SFT girls win state in OT

Santa Fe Trail’s girls basketball team celebrates its state-championship victory over Frontenac on Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Park City.

? Santa Fe Trail High’s girls basketball team fought back from an 11-point deficit in the Class 4A-II state championship game Saturday afternoon, only to watch Frontenac tie the game in the final minute with a three-pointer.

That letdown didn’t affect senior Briahna Beckman, who converted a layup while drawing the foul and making the free throw to open overtime. The Chargers then made plenty of free throws in their 58-54 state title victory at Hartman Arena.

“It’s amazing,” senior Megan Zaldivar said. “It’s the best feeling ever.”

The Chargers trailed by 11 points before senior Shelby Dahl ended a scoring drought with a buzzer-beater just inside of halfcourt.

“That was definitely the changing point,” senior Amber Moore said. “We said in the huddle, ‘That was our sign. We can do it.'”

It definitely ended any shooting woes as Dahl opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer from the top of the arc before Beckman, who struggled to hit three-pointers, converted a layup.

The Raiders (22-3) kept their lead at nine points with a few buckets before Zaldivar made a three-pointer to start a 9-0 run. Senior Jaeden Romine added a layup before Zaldivar, the Chargers point guard who can be lethal from deep, made another three-pointer, and Moore had an and-one layup to give the Chargers a 38-36 lead with 2:49 left.

Moore traded points with the Raiders over the next minute before Zaldivar extended Santa Fe Trail’s lead to three points with two free throws. However, Frontenac’s Natalie Coomes hit a three with 46 seconds left to tie the game, and a shot attempt from Dahl in the final seconds was blocked.

After Beckman’s and-one play, the Raiders missed their next shot before Dahl and Zaldivar went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to extend their team’s lead to six with 1:20 left.

Frontenac cut the score to three points in the closing seconds before Zaldivar iced the game with a free throw, scoring five of her 16 points in the extra period.

“It’s awesome,” Moore said. “It’s sad and awesome because it’s my last year. I couldn’t be happier with the ending.”

Dahl scored a game-high 19 points and added seven rebounds, while Moore, who played most of the game with four fouls, fell just short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

“When you got two studs like that, they just make plays for you all the time,” Santa Fe Trail coach Jayson Duncan said. “I step back and watch them do their thing, and they never disappoint.”

The Chargers shot 24 percent in the first half (6-for-25) and trailed 23-17 at halftime.

“We had nerves, and that’s why we were missing so many shots,” Duncan said. “I bet we had five airballs. We didn’t have five airballs all year. We can shoot it. I said, ‘We’re going to make some shots,’ then we started to make them, and good things started to happen.”

The Chargers finished the season with a 22-3 record.