Salpointe Catholic’s Annika Arvayo leads her team in a cheer after winning the Class 4A state championship game over Flagstaff in Monday’s title game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

 Darryl Webb, Special to the Arizona Daily Star

PHOENIX — Once Salpointe Catholic made its adjustments to the aggressive Flagstaff defense, order was restored and history was made Monday night.

The Lancers (24-4) used their height and a big second-quarter run to capture the school’s first state girls basketball title, beating Flagstaff 65-48 in the Class 4A championship game played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

“I think in the first quarter, my kids were a little rattled,” Salpointe coach Joseph Luevano said. “We have some great leadership and some talented freshmen. To their credit that they were able to keep their composure and after we got a little comfortable, everything started going our way.”

The Lancers broke through after falling to Chandler Seton Catholic in the state final a year ago. It was just the Lancers' third appearance in the championship game in school history.

“It feels amazing,” said junior point guard Cambria Medina. “We took motivation from that loss into this game. It really helped us.”

Salpointe Catholic’s Kylee Callahan scored 19 points in Monday’s state title win.

Second-seeded Salpointe beat Seton in the semifinals last week at home to avenge that loss but had unfinished business.

Freshman Taliyah Henderson paced the Lancers with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Kylee Callahan scored 19 points and Medina added 16 points, six assists and four steals.

“We prepared for this,” Henderson said. “We have watched film on them so we knew was we were getting into. It was in a different environment that I’m used to but we got used to it pretty quickly and we were able to adapt.”

Early on Monday night, the Lancers were stunned by the shorter, quicker Eagles who played an aggressive style of defense, challenging every pass and trying to win every 50-50 ball in front of a decidedly pro-Flagstaff crowd.

But No. 5 Flagstaff's shooting was not up to par; it shot just 31% from the field,  and the patient Lancers finally took control after the second minute of the second quarter.

The Lancers went on a 21-1 run over the final 5:40 on the second quarter to take a 30-13 lead at halftime.

“We started pressuring them, we went to full court pressure and that helped us get settled in a lot of ways, and then after that, we talked about this before the game, we knew that they needed turnovers, they needed possessions. So it was about us taking care of the ball. It was a little sloppy out there.”

Salpointe Catholic’s Cambria Medina wins a loose ball off the tipoff against Flagstaff’s Sage Begay during Monday’s first half.

After Flagstaff (29-3) took a 12-9 lead in the first minute of the second quarter, Henderson hit a baseline jumper — then scored four more points quickly to get the Lancers going. Medina scored on a drive to the basket, then got a steal for an easy layup and Salpointe had a 19-12 lead. Callahan added four points and Tessa Hastings hit a 3-pointer right before the half to put Salpointe up by 17.

Flagstaff, which has been in the postseason for 15 straight seasons, never got closer than 10 in points the second half.

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