OWENSVILLE - No one can say the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons didn't play anybody this season.
Blair Oaks played 18 teams that have winning records and were 6-10 at one point.
But the Lady Falcons cranked out seven straight wins and kept it rolling in the Class 4 District 9 Tournament, finishing off their run to a district championship Friday night with a 39-34 victory against the top-seeded Fatima Lady Comets.
During the season, the Lady Falcons made posters with motivating messages on them, and one with the words "Defeat is not an option" written on it was brought out of the locker room during the team's celebration Friday.
Defeat hasn't been an option in 10 games for Blair Oaks.
"We put that up in the locker room just to remind ourselves that we went through a lot," Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said after Blair Oaks won its first district title since the 2012-13 season. " You've gotta play like you're gonna win every game."
The Lady Falcons avenged this season's loss to the Lady Comets by contesting outside shots, winning battles inside the paint and making enough plays on offense to avoid trailing in the final nine minutes.
Blair Oaks only made one 3-pointer, but it was significant.
Mallorie Fick connected from the left wing following an Autumn Bax offensive rebound to take a 27-24 lead with :53 left in the third quarter.
Fatima tied it at 29 with just under four minutes remaining when the Lady Comets worked it around to Lauren Brandt for an open 3 on the wing.
It was the third and final make from the outside for the Lady Comets.
"They've got some really good shooters on that basketball team, so we knew we had to run them off the line this game," Moore said. "Brandt got loose a couple times, but that's what she does. She's a senior, she's a great player."
The combination of Bax, Fick, Bailey Rissmiller and Alyssa Hargus made enough plays and free throws to seal the win for the third-seeded Lady Falcons.
Bax answered the 3 with a layup and drove around the Fatima defense again as the clock went under a minute for a 35-30 lead.
"Rissmiller breaking down the top of our zone is what made it tough," Fatima coach Matt Baker said. "We had to step up and help a little bit and it opened up the post players."
The Lady Comets made it a one-possession game again when Brandt made two free throws with :46.9 remaining, but Fick finished off an 8-of-10 performance at the free-throw line to push the lead to 37-32.
The rest of the Lady Falcons shot 6-of-15 at the line.
"We were all nervous," Moore said. "We did not shoot it well from the free-throw line tonight. That could have made it a lot easier on ourselves. But again, it's a big stage, it's tough to make those free throws.
"We actually talked about that during a couple timeouts, 'Hey, take a deep breath. It's OK. And just go and shoot your shot and go through your rhythm.'"
Fick and Bax each scored 13 points for Blair Oaks (16-10).
"A freshman on this stage, she did such a great job of just handling that pressure," Moore said of Bax. "She caught it, she went and scored a couple of really big shots for us. Even down the stretch here she had a couple of big layups. I can't ask any more out of a freshman."
It was a defensive battle from the start.
Fatima led 7-4 three minutes into the game after Morgan Luebbering scored inside for two of her game-high 14 points. Luebbering also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Fatima didn't score again until two minutes into the second quarter. Meanwhile, Fick made a free throw and Madison Boessen scored on a layup to end the quarter in a tie at 7.
Fick gave Blair Oaks an 11-10 lead at the 3:36 mark of the second quarter with a steal and two free throws.
"She's got that long wingspan," Moore said. " She's been doing that for us down the stretch and it's really helped us be more successful."
A Brandt 3 and Luebbering bucket off an in-bounds play put Fatima back on top as the Lady Comets led 17-14 at halftime.
"Just lockdown defense on both ends of the floor," Moore said. "Fatima is so good at what they do. They get you in that three-quarter court, they slow you down and then they slow you down in the half court. It's so tough to get any kind of looks."
Blair Oaks picked up the pace in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the second half to lead 22-17. Fatima turned it over four times during that three-minute span.
"I'm hesitant to press against a team like that just because they press and it wears us out offensively," Moore said. "But when I saw the heart that we were playing with, and we just didn't seem like we were getting tired. And then they didn't handle the pressure as well as I thought they would right there before the first half, so we went to it more in the second half and that helped us out a lot."
Luebbering tied the game at 24 with a three-point play.
"Just trying to get the ball inside," Baker said. "With it being as physical as it was, it took some of that away. But (Luebbering) had a good game."
Brandt scored 12 points for Fatima, which ends its season at 19-8.
Blair Oaks will play a familiar foe in sectional Wednesday, when the Lady Falcons host fellow Tri-County Conference team Eldon at 6 p.m. in Wardsville.
The Lady Falcons won 51-44 earlier this season against the Lady Mustangs, who defeated School of the Osage 60-55 to win the District 10 championship.