Playing their fifth game in seven days, the members of the Rocky Mountain High girls basketball team might have been a step or two slower than they were at the start of their grueling conclusion to the regular season.

But desire has a way of keeping a tired body from giving up.

At least that was the case for the Grizzlies, who sewed up their first 5A Southern Idaho Conference title in school history with a 41-30 victory over Boise on Thursday night.

It was the seventh consecutive win for Rocky Mountain (18-2, 16-2), which will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s 5A District Three Tournament after finishing a game ahead of No. 2 Mountain View (16-4, 15-3) and No. 3 Meridian in the regular-season standings.

“I am dead tired thinking about it now, but it’s just preparation throughout the season, working hard,” said Rocky Mountain senior forward Taylor Nate, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds against Boise. “... We’re mentally tough. That’s what got us through.”

Rocky Mountain trailed Boise 22-19 at halftime, but held the Braves to just eight points in the second half to pull away for the win.

It was a satisfying and familiar finish for coach Emery Roy, who had been the head man at Centennial since 1987 before accepting a job at Rocky Mountain this past spring.

But Roy’s excitement couldn’t rival that of his players, who went a combined 8-55 in their first three seasons before earning their first state berth last season.

“This is great. We’ve been down at the bottom, but we pushed hard and made it to the top,” junior guard Madi Kelly said.