf 4.
Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com