While the Como Park offense took a while to get going, their defense started stepping up and forcing some mistakes. Simley had a hard time fighting off the Cougars at times, and it allowed Como Park to gradually close the gap throughout the first half.

A key possession came in the final six seconds of the first half. After a timeout by Como Park allowed the Cougars to draw up a play, the Spartans locked down and didn’t allow a shot to end the half to take a 37-32 lead into halftime.

“We did a good job of denying what we thought the play was going for after their substitution,” Coach Stensgard said. “The lead at the half kept us going because we knew we were in for a battle and I think we did a good job of handling it in the second half.” 

The fouls that both teams racked up in the first half played more and more of a role as the second half went along, with both teams having to sub players in and out to manage the foul trouble some of their best players found themselves in.

“We couldn’t play as physically as we wanted to,” Sydney Stensgard said. “Once we adjusted to it, we were able to work around it.”

Three players between the two teams fouled out in the final few minutes, which was a testament to how tightly the teams were playing throughout the second half.

“It hurt losing Ti-Ti [Tiwaah Danso],” Acheampomaa Danso said of her sister fouling out late in the game. “Everyone came together and we put more effort into keeping our defense straight-up.”

It was a technical foul assessed to Como Park head coach Alexis Gray-Lawson that all but sealed Simley’s victory. Coming with 2:44 left and with Simley at the free-throw line leading by 10, 63-53, the technical foul added two extra free throws and made it a 13-point game, 66-53, when all the free throws were finished.

“It gave us a chance to slow down and talk to each other,” Danso said. “We made sure that we could figure things out and burn the clock out.”

Tough defense by Como Park over the final two minutes of play forced a number of jump balls that kept possession moving between the two teams quickly, but the Cougars simply couldn’t find enough shots to make a comeback.

“I’m so excited,” Sydney Stensgard said. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a kid.”

Sophomore guards Ronnie Porter (13 points) and Kaylynn Asberry (20 points) were the leading scorers for Como Park. Stensgard finished with 29 points, and Danso turned in an impressive double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Having missed the state tournament by one point two years ago, Coach Stensgard is ready to prepare his team for state.

“We were here two years ago and we lost by one,” Stensgard said. “We knew this would be a special year but this tops it off for sure.”