HERSHEY - With just under two minutes left in their high school careers, Juli Weber, Tara Nahodil, Chelsea Stutzman and Taylor Troutman marched off the Giant Center floor and embraced head coach Bob Felty Jr.
The foursome left the court for the final time a little early.
Their work was finally complete.
Using a stellar second half that showed just how well this team has performed over the past four seasons, Tri-Valley rolled to a 59-42 victory over Vincentian Academy on Saturday to claim the PIAA Class A girls' basketball state championship in front of 6,956 fans at the Giant Center.
Fans chanted "Love them Dawgs" as the senior foursome and junior Kylie Spickler took their victory walk off the court with 44 seconds left in the game. The Dawgs had captured the state championship they had coveted.
"This medal says hard work," Weber said. "The last four years, it just states hard work and dedication. When you lose to not get down on yourself. To be able to pick yourself up. It just shows that we never gave up on ourselves. We never gave up on each other. It just shows that we have each others' backs. This medal establishes teamwork."
Tri-Valley (28-3) used a huge third-quarter run to stymie the Royals' momentum and cruised the rest of the way.
After Weber carried the Dawgs' offense in the first half with 10 points, Tri-Valley settled in offensively in the third quarter, using a 23-2 run that started with a free throw by Troutman and included 15 points by Nahodil.
Nahodil and Weber each finished with 19 points, while Troutman tallied 12.
"It's nice for our girls to be recognized," Felty said. "We sometimes live in a harsh world, and if you don't achieve your ultimate goals, sometimes you're not looked upon as a success. These girls, they finally did it, and win or lose today, they were champions to me."
Tri-Valley became the first Schuylkill League school to win a state title since 2008 when Marian captured the title. The Dawgs are the ninth team from the league to win state gold.