Northwest Suburban Conference foes.

Two teams that split in the regular season.

This one was going to the wire.

Second-seeded Champlin Park and third-seed Maple Grove met for the third time on Tuesday night at Anoka High School and this one was for a spot in the Class 4A, Section 5 title game.

Less than two weeks after beating the Crimson at home, Champlin Park found a way to do it again in a low scoring, tight defensive battle, beating Maple Grove 43-40.

"It was a battle," Rebels' coach Jake Kuppe said. "It's what we expected."

The Rebels held a 24-21 lead at the half and could never pull away in the second. In the closing minutes the Crimson even took their first lead since an opening 6-0 run.

"We were getting a little frustrated and making some stupid plays," Rebels' guard Alexis Alexander said. "We eventually got it together, came together as a team and pulled through."

It was not easy though.

The Crimson held Champlin Park to only 19 points in the second half. Three of those came on Sydney Hilley's huge three-point play when she made her shot from inside and converted on the free throw as she was fouled.

"Play of the game right there," Kuppe said. "We were struggling and needed to get something. She got inside, made a big bucket and hit her foul shot. It turned things around for us."

Maple Grove also held Alexander in check. She found her shots in the first half but did not have so much room to maneuver in the second. It forced the ball out of her hands, a nod to Haylee Barker's effective defense.

Alexander finished with 11 points.

"Haylee Barker is a feisty point guard," Kuppe said. "She is tough to play against."

Leading 41-40 in the final minute, Alexander did find a sliver of an opening and made the most of it. For the first time since the opening minutes she found some space inside, penetrate the lane and went in for an uncontested layup.

"I just knew I had to make a play for my team," she said. "It was a close game, and I just wanted the ball. They were covering the outside because we were moving around so much, and it was open and I just needed to do something for us."

Alexander sealed the deal for Champlin Park, which will advance to the Class 4A, Section 5 championship against Centennial on Friday at Anoka. Another team the Rebels split its two games with in the regular season.

"It's going to be another tough game," Kuppe said. "But this is exciting to see all of the teams in our conference playing on one court. It doesn't get much more exciting than this."