The Chico High girls basketball team trailed most of Friday's Northern Section Division II championship game, but for the second straight game against rival Pleasant Valley, the Panthers used a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Vikings 41-37 to capture their third consecutive section title.

"I think this is the best feeling I've felt in my entire life," said Chico's Karlee Myers, who scored a game-high 13 points, 11 in the second half. "Your heart just drops. It's so exciting."

Trailing by three points to start the fourth quarter, a rare 3-pointer by Myers followed by scores from Kiara Reed and Kim Keyawa gave top-seeded Chico (26-2) its first lead since late in the first quarter.

Paige Burrington's layup cut the lead to two, 35-33, with 4 1/2 minutes to play, but Reed responded with a 5-foot jumpshot on Chico's next possession.

Jacque Albers, who led No. 2 PV (19-8) with nine points and nine rebounds, made it a two-point game with 1:25 left, but Keyawa scored the game's final two points at the free throw line to seal the win for the Panthers.

"Kim Keyawa, I don't think she gets enough credit for what she does," Chico coach Bradley Davis said. Keyawa had seven points, five rebounds and five assists. "She sets the pace for us."

PV was 4-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-4 shooting by Emily Drews, PV's leading scorer during the season, who was held to two second-half points.

The Vikings would not trail in the second quarter, and grabbed a five-point lead, their largest lead of the game, on a free throw by Albers with 3:51 to play in the third.

"We thought we missed a lot of easy baskets in the first half that could have given us a bigger lead and made a difference in the second half," PV coach Bob Paddock said. "Defensively we did a great job against them. They're a good team."

Much like the first half, the score was tight in the third quarter. Chico tied the game at 23 on a 15-foot baseline jumper by Myers 3 minutes into the period.

The Vikings reclaimed the lead, which they would hold onto for the remainder of the quarter, on their next possession with an 8-foot jumper by Drews.

This is cache, read story here