The agony lingered in the minds of the Plainview-Elgin-Millville players and coaches for two years. It finally went away Saturday afternoon.

There was nothing but proud smiles from the contingent after a convincing 72-42 victory over New London-Spicer for the Class 2A championship at Williams Arena. It was the cooperative program’s first state title since joining forces 10 years ago.

“This is truly amazing,” Bulldogs senior guard Sarah Hart said. “This is what we wanted to accomplish since Day 1.”

The championship relieved the misery of two close calls for the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (31-1) in the Section 1 finals the previous two years. They lost to Dover-Eyota 71-62 in overtime last year and Kenyon-Wanamingo 46-42 two seasons ago. Dover-Eyota went on to win the state championship; Kenyon-Wanamingo was the runner-up.

“That was awful,” Hart said. “We were depressed for a whole week. We were wishing that would have been us.”

The Bulldogs didn’t waste any time establishing who the better team was against New London-Spicer. Hart hit back-to-back jumpers followed by five consecutive points by sophomore center Hayley Dessner and it was quickly 10-0 just over five minutes into the matchup.

The Bulldogs came out distributing the ball to the open player or one with a distinctive size advantage on offense, while their defense was putting the clamps on New London-Spicer. The Wildcats (25-7) had only one field goal in the first eight minutes and trailed 18-3.

“Offensively, we are usually fine,” Bulldogs coach Jason Melbostad said. “But we held them down. That got us going in the right direction.”

New London-Spicer had a brief spurt to pull within nine, but that would be as close as they got. The Bulldogs closed the first half on an 18-2 run, and led 39-14 at the intermission. Bulldogs junior center Emmaline Polson had 14 of her game-high 22 points in the opening half.

“My teammates helped me out a lot,” said Polson, who also had 10 rebounds. “They fed me the ball.”

Hart was steady directing the Bulldogs offense. The St. Bonaventure recruit finished with 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Dessner added 10 points.

“They’re just better than us,” Wildcats coach Mike Dreier said. “They were the real deal. The total package.”

Ron Haggstrom • 612-673-4498

Sarah Hart made up for lost time.

The Plainview-Elgin-Millville senior guard directed the No. 1-rated Bulldogs to a 72-42 victory over New London-Spicer for the Class 2A championship Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena. It was the cooperative program’s first state title.

The Bulldogs (31-1) didn’t waste any time establishing who was the better team. Hart hit back-to-back jumpers followed by five consecutive points by sophomore center Hayley Dessner and it was quickly 10-0 just over four minutes into the game.

Hart finished with 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds. The St. Bonaventure recruit only played 20 minutes in their 87-78 semifinal victory over Roseau due to foul trouble.

The Bulldogs came out distributing the ball to the open player on offense, while their defense was putting the clamps on New London-Spicer. The Wildcats (25-7) had only one field goal, a three-pointer by senior guard Alyssa Fredrick, in the first eight minutes and trailed 18-3.

New London-Spicer recovered briefly, pulling within 21-12 at the 7:49 mark. That would be as close as they wound get. The Bulldogs closed the first half on an 18-2 run, and led 39-14 at the intermission. Junior center Emmaline Polson scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the opening half for the Bulldogs.

Senior forward Megan Thorson led the Wildcats with 13 points.

The championship relieved the misery of two close calls for the Bulldogs in the Section 1 finals the previous two years. They lost to Dover-Eyota 71-62 in overtime last year and Kenyon-Wanamingo 46-42 two seasons ago. Dover-Eyota went on to win the state championship while Kenyon-Wanamingo was the runner-up.