Sweetwater Athletics

Lapwai broke loose Saturday at the Idaho Center to attain a rarefied feat: only the fourth threepeat in the past 20 years - at any level of girls' hoops in the state.

The final score: Wildcats 79, Pirates 40.

Some history: Prairie (21-4) was the last team from Lapwai's (23-1) class to hand the Wildcats a loss - that coming in the 2014 state title game.

But on Saturday, Pirates coach Lori Mader made an honest admission: She felt the game slipping away in the second quarter.

"You knew," Mader said with a knowing look on her face, perhaps recalling Iris Domebo's bank shot from beyond the arc - the kind of bucket that signaled to Pirate fans: It was going to be a long morning.

For all this talk of dynasties, one could forget that Prairie actually led most of the first quarter - and that Lapwai only slipped into a three-point lead because of something that sounds straight out of folklore: a seemingly one-legged cager.

Before she limped to the locker room mid-game for a brief training session on her ankle, Koyama Young's back-to-back postups to end the first period did three things: gave the Wildcats the lead for good, calmed any nerves of "here we go again," and bought time for Lapwai's dormant 3-ball to come to life.

A catalogue of Lapwai's 3-point barrage in the second quarter by player goes as follows: Shiniah Holt with two; Amil Mitchell, Domebo and Young with one apiece.

The commonality between the first two of those threes: both were set up by forward Ione Chimburas - the first with a steal, the second by an extra pass she made after cutting to the hoop.

But you can point to other aspects of the contest which helped Lapwai suddenly seize a 37-16 lead

• There was defense:

Besides Kylie Tidwell, who scored 13, no other Pirate reached double-figure points. And Prairie, during the game's deciding stretch in the second and third quarters, was held to just nine points as the Wildcats seized a 61-20 lead with a somewhat new formula: mixing in some zone.

• Shooting:

Their 7-of-9 mark outside during the first two quarters is a big reason the Wildcats led by 21 at the half. You take those shots away, it's a tie game.

• Transition:

"Not a track meet," chanted an earlier State opponent.

Wrong: Of the 15 points Lapwai's Mitchell scored Saturday, around half came on the run.

• Grittiness:

Sprained ankle and all, Young still scored a game-high 24, bringing her average for the tournament to 22.

• Taking your foot off the gas - and still killing it:

The Wildcats, two minutes into the fourth, inserted all their reserves to throw Prairie a bone. But even those players continued to score, proving another point: Lapwai's reserves could probably start most anywhere else in the state.

"I think they'll go down as one of the best teams to play in the state tournament," Lapwai coach Eric Spencer said of his squad, which will return just three players: Mitchell, Wisdom and Raequel Domebo.

Asked if they'll be shooting for a four-peat next year, Mitchell laughed: "We'll try."

Asked what he thought proved the difference in the contest, Spencer had this to say: "I'm always known as a man-to-man coach ... but we threw (zone) at them today ..."

Continued Spencer: "This is the second time I pulled it out in the state tournament and it did well for us today."

NOTES - Lapwai, which now owns nine girls' titles, also won crowns in 1976, '89, '98, 2002, '09, '11, '15 and '16. ... Since the 1A classification split into two divisions in 2009, only schools representing the Whitepine League have played in the 1A D-I title game. ... Lapwai's previously most-lopsided title win came in 2011, when the Wildcats beat Clearwater Valley 61-24. ... Lapwai's lone loss this year came to 3A foe Timberlake, which repeated as champion at its level on Saturday. The Wildcats split with Tigers in two meetings this year. ... All four of Prairie's losses this year came to Lapwai.

PRAIRIE-COTTONWOOD (21-4)

Kylie Tidwell 6 0-1 13, Angela Wemhoff 2 0-0 5, Josie Peery 0 1-2 1, Jordyn Higgins 1 2-4 4, Chaye Uptmor 1 0-0 2, Leah Higgins 2 4-4 8, Kodie Tidwell 1 0-0 2, Theresa Wemhoff 0 0-2 0, Kristyna Krogh 0 0-0 0, Sydney Bruner 1 0-1 2, India Peery 1 0-0 3, Sarah Ross 0 0-0 0, Kendra Duclos 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-14 40.

LAPWAI (23-1)

Shiniah Holt 4 1-2 11, Heewekse Wisdom 0 0-0 0, Raequel Domebo 0 0-0 0, Iris Domebo 4 1-2 10, Ione Chimburas 3 0-0 6, Amil Mitchell 7 0-1 15, Koyama Young 10 2-2 24, JoAndra Wilson 0 0-0 0, Emoni Tannehill 1 0-0 3, Marque Wilson 1 0-0 2, Evelyn Bohnee 3 2-4 8. Totals 33 6-11 79.

Prairie 11 5 4 20-40

Lapwai 14 23 24 18-79

Three-point goals - Ky.Tidwell, A.Wemhoff, I.Peery, Holt 2, I.Domebo, Mitchell, Young 2, Tannehill. Total fouls - Prairie 12, Lapwai 16. Fouled out - J.Peery.