Thatcher's girls basketball program had been in a title drought after drinking quite often at the title well a decade or so ago. They quenched that thirst on Saturday afternoon with late heroics from Macee Bingham, Cammy Nicholas and others to turn back Ganado, 36-33, in the Division IV championship game at Precott Valley Event Center.

Thatcher (23-6) hadn't won a title since 2004 when the Eagles captured the fourth of four titles in a row. Overall Saturday's title was the seventh in school history. Ganado (24-11) was vying for its second title. It won the only one in 2007.

Emily Norton's putback with 32 seconds left allowed Thatcher to regain a fourth-quarter lead it had lost in the nearly three minutes earlier. Thatcher forced a Ganado turnover after Norton's basket and had possession with 16 seconds left. Thatcher broke pressure applied by Ganado and got an easy layup fro Sarah Green with five seconds left. Ganado wasn't able to get off a shot to tie in the final five seconds.

Thatcher seemingly had the game in hand at intermission with a 21-10 lead. That lead was as large as 20-5 earlier in the second period. Both teams came out cold in the second half, but Ganado caught fire scoring the first points of the third period after more than four minutes elapsed. Ganado outscored Thatcher 10-2 in the third to pull within 23-20 with a quarter left. Outside shooting from JaeLynn Curley and Tierra James sparked Ganado's rally.

Ganado's push continued in the final period, culminating in a 31-28 lead, thanks to seven more points from Curley.  Curley ended up leading Ganado with 15 points.

With Ganado going to fourn corners with a 31-28 lead with 2:51 to play, Thatcher increased the pressure and forced back-to-back turnovers. The result -- a layup by Macee Bingham and two free throws from Nicholas to pull the Eagles in front 32-31. Curley's final basket --- just inside the three-point line -- put Ganado ahead by one for the final time.

Bingham finished with a team-high 11 points - nine in the first half that had Ganado on the ropes. Nicholas added nine points, Norton seven and Sarah Green six for Thatcher.