The shortest and youngest team in the Class 1A girls basketball tournament had one thing in mind.

"When we woke up this morning and met," Granger sophomore Janae Klarich said, "that's what we all talked about: We want to give our senior a trophy for the first time here in how many years? Thirty?"

"We only have one senior," added freshman Italia Mengarelli, "and we really wanted to get a win in her last game."

Well, the Spartans did just that Saturday, topping Lakeside 46-28 to capture the third-place trophy. But that lone senior, Jessica Carpenter, provided a lot more than just inspiration.

She provided the "D."

The team's defensive stopper all season long, Carpenter spent the game in the face of Lakeside's leading scorer, guard Leslie Stillar, who finished with just three points and made just one of five shots from the field.

"She really caused their leading scorer some problems. That was huge," said Granger coach Andy Affholter, whose 23-5 team set both a school record for wins and also posted the program's highest state-tournament finish.

"She's worked her butt off all year long," Mengarelli said of Carpenter. "She stopped 32 (Stillar) real well all day."

With Stillar shut down, the Eagles (17-13) got eight points from Aleesha Denney but shot only 10-for-50 as a team against Granger's active defenders.

The Spartans' performance was a profound turnaround from their almost desultory semifinal showing against Burbank.

"We went into (the semifinal) not scared, but our game just wasn't there yesterday. Not today. We wanted it a lot more," said Mengarelli, who had a sensational all-around game with 5-for-7 shooting, 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Klarich and Ashlee Reddout both added 12 points, with Klarich also dishing out three assists. Samantha Zapien had a key three-point play early in the second half after the Eagles had cut Granger's lead to six points. Aja Maldonado had a couple of big rebounds. Basically, every Spartan played her role — just as had been the case all year.

Even with all those underclassmen?

"I just don't see us as a young team," Affholter said. "To me, young means inexperience. And our basketball IQ is very high. These are girls who come from families that have hauled them around for years to tournaments. They know the game."

And they knew they could play.

"At the start of the year, everybody thought we'd be at state," Mengarelli said. "But we didn't if we'd get a trophy."

On Saturday, the Spartans were simply unwilling to settle for sixth when third was there for the taking.

"We figured, today is the last game of the season," Klarich said. "There's no reason to hold anything back. Our offense just flowed today. There was no 'tense' in anything we did. Everything just flowed."

Next year, Granger will be without their tallest player and best defender — Carpenter — but barring moves and transfers, the rest of the team should be back.

"We'll still be short," Mengarelli said. "I think we're done growing."

But, almost certainly, not done winning.