MERIDIAN - When happiness is at its peak, it doesn't matter who is watching - or in this case, listening.
So with raised voices, the Capital High girls basketball team circled up and began to sing "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys.
On fire is putting it mildly.
Capital fought through two overtimes for a 71-63 victory against Mountain View, winning the program's first 5A District Three championship since 1978.
Liz Landreth might have been the "Girl on Fire" her team was singing about.
The senior guard buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a second overtime and finished with a game-high 37 points.
She also scored Capital's final bucket at the end of regulation and a combined 13 points in the overtime sessions.
"I've always said Liz was the best player in the conference last year and this year," Capital coach Blas Telleria said. "It does not surprise me one iota."
With the victory, Capital earns the league's No. 1 seed at next week's state tournament. The Eagles (16-7) will open the first round against Madison (17-7) at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at the Idaho Center in Nampa. Mountain View (18-5) draws District One-Two champ and top-ranked Post Falls (21-1).
"We worked as a team. We played as a team," Landreth said. "We're like a family. This is the closest I've ever been with a team before."
Capital entered the district tournament as the No. 5 seed and leaves with a four-game winning streak after knocking off top-seeded Rocky Mountain (20-3) in the semifinals and No. 2 Mountain View in the championship.
"This is exciting not just for our girls, but for all of the Capital family," Telleria said. "You think about all the hard work they put in starting with the summer and off-season and into the season. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears there, so I am just proud of them."
The Mavericks had no reason to hang their heads, either.
Mountain View was playing in its first district title game in program history, and the Mavericks nearly pulled off the win.
Senior Josie Lawrence came through at the end of regulation with the game-tying basket, and if not for Landreth's last-second 3-pointer, Lawrence would have won the game for the Mavericks with her three-point play with 11.1 seconds left in the first overtime.
"We still have state. We've worked this hard and gotten this far. It was a hard loss, but at least we didn't sit back and take it," Lawrence said. "We were able to fight the whole way. We have to take that attitude to state."
Rachel Roberts: 377-6422, Twitter: @IDS_VarsityX
