SAN ANTONIO -- Nine seconds left in the Class 2A girl's state basketball championship. Tie game, 42-42. Martin's Mill head coach Jay Bruce got the attention of freshman point guard Kara Nixon and gave a simple message.

"Get to the rim."

Because even though it was her first varsity season, Nixon was the reason Martin's Mill was in the contest. They entered the fourth trailing Nocona 32-28 before Nocona's dynamic guard duo took off. Junior Megyn Meekins hit a free throw line jumper and then an and-one. Senior Skyler Smith responded with a three-pointer. Bruce called timeout down 39-30. Martin's Mill, a dynasty that had reached the state tournament 17 times in the past 19 years, was in danger of going four consecutive years without a title.

"The whole game felt like a bloodbath to me," Bruce said.

Then, a couple freshmen took over.

Center McKenna Wise hit her third three-pointer of the game to make it 39-33. Nixon then got fouled on a three-point shot attempt and buried all three free throws. After Nocona's Meekins hit one of two free throws, Nixon drained another triple to make it 40-39. Nocona's other scorer, Smith, again made one of two free throws, and Nixon cashed another three-pointer to give Martin's Mill a 42-41 lead.

"I'm very young, but I think I hype them up and the whole time they need to have encouragement," Nixon said. "It doesn't matter if I'm scoring or anybody else, they just need hype throughout the game."

With nine seconds left, Meekins went to the line and missed her first attempt. The second fell through the net, knotting the game at 42. And Bruce didn't call a timeout. He told Nixon to go. 

He'd seen her plenty of times in open gym or the summer league. When the game is on the line, Nixon turns another gear. Bruce refers to it as having that dawg in her. But after Saturday, it might need to be upgraded to a wolf.

Nixon took the ball down the left side of the court, went behind the back, crossed over, drove right and threw up a shot. She was fouled. It didn't matter. The shot banked in and Martin's Mill was the champion once more.

"That's a memory nobody's ever going to forget in Martin's Mill," Bruce said.