The Xavier Saints marched to another state championship.

Xavier completed an impressive run through the Class 3A state tournament by beating Spirit Lake 52-43 to claim its third title in five years. The Saints did it with a game-turning 15-0 run sparked by freshman Colleen Bouchard and with the strong defense that has carried them through the postseason.

Kristin Maher led a balanced Xavier offense with 12 points. Bailey Dorrington and Kelsi Karkosh each scored seven points, while Bouchard and Caitlin Kray had six apiece for the Saints, who also won the 3A title in 2003 and 2005.

Amber Kirschbaum led Spirit Lake with 13 points and was voted captain of the all-tournament team. Kaisha Brown added 12 points for the Indians, who had won 24 straight heading into the championship game.

Xavier played a schedule heavily laden with Class 4A teams and went just 12-9 in the regular season, losing eight of its last 12 games. But five of the losses were to teams that qualified for the state tournament and the tough slate had the Saints primed for tournament play.

They beat No. 2 Norwalk and No. 3 Ballard in the first two rounds at state before knocking off fourth-ranked Spirit Lake to finish 18-9. In six postseason games, Xavier gave up an average of just 32 points.

Spirit Lake goes home with a second-place trophy and a 26-2 record.

After a back and forth first half that had six ties and six lead changes, Spirit Lake was up 29-25 in the third quarter when Xavier took control.

Bouchard hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to get the Saints started. She buried another 3 from the left wing a minute later to make it 33-29 and Morgan Showalter's two free throws put the Saints ahead 35-29 at the end of the quarter.

The run continued into the final quarter. Showalter scored on a layup and Dorrington converted a three-point play off a drive to cap the run, making it 40-29.

Spirit Lake pulled to 46-40 on Kirschbaum's two free throws with 3:15 remaining, but Showalter's free throw and Maher's three-point play put it out of reach.

Maher, Dorrington and Spirit Lake's Jodi Gerking also made the all-tournament team. They were joined by Ballard's Amanda Zimmerman and Decorah's Rachel Madrigal.