The Conant girls basketball team won its second Class M championship in the last three years by beating Campbell 53-48 on Wednesday at Southern New Hampshire University.
As the eighth seed, the Orioles took one of the more difficult paths to the finals. They had to beat ninth seeded Hopkinton, a team they split with during the regular season, and then go on the road to face top ranked Somersworth.
Conant earned the road victory and then knocked off fourth seeded Mascoma in the semifinals to advance to Wednesday’s title game.
And all that stood in front of the Orioles and another banner was the Cougars, the number two team.
Conant trailed by as many as 10 early in the second quarter, but a 13-3 run tied the game at 24 with a little over a minute remaining in the half.
Campbell scored the final four points of the half, but the Orioles still had the momentum.
Brooke Springfield scored 11 of her game high 26 in the second quarter and collected six more in the third, as Conant outscored Campbell 19-3 for a 43-31 lead going into the fourth.
Holly Hodgman scored six in the third and Kim Daniels added five, as the Orioles stepped it up on both ends of the floor. The Cougars never got any closer than seven in the final quarter.
Hodgman finished with 12 points and a career high 14 rebounds, while Daniels scored 10.
Conant was 17-5 on the season and won its last eight games, including the playoffs.