DENVER – In Saturday’s Class 5A girls basketball state championship game, the Northfield Nighthawks entered the game in the same position their opponent Roosevelt found itself last season – trying to claim that elusive first-ever title for its program.

After an exciting game and a late comeback from Northfield, defending champion Roosevelt proved it wasn’t yet ready to relinquish its crown. Riding a hot start and a huge first quarter, the Roosevelt Roughriders won 69-63 to go back-to-back for the first time in their program’s history.

“It was a grind,” Roosevelt head coach Enoch Miller said. “These kids have the weight of the world on them. Like, the entire time, every game this season, every game they stepped out there they were expected to win. That is really hard. I know I felt it as a coach and I know they felt it. They’d just never been in that position before. I’ve never been in that position before and it was really difficult.”

No. 2-seeded Roosevelt led 11-0 to open the game before No. 4 Northfield scored and the Roughriders led by as many as 19 points in the first half. Northfield, however, ended the second quarter on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 39-29 at halftime.

Northfield pulled within seven points in the third quarter and trailed by only eight to start the fourth. The Nighthawks cut the lead to two with 1 minute, 54 second left in the game but the Roughriders were able to regain control and hold on for the win.

“We just needed to slow down,” Roosevelt sophomore Kyla Hollier said. “We didn’t want to lose our heads or anything like that. They never give up. They were fast just like us, they were aggressive, they were boxing out, so it was awesome.”

Hollier was named Sportswomen of Colorado Player of the Game. Also in Saturday’s contest, Roosevelt junior Ryanne Bahnsen-Price collected her 1,000th point in the game.

“I was so excited,” Bahnsen-Price said. “We have five seniors and they get to go out with a state championship and a two-peat, so I’m so excited.”

Hollier (14.9 ppg) led all scorers with 26 points, going 9 for 17 from the field and also collecting 11 rebounds. Bahnsen-Price scored 15 points in her milestone performance and Maddie Moyers finished with 10 points.

For Northfield, leading scorer Madison Bethel (13.08 ppg) led her team with 16 points. Nashara Ellerbee had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Aliyah Herron also scored 14 points.

To reach the championship game, Roosevelt won 47-40 over No. 3 Mead in the Final Four on Friday. In the opposite semifinals, Northfield eliminated top-seeded Air Academy.