Connell learned that hard lesson Friday night when Granger’s smooth-handed junior fired in seven 3-pointers, scored a career-high 27 points and carried the Spartans to a 41-34 victory and into Saturday’s championship game.

“Seven? Wow, I can’t even remember shooting that much, just that a lot of them went in,” said Klarich, who tied the tournament record for treys. “I’ve had some good games in here, but to do it today -- it’s just crazy.”

In a reversal of Connell’s 45-31 win over Granger in December, the Spartans packed their defense in tight around the Eagles’ tall girls and encouraged perimeter shooting. Connell obliged by hoisting 22 shots from long distance and only five went in, including three in the final five minutes after Granger opened a 14-point lead.

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Klarich’s seventh 3-pointer came with 5:03 left for a 35-21 lead, evidence of another outstanding defensive effort after holding Cascade and Lynden Christian to 32 points each.

“The last time we played Connell it was obviously not a great game for us, so this was a revenge thing,” said junior Sam Zapien, a 5-8 post at the base of that defense. “We just told each other -- go as hard as we can for as long as we can.”

A rematch with SCAC rival Connell went a long way toward refocusing the Spartans after Thursday’s emotional win over Lynden Christian. Coach Andy Affholter feared a letdown but -- despite a quick early deficit of 5-0 against Connell -- it never happened.

“I credit coach for that because after we beat (LC) he asked us, ‘Are you satisfied,’” said Zapien, who had eight points. “None of us were even close.”

“I wasn’t that worried about it because we have just super-competitive players,” Klarich added. “We didn’t want to beat Lynden Christian, then go two-and-out. We wanted to prove it was not a once-in-a-lifetime deal.”

Klarich herself saw to that, scoring 19 of her team’s first 24 points and shining offensively when everyone else on the floor was locked in a defensive tug-of-war. Granger led 19-15 at halftime, allowing 6-foot-2 Eva Grassel just two baskets off high lobs, and then the Spartans intensified the effort even more by holding Connell to one field goal and six points in the third quarter.

“It wasn’t our best game, but we battled and sort of grinded it out,” Affholter said. “Nobody could buy a basket, so thank goodness Janae was on fire. We ran a lot of plays through her, did a decoy with her also, but she was in some kind of zone.”

And it’s not like Klarich just reared back and chucked. She hit on 7 of 10 attempts from long range and faced decent defense from Connell’s Debbie Molsbarger.

“Janae stepped up huge,” Zapien said of her teammate. “She’s been a little frustrated this season, thinking she should be shooting better, but she does when we really need it. She was amazing.”

Klarich barely averaged eight points in the regular season, but she has hit six 3-pointers in the SunDome before and was at her best last year when Granger placed third at state.

“Actually she hasn’t shot that well since midseason, but we’ve been working hard on that,” Affholter noted. “She’s been trying to regain some rhythm. She had it today and if she hadn’t, we’d probably be playing for third and sixth.”

Instead, Granger’s girls (22-4) will make the program’s first championship appearance Saturday at 7 and will face top-ranked Seattle Christian.

“We came back with the same fire we had against Lynden Christian,” Klarich said. “We’ll have that same fire again, I’m sure of it.”