No. 1 Central Valley girls beats fifth-ranked Hamilton Heights in GEICO Nationals finals

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No. 1 Central Valley takes down No. 5 Hamilton Heights in GEICO Nationals

It looked like it had all slipped away. The perfect season. The national championship. The GEICO Nationals' crown.

But the top-ranked Bears from Central Valley (Spokane Valley, Wash.) survived a third-quarter nightmare and got 26 points from Stanford-bound Lexie Hull to pull out a wild 66-61 win Saturday over fifth-ranked Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the finals of the GEICO Nationals at Christ the King.

Before an ESPN2 television audience, Hull scored her team's final seven points, including an and-one three-point play with 9.7 seconds to clinch it. The 6-foot-1 senior made all 11 of her free throws, where Central Valley (29-0) was 21 of 22.

That ultimately was where the game was decided. Hamilton Heights, which got a game-high 32 points, five rebounds and six assists from McDonald's All-American Jazmine Massengill, made just 2-of-9 free throws in the first half when it trailed 36-26 and missed the front end of three one-and-ones.

Like the rest of their game, the Hawks (25-3) picked up their free-throw shooting in the second half, making 18-of-20, but they couldn't overcome the performances of Hull, Camryn Skaife (14 points, four 3-pointers) or Hull's twin sister Lacie Hull (nine points, eight rebounds) as Central Valley will be crowned with its first national title next week.

It was the second straight defeat in the finals of the GEICO Nationals for Hamilton Heights, which forced 10 third-quarter turnovers and to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a 43-41 lead heading into the fourth.

But coach Freddie Rehkow calmed his girls, made an adjustment on the press, and Central Valley responded with a 14-2 run to start the fourth.

"We just needed to treat this like another game," Lexie Hull said.

Down 10 in the fourth, Hamilton Heights didn't give up.

They went on a 12-4 spurt of its own capped with a 3-point hoop from Treasure Hunt, the coach's daughter. That made it 59-57 with 57 seconds left.

But Lexie Hull made four straight free throws to go up 63-57 with 27.7 seconds left. Once again, Hamilton Heights responded. Massengill made two free throws, then stole the inbounds pass and scored, making it 63-61 with 16 seconds left.

Central Valley, which won its previous 28 games by an average margin of 44 points, didn't fold, breaking the press. Rather than hold the ball out, Lexie Hall went to the basket and made the old-fashioned three-point play to clinch it.

"This is unreal. It feels like nothing we've ever accomplished before," Lexie Hull said.