[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2009 Class 1B girls state tournament ]

Colton -- K. Moser 7-15 8-11 24, H. Moser 0-2 1-2 1, Heaslet 0-0 0-0 0, Spence 0-1 1-2 1, Meyer 2-4 2-2 8, Nygreen 0-3 0-0 0, Druffel 1-7 2-4 4, Vincent 0-0 0-0 0, Kramer 4-7 2-6 10. Totals 14-39 16-27 48.

St. John-Endicott -- Simon 3-13 0-2 6, McCanna 3-6 1-4 7, FitzGerald 3-3 1-2 7, Raynor 1-4 0-1 2, Luft 2-13 2-4 6, Winters 1-10 5-7 7, Jensema 0-0 0-0 0, Van Lith 3-7 4-5 10. Totals 16-56 13-25 45.

Colton

St. John-Endicott

3-point goals--C 4-18 (K. Moser 2-3, Meyer 2-4, Kramer 0-1, H. Moser 0-2, Nygreen 0-3, Druffel 0-5), SJE 0-4 (Raynor 0-1, Luft 0-1, Winters 0-2). Rebounds--C 43 (K. Moser 7, Druffel 7), SJE 38 (Luft 12). Assists--C 8 (Druffel 3), SJE 4 (Raynor 2, Winters 2). Steals--C 5 (Druffel 2), SJE 12 (Winters 3, Raynor 3). Blocked shots--C 5 (Spence 2), SJE 7 (Van Lith 5). Fouled out--Spence, FitzGerald. Total fouls--C 20, SJE 24. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--C 27, SJE 17.

Seconds earlier she had been the epitome of poise.

Cooly and calmly, Kelsey Moser made two free throws with 18 seconds left to put the finishing touches on Colton's 48-45 victory over St. John-Endicott, which in turn capped an unbeaten Class 1B state championship season.

Then amid the Wildcats' celebration Saturday night in the SunDome, the 5-foot-7 junior's excitement bubbled to the surface.

"Everybody scored, everybody rebounded, everybody played defense," shouted Moser, the tournament's MVP, while anxiously awaiting her turn to climb a ladder and cut down a portion of a net. "This was a team effort.

"How are we going to celebrate? I have no idea, but I'm sure it'll be crazy and it'll be fun. We'll be up all night."

And why not?

Top-ranked Colton (24-0) had placed third in the very first 1B tourney, held here in 2007. Last year the Wildcats were runners-up to Garfield-Palouse, and this time they won it all.

To do it, Colton had to erase a 44-40 deficit over the final 3:11 against a scrappy SJE team it had beaten three times previously.

"This was just a street brawl," Wildcats coach Clark Vining said. "When you play a team for the fourth time, there are no secrets."

Certainly not regarding the talents of Moser, who carried a 16.2 scoring average coming in and produced 24 this time for a four-game tournament-best total of 69 (17.2 average).

Mollie Kramer, a reserve, was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 10. Colton shot only 36 percent and committed 27 turnovers against SJE's full-court pressure, but held the third-ranked Eagles (19-5) to 28 percent shooting while outrebounding them 43-38.

Moser scored 15 points from the start of the third quarter through the early seconds of the fourth, at which point Colton led 36-31. But Kelly Van Lith, a 5-10 junior who had 10 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots despite missing part of the second half with foul trouble, scored the final five points of a 9-0 run that put St. John-Endicott up 44-40.

Chelsea Meyer's 3-pointer with 2:18 to play made it 45-44, Colton, before the Wildcats' Courtney Druffel and Meyer exchanged free throws.