Renee Dalrymple hobbled off the court just before halftime, her swollen right ankle far too tender for full weight. Worse yet, it was the same foot that last year, with a broken bone, caused her to miss nearly two months of the season.

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Medically it was a good time for a break, perhaps even a long one, but emotionally it wasn't even close.

With a trophy on the line in the Class 1B state tournament, the Sunnyside Christian senior didn't consider sitting out the second half of a loser-out game Friday against North Sound Christian.

"Not an option," said Dalrymple, normally a stream of smiles and giggles but stone-faced with these words. "At first I thought, oh no, not this again. But at halftime we taped it again so I could hardly feel it. I was ready."

And so, after some early fidgeting, were the Knights.

Shaking off some dicey perimeter shooting and powered inside by Dalrymple's double-double, Sunnyside Christian eliminated the Lions 50-38 to clinch the program's fifth straight trophy and 12th overall.

The Knights (20-5) will play Bickleton (18-8) in an all-Greater Columbia B League matchup Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for fourth and seventh places.

"It took us a while to get going," said Dalrymple, who contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds in her best post performance of the tournament. "It was our heart. We had to want it and we played like that in the second half."

Dalrymple's back-to-back putbacks in the second quarter gave the Knights the lead for good and triggered an 11-0 run that stretched into the third period.

But playmaker Melissa Castor kept North Sound in the game, scoring 26 of the Lions' 38 points with four 3-pointers. Castor's two free throws followed by a field goal early in the final period drew North Sound within 38-31 and made SC coach Al Smeenk nervous.

"Last night was so draining, to give that much energy physically and psychologically," he said, referring to Thursday's two-point quarterfinal loss. "Today they say, 'Oh, we're ready,' but you're never sure. It was a tough start, but the girls really pulled themselves together and fought for the win."

Marisa Broersma converted a 3-point play with 5:08 left to answer Castor's flurry and that started a 12-3 clinching run.

"It was a very important game because we knew Bickleton had already won," Dalrymple said. "We were league champions and we would feel real bad if Bickleton got a trophy and we didn't."

Analisa Van Oostrum made 6 of 8 free throws and scored a team-high 14 points, and Kelly Newhouse complimented Dalrymple inside with eight points and seven rebounds to offset SC's 0-for-12 effort from 3-point range.

"I didn't have many words of wisdom at halftime," said Smeenk, whose team led 22-16 at the break. "Just that if you felt bad last night, you'll feel worse with a loss today. The kids dug deep and played more of their game in the second half. This kind of game is always tough, but we got through it."