One year ago, when Cumberland Valley lost to Spring-Ford in the PIAA Class AAAA girls' basketball finals, the Eagles allowed the Rams to score 60 points.
If the rematch on Friday night at Giant Center was going to be different, Cumberland Valley knew that could not happen again.
"We knew that if we were going to beat them, we needed a better defensive effort," Cumberland Valley head coach Bill Wolf said.
The Eagles defeated Spring-Ford 49-30 in the championships game, a contest in which Cumberland Valley did play some of its best defense of the season.
In the first half, and the first quarter particularly, the Eagles (28-5) prevented the Rams (27-7) from getting shots inside. Star guard Sammy Stipa was not able to drive into the paint, and forward Shelby Mueller did not get touches on the post.
"We focused on stopping Stipa and Mueller, Stipa especially," Wolf said. "We didn't want to extend on her too much and let her beat us off the dribble. ... We were still playing her aggressive, but not letting her get a head of steam."
Click here for Jeff Reinhart's recap of Cumberland Valley's state championship victory
In the first half, the duty of guarding Stipa fell to junior guard Jen Falconer.
"I just tried to contain her," Falconer said. "I was staying behind the 3-point line and denying her the ball."
Guarding Stipa was a tough task in itself, but it was doubly hard on Falconer, who has had a sinus infection this week.
"It was hard sometimes because I couldn't breathe," Falconer said.
But it was working. Stipa did not score in the first quarter as Cumberland Valley built an 11-4 lead. The Rams shot just 6-for-20, mostly jumpers, in the first half.
"We knew if we could play better defense, we could win," Falconer said.
But a little well-timed offense helped as well. After Spring-Ford had cut a 12-point deficit to six, a 3-point basket by Taylor Sneidman with three second left in the half put the Eagles up 23-14 at intermission.
"That kind of stopped their momentum," Wolf said.
In the second half, freshman guard Katelyn Jekot took over the defense on Stipa while Falconer got a rest on the bench. Stipa did finish with a team-high 11 points, but shot just 3-for-11 from the floor.
Spring-Ford finished 9-for-44 from the floor.
In addition to losing last year's state final to Spring-Ford, the Eagles also lost to the Rams in a non-league game in February. Both contests were decided by 15 points.
But the Eagles believed they had an advantage this time that they did not have before. Last year's title game was the first contest in Giant Center for Cumberland Valley, and their first head-to-head battle with the Rams. Friday's game was the Eagles' third against Spring-Ford and third in Giant Center.
"We were all prepared for what was going to happen, with the huge crowd and huge stadium," Falconer said.
Cumberland Valley did seem to have the eyes for long shooting in Giant Center. The Eagles were 5-for-12 from 3-point range, while the Rams were 1-for-9.
The Eagles were also 8-for-9 from the free throw line.