Mt. Ararat’s Julianna Allen drives to basket between Grace LaBree, left, and Mallory Lausier of Hampden Academy. Allen finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Derek Davis/Portland Press Heral

AUGUSTA — Before last the Class A championship game, the Mt. Ararat girls basketball team didn’t have the best experience in the capital this season.

On Jan. 3, Mt. Ararat fell to Cony in Augusta. The visiting Eagles held a halftime lead but were overwhelmed by a young 3-point shooting Rams squad in the third quarter. The 57-53 defeat was the second in five games for Mt. Ararat, widely considered the preseason favorite in A South.

At practice the next day, head coach Julie Petrie talked to her team about the importance of moving on.

“As any team does, you reflect on your game and move on,” Petrie said. “But you know, a loss doesn’t define us. We’d rather lose now and our goal from here on out is to play our best, so that we’re playing our best by the end of the season. It felt like something clicked after that.”

Mt. Ararat would not lose the rest of the way, winning 15 straight on the way to its first state championship in program history.

Junior forward Julianna Allen, whose 17 points and 12 rebounds were instrumental in Mt. Ararat’s 43-31 title win over Hampden Academy, said the January game was in the back of her mind as she took the Civic Center court on Friday night.

“We didn’t want to come to Augusta again just to lose,” Allen said. “We came for the Gold Ball, and we got it.”

Added senior guard Kennedy Lampert: “We can’t overlook teams. We can’t come into this thinking ‘Oh, we were the one seed last year.’ We need to come in with a full 100% and be there for every single game. We just felt like that game we weren’t exactly with it. So after that, it lit a fire under us to keep going.”

Mt. Ararat experienced a similar wake-up call in the regional quarterfinals, when it trailed No. 8 Westbrook by 17 points late in the third quarter. Mt. Ararat ended the third quarter on a 9-0 run and swung the momentum toward its bench. Allen and junior guards Jaelyn and Jenna Jensen scored a combined 13 points to help the Eagles rally for a 51-50 victory.

The Eagles also shifted their defensive intensity after the Cony loss, something opposing coaches routinely pointed out as a difference-maker.

“We know our bread and butter is defense, so we just kind of really made a commitment to play defense as hard as we could every single game, knowing that that would help us win, even if we weren’t producing on offense,” Petrie said. “I think that was kind of a testament to our game the other night (against Hampden). I mean, it clearly was not our best offensive game, but I think defensively, we really locked down.”

In the first half of the Class A final, Mt. Ararat committed more turnovers (eight) than made baskets (six), yet still led 14-12 at the break. Once the second half began, the Eagles extended their lead to 21-14 thanks to transition baskets created by a strong defense.

Mt. Ararat teammates celebrate a basket in the fourth quarter. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

“We were a little stressed,” Jenna Jensen said. “I mean, we were all in our heads, I think. But once we started talking, and we were like, ‘We need to calm down on offense and play good defense,’ we were all set.”

Petrie said her players’ confidence and execution of the defensive sets improved through the back half of the season. After Jan. 3, the Eagles never allowed more than 57 points and outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.

In the regional semifinal against rival Brunswick, Mt. Ararat almost lost a double-digit lead of its own, but kept the defending champions scoreless for the last 4:56 of the game before winning 46-38. In the regional final, the Eagles never trailed and shuttered Gray-New Gloucester’s offense (16 first half points) en route to a 57-37 victory at the Portland Expo.

“I do really think that we grew together after that Cony game,” Petrie said. “Not that we didn’t get along, but our chemistry just, I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the planets aligning or something, but they’re just very, very, very unselfish and truly a team. There was no drama, there’s no cliques, there’s nothing like that. How many teams, all their players, their starting five, get on the court before the tip, and they give each other a hug?”

In the state final, the Eagles led by just seven with 2:29 remaining in the game. But there would be no Hampden comeback, as Mt. Ararat closed it out at the free-throw line.

Afterward, as Lampert walked back toward the bus, she carried a “State Champion” sign under her arm and a cut net hung around her neck.

“It feels insane. This has been a dream since freshman year, and I just can’t believe we did it. We worked so hard for this.”