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For most teams, a scoreless quarter in a championship game would be more than enough to derail them from their ultimate goal of winning a title.

However, Washburn isn’t most teams.

Leading by 11 at the half over Cosby in the District 2-1A Championship game, the Lady Pirates went scoreless in the third quarter while Cosby scored 12 to take a one-point lead. Instead of bowing their heads and accepting defeat, Washburn fought back and scored the first nine points of the fourth. Cosby made a push in the final minute but it wasn’t enough as Washburn took the title with a 48-45 victory.

It wasn’t the first time this season that Washburn struggled to score against Cosby. However, both times the Lady Pirates have been able to respond.

“Last time we played them and beat them by one, we didn’t score for the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter,” Washburn coach Daniel Bishop said. “I told the girls that we went a whole quarter on both sides of the half and didn’t score a point but still found a way to win a basketball game. That’s what I reminded them in the third quarter. Think back to 13 days ago, and we did the exact same thing. Shots will start falling, and they did. They didn’t waver. It would have been easy to get discouraged, but we’ve been there before.”

The win gives Washburn a 22-10 record for the season and their first District Title since 2007. The Lady Pirates broke the school record for wins in a season and now host a Region 1-1A first round matchup on Friday, taking on Unaka.

“It has been a special ride,” Bishop said. “I’ve been trying to enjoy every minute of it at the moment. I just told them that I’ve been doing this for 13-14 years and haven’t got to experience this moment. It’s been an uphill climb. Hats off to Cosby, they’ve been the Kings of the conference. I’m just super proud of our team and what they have been able to do.”

For Cosby, the loss ends a streak of five straight District Tournament Championships.

The Lady Eagles didn’t make it easy on Washburn, however, Trailing by 10 with 31 seconds remaining, Ali Smith drilled a 3-pointer. Following two missed free throws by the Lady Pirates, Shylee Shelton put up a long 3-pointer that found its way through the net and made it 46-42 with 11 seconds to go.

From there, Cosby forced a five-second violation on the inbounds, and Smith hit another 3-pointer to make it 46-45 with six seconds left. Braelyn Coffey hit two free throws to make it 48-45, and Shelton’s halfcourt heave just rimmed out at the buzzer to give Washburn the win.

“She had a good look at the rim, but it just went down and out,” Cosby coach Cody Lowe said. “You just can’t wait until your backs against the wall to make plays. Credit to Washburn tonight. They were the better team and deserve it. Daniel does a great job. Playing at their place, I knew it was going to be a dogfight and great environment and it was. They just made the plays down the stretch, and we didn’t. Credit to Washburn.”

For Washburn, Coffey led the way with 21 points and 18 rebounds. Coffey was especially huge in the final eight minutes, scoring 13 of her teams 20 points.

Coffey has been the leader for Washburn this year, the Co-Player of the Year in the conference, and showed why in the fourth quarter.

“Braelyn has been consistent all year,” Bishop said. “When we need a play or someone to step up and get momentum, Braelyn is who we count on. She’s Co-Player of the Year for a reason. I know she may not score 30-40 points a game, but she’s consistent for us and one of the best players in this conference. She showed that tonight.”

Other scorers for Washburn were Megan Beeler with nine points, Ebany Hill with seven points, Hannah Williams with six points, Saylor Clay with three points and Rylie Nicely with two points.

Beeler and Williams also came up big on the defensive end of the court, as they were tasked to guard Cosby star Shylee Shelton. Shelton, who scored 50 points in the Lady Eagles District Semifinals win, still managed 23 points in the game. However, all 23 points were contested as Beeler and Williams face guarded her the whole way.

That was none more evident than the first possession of the game as Cosby went a full minute with the ball but could not score as Beeler didn’t give Shelton any space.

“Shylee is a great player,” Bishop said. “She’s hard to stop. Our gameplan was to slow her down. Megan Beeler and Hannah Williams stepped up and accepted the challenge. I think the first possession set the tone. It got the crowd into it and got us ready to play. Those two girls did an extremely great job.”

Along with Shelton’s 23 points, Smith added 12 points while Alexus McGaha and Ariel Ottinger each added five points for Cosby.

It was a back-and-forth start to the game as Washburn led 5-4 before a Hill basket and Beeler three gave them a six-point lead and forced a Cosby timeout. The Lady Eagles hit a free throw following the timeout, but Washburn scored five more and took a 15-5 lead. The Lady Pirates kept it going and led 16-9 after one.

In the second, Washburn continued to surge as Coffey scored the first five points of the quarter to give them a 21-9 lead. The lead stayed there until the final shot of half as Shelton was fouled on a three. She hit two free throws to make it 28-17 at the break.

The game turned in the third quarter as the Lady Eagles scored all 12 points to take a 29-28 lead into the fourth. Shelton had seven points in the third.

“I just told them to start chipping away,” Lowe said. “It was 11 at the half, and I said let’s cut it in half and get it to five to start the fourth. But we ended up getting the one-point lead. It was just unfortunate (in the fourth). We just couldn’t get defensive stops when we needed them. Their guards did a good job of getting to the rim and making plays and making free throws.”

In the fourth, Nicely finally got the Lady Pirates on the board and gave them a 30-29 lead they would not relinquish. Clay scored after that before Coffey had five straight to go up 37-29. Cosby got the lead down to three with two minutes to go, but a Coffey basket and Hill free throws upped the Washburn lead back to seven.

Three more free throws, one from Williams and two from Coffey, made it a 10-point game with 31 seconds left. That’s when Cosby made their charge but it wasn’t enough.

Both teams will host Region 1-1A games on Friday, Cosby playing Cloudland and Washburn taking on Unaka.

While Friday is a big one and one that Bishop will have his team prepared for, he’s going to make sure his team enjoys Monday night’s win and all they have accomplished.

“We haven’t really talked that much outside of this week,” Bishop said. “We’re going to enjoy this one tonight and hopefully refocus the next three days and put in a gameplan. I’m not ready for it to end, I want it to keep going.”