In the second half, the Irish cranked up the defensive pressure. They forced Centennial to take poor shots and held the Cougars to just one field goal and eight points.

“There was a point in the game where I joked with the girls that the first team to score 40 wins and look, it worked out,” Orr said with a laugh. “We know we’re not going to be the prettiest team, but we are going to play our hearts out, play great defense and score just enough to finish the job.”

Centennial’s only field goal of the second half, a layup by Jenna Guyer less than minute into the half, tied the score 27-27. Rosemount regained the lead for good on a three-pointer by Alexa Ratzlaff a minute later.

More than three minutes later, Rosemount’s Helen Staley hit a three for a 33-27 lead. Neither team made a shot from the floor over the next 11-plus minutes.

Centennial used free throws to cut the Rosemount lead, trimming it to one when Jodi Anderson hit two with 2:26 left. Those were the last two points of the game for Centennial (21-2).

Ratzlaff’s layup off an inbounds play with 1:34 left gave Rosemount a 36-33 lead. Tayah Leenderts added a layup a minute later and Ratzlaff added two free throws in the final seconds for the final score.

“We’ve had a few of those episodes,” Orr said of his team’s difficulty scoring. “But we know you can always control how tou play defense. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids. This is their one shining moment.”