LOVELAND – The Sedgwick County girls basketball team won its first Class 2A state championship title and the Cougars needed to get by a familiar foe to win it.

No. 2-seeded Sedgwick County held off Lower Platte rival and top-seeded Merino, 47-43, to win the Class 2A state championship game at the Budweiser Events Center Saturday night.

“It’s such a great feeling,” Sedgwick County’s senior Allie Bernhardt said. “It’s just crazy and I’m so excited and proud of our team.”

It was the third time the two squads have faced this season. Merino won the first one, 55-49 in the league match and the Cougars edged Merino in the postseason bout 63-54.

“I don’t think they changed things up since the last time we played them,” said Sedgwick County’s coach Scott Dille. “(Defensively), we wanted to make them work.”

Bernardt and Lainee Nein each had the tough tasks of containing Merino’s junior Makenna Sutter, which is not an easy task.

“She’s a great player, we just didn’t want to give her anything easy,” Nein said. “We know them well. They are a tough team, we just had to work to beat them.”

It was a game of runs for the two powerhouses. The Cougars struck first jumping out to a 12-2 advantage early. Abigail Dille hit back-to-back treys to give the Cougars an early 10-point advantage.

Merino wasn’t going to go away. Makenna Sutter hit a trey and Kya Piel made a basket to bring the Rams within 15-7 after the first quarter.

Merino got rolling in the second, opening the quarter with a 10-2 run. Brooklyn and Makenna Sutter scored back-to-back baskets and then freshman Jay Lynch scored a pair of baskets to tie the game at 17.  A free throw by Piel gave Merino its first lead at 18-17. Sedgwick County answered to close the half with seven consecutive points, Avery Goddard scored the final four points to push the lead to 24-18 at the half.

Once again, Merino went in a run to open the second half. Makenna Sutter brought the Rams within three but a three-point play by Kierra Ehnes helped the Cougars take a 34-28 lead into the fourth.

Baskets by Emily Fowler and Nein pushed Sedgwick County’s lead to 10, but Merino wouldn’t go away. Piel and Makenna Sutter brought the Rams within 39-35 with three minutes to go. Goddard and Jensen Renquist answered to extend the lead to seven with a minute left in the game.

Brooklyn Sutter hit a trey and Jay Lynch made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to two, but Nein hit three clutch free throws to seal the victory.

“I was very nervous,” Lainee Nein said. “The hard work paid off, it’s an amazing feeling. I knew I needed to hit them for our team. The crowd doesn’t faze me.”

Makenna Sutter finished with 12 points to lead Merino, while Nein had 11 to lead Sedgwick County.

Sedgwick County ended the season 22-5 overall, while Merino finished the season 23-4 overall.