When things got scary for Charles Wright in the Class 1A boys championship game, Gerald Hill did what everybody expected him to do.

He took over.

Charles Wright's C.J. Dale takes a turn holding the championship trophy after his team's 53-48 win over River View on Saturday night in the SunDome.   JACKIE JOHNSTON/Associated Press

The 6-foot-4 senior scored 17 of his team’s 20 points over a 13-minute stretch of the second half, including 11 in a row after River View took a two-point lead early in the final period, to lift the Tarriers to a 53-48 triumph.

“I just knew I had to do it,” said Hill, who transferred prior to the year from 4A Curtis, where he had been MVP of the SPSL South. “My teammates had worked too hard for us not to win this thing. I knew I had to take over and do whatever it took to win — rebound, score, pass.”

But every time Hill would score, the Panthers would respond, usually with senior Kyle Gier — the game’s leading scorer with 19 points — driving to the basket for a twisting layup. And River View’s penchant for 3-pointers kept the game in doubt.

“It was really tense,” Hill said. “With the way those guys could shoot lights-out, there was never a moment when I thought the game was over. Not until I heard that final buzzer would it be over, so I just kept playing my heart out.”

The difference in the game came at the foul line, where River View (23-4) missed all five of its fourth-quarter free throws — including the front end of two one-and-ones — while Charles Wright (22-6) went 8-for-9 in the final period.

“That,” said River View coach Roger Sonderland, “was the ball game.”

But the game was still in doubt when Charles Wright’s Jorden Hand twice went to the foul line to shoot one-and-ones in the final 14 seconds, each time with his team up by three points.

How did he stay calm?

“I was just thinking of a song, my favorite song,” Hand said. “It worked.” He drained all four free throws.

The game was one of ebbs and flows, with Patrick Philley scoring 14 of his 17 points in the first half as Charles Wright built a 23-13 lead. But a 9-0 River View run over 2:50 of the third and fourth quarters put the Panthers up 40-38 — and turned Hill into a scoring machine.

“He took the game over,” Tarriers coach Tyler Francis said. “He wanted the ball.”

And the Panthers couldn’t stop him when he got it.

“He is tough to guard,” Sonderland said. “We had a great athlete (Washington State-bound linebacker Mike Ledgerwood) on him, and he could still score over and around him.”