The Irish held 6-foot-4 senior center Sophie Hart, a North Carolina State commit, to two points in the first half. Rosemount 6-foot junior center Tayah Leenderts drew the primary defensive assignment, along with 6-foot senior center Helen Staley, an Oakland University recruit, helping out and carrying the offensive load inside.

Staley scored 11 points and racked up several assists operating as the fulcrum of the offense on the elbow. That’s where she dished to baseline cutters. Junior guard Alexa Ratzlaff was one of the primary recipients, finishing with a team-high 12 points.

A tough bank shot by Staley before the buzzer pulled Rosemount to a 22-20 halftime deficit.

The contest was going much different compared to when Farmington, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, rolled to a 52-29 triumph on the road over Rosemount on Jan. 29.

“I couldn't be more impressed or more pleased with our girls' effort,” said Rosemount coach Chriss Orr. “The first time [Farmington] came to our place they kicked our butt, plain and simple. We responded and battled all night. They're a great team. It was a fantastic high school basketball game.”

The Irish tied the game at 22 early in the second half and again at 27. That’s when Hart began to assert herself.

The Tigers looked to her inside for their first basket of the half. She ended with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half.

As Hart got rolling, so did senior guard Paige Kindseth. The Presbyterian College commit was on fire from the midrange, scoring six quick points to give Farmington its biggest lead of the night at 45-36.

One of Kindseth’s jumpers pushed her past the 1,000 career points milestone.

“It means everything to me. It's been one of my goals since I was a little kid,” Kindseth said. “For that goal to be achieved, it's just so surreal. It's amazing the support I have and I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates — so huge thank you to them.”

Carpentier helms a senior-laden team that achieved no worse than a share of its third straight conference title with Thursday’s victory. A win in any of Farmington’s last three games, or a loss in any of Rosemount’s last three contests clinches an outright title. 

Kindseth is one of eight seniors on the roster who have been around for the program’s recent apex.

“Paige is a phenomenal teammate and a phenomenal person. I'm so proud of her for the milestone that she's reached,” Carpentier said. “She gives our team so much energy. You can see she helps us on both sides of the floor.

“That's where I think she really stepped up this year — her defense. She can play lockdown defense this year.”

Rosemount, however, got off the mat after Kindseth’s burst. A Ratzlaff three capped an 8-0 run that brought the Irish within 45-44 with under four minutes to play.

Farmington responded with six consecutive points by Hart. The last two came on a pair of intentional foul free throws with under a minute to play to extend the lead to six.

“We missed a few bunnies, you can always look back at everything,” Orr said. “But we competed as hard as we could and played well. Give them credit, they made more plays than we did.”

The Tigers kept poised for a team used to kicking its feet up in the final minutes of games.

“We stayed composed throughout the whole entire game,” Kindseth said. “There were times we were not playing our best. The other team was very scrappy, so that was a big change for us compared to the last few games we've had. I think we just grinded it out, we stayed composed, we stayed to our game plan. We hit bigger shots and got us the result we have.”