There has been some impressive string of state titles in Arizona girls basketball history.

Six titles in eight years.

That more than qualifies as Millennium continues to push itself in the midst of one of the best runs in state history.

Millennium overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the Open Division girls basketball championship 58-52 in overtime against Sandra Day O’Connor on Saturday at Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

“It shows we are one of the best programs in the state and the goal is to be one of the best programs in the country,” Millennium coach Danny Soliman said. “This shows the pipeline we have with our players. It’s the experience and resilience of the kids. It’s all them.”

It started back in 2019 when the Tigers ran off a string of four in a row, came up short the following two seasons, but have hoisted the gold ball two years in a row.

The Open has existed four seasons and the Tigers have appeared in four of them becoming the first program to win back-to-back.

This one was sealed when Millennium scored the first six points of the four-minute overtime period.

Winning another was in doubt in the fourth quarter against the Eagles as SDO led 42-34 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from the left corner by Francesca Sofia.

Some teams without pedigree would have pressed in the situation and never cut into the lead.

Millennium pressed – defensively – to get back into and took the lead at 45-43 on freshman MVP Amaya Ribbens-Brown short jumper.

“We told them we’ve been her before,” said Soliman, who took over the program for the 2022-23 season and has two state titles. “We switched up to a man-press. The rest was the kids. They executed every little detail. They were great.”

There are times in practice when the players are done with the amount press the program does. Some portion of every single practice is dedicated to the press.

It has purpose.

It gets them in shape. It’s draining. It prepares. It pushes them to limit. It tests them. It builds comradery and muscle memory.

Championship moments.

“It can be rough, and it pushes you,” junior guard Dashia Richardson said. “We love to compete and shout out to our scout team for preparing us for this moment.”

SDO (24-3) shot 47 percent from the field including 46 percent from 3-point through three quarters and built an eight-point advantage in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter and OT, the Eagles shot 2 for 16 from the field. It will feel like they let one slip away, and wonder what if, but once it wears off and it is time to reflect, it will be clear they are only the second team in program history to make a championship game.

“Our decision making and shot selection and too many turnovers,” Eagles coach Charles Wilson said. “Big games and moments come down to execution. It’s the disappointing part because we’ve been good at those things all year.

“We did some really good things this year. It doesn’t feel great right now, but we had really good season.”

The Eagles were led by Ava Schooler’s 22 points, with 18 coming in the first three quarters, and Audrey Bhesania with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

It just wasn’t sustained for four quarters, and it let a proven championship squad to get back to doing their thing – win.

Ribbens-Brown had 17 points and six rebounds, Richardson had 14 points and four rebounds, while Mariah Brownlee had 13 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

All three players return next year for the Tigers (25-4).

“We just made history,” Ribbens-Brown said. “No other team has done that. It means so much, but it is just the start.”