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Near the end of Anchorage Christian's 54-34 girls 3A championship victory Saturday, the Barrow Whalers tried to make a late run by fouling the Lions. Desperate to get a whistle that would stop the clock, Barrow's Ninna Pili grabbed ACS's Anna Simmers from behind and wrapped her arms around her. It was the closest Barrow came to stopping Simmers all game. Moments later, the Lions had their arms wrapped around each other in a jubilant team huddle near center court at Sullivan Arena. They celebrated a state championship two seasons in the making, one that capped a 25-1 season and gave the Lions their first Class 3A girls title, a year after watching one slip away to the Whalers. "Oh my gosh," ACS senior guard Bailey White said. "This is the highest feeling. It's awesome." Coach Daniel Skipworth made sure White, Nychele Fischetti and Sally Volstad were on the court for the final buzzer, a nice gesture for ACS's only three seniors. Skipworth calls White, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard whose poise and energy keeps the Lions together even when she isn't hitting her shots, a dream player who will be impossible to replace. Don't pity Skipworth and the Lions too much, though. If White is a coach's dream, Simmers is an opponent's nightmare -- and she'll be back next season. Simmers, a wicked blend of height and speed, had a monster championship game, scoring 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and hauling down 15 rebounds. "We put our most aggressive defender on her," Barrow coach Ryan Myers said, "but you don't stop her. She's gonna get rebounds and she's gonna get to the basket. She's amazingly quick." A 5-10 junior who is a state hurdling champion in track, Simmers had 11 rebounds in the first half as ACS took control with a 22-12 rebounding edge.That left Barrow with few second chances. The Whalers were one-and-done on almost every possession, getting just three offensive rebounds and failing to convert any of them into second-chance points. "The last two nights we were getting outrebounded," White said, "so today we were like, rebound, rebound, rebound. No second shots for Barrow." No easy shots for Barrow, either. ACS's man defense made the Whalers work hard for shots. Even when the Whalers got open, they weren't hitting. Barrow shot just 29 percent from the field and scored about 20 points below its season scoring average."We were cold, they were hot. And to be honest, they had the better team this season," Myers said. "There have been times this year when we've hit 10 three-pointers in a night, and tonight we could not buy a bucket." Still, the Lions couldn't relax until well into the fourth quarter. ACS lost to Barrow 54-51 in the title game last year and knows all too well how explosive the Whalers can be. Even though her team led 27-13 at the half, Simmers said she wasn't comfortable until the second half of the final quarter. "I've seen too many comebacks," she said. In a way, the whole season was a comeback for the Lions. The championship-game loss of a year ago defined their season, which was all about getting back in the title game and scripting a different ending. The hurt of losing last year's championship fueled the Lions every day. Now, the Whalers are the team motivated by disappointment. Although Barrow loses three key players -- Jennifer Martelle (11 points), Princess Eduarte (7 points, 3 assists) and Julieanna Williams -- they have plenty of talent returning. The Whalers have been in three straight championship games and four of the last six, and they have a history of quickly reloading. This year's JV team was undefeated, Myers said, with its closest game being a 16-point victory. The future looks promising for ACS too. Simmers and her sister, 5-11 sophomore Debbiey (11 points), will be back, as will cool-headed point guard Chelsea Dyson (9 points, 5 rebounds). "I told Ryan at the postgame handshake, hey, let's just make this a tradition to meet every year in the championship game," Skipworth said. Sounds good to the Whalers. Myers said next year's team will be hungry to make up for Saturday's defeat -- just as this year's Lions sought to make amends for the 2007 championship-game loss. "I wouldn't mind the incentive," Myers said. "That and someone big and athletic to guard Anna."