EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version.

PRESCOTT VALLEY —The 30-plus year wait for a title is over the girls from St. David.

Anissa Jacquez scored 16 points, Emelynn Jacquez added 11 and the No. 1-seeded Tigers claimed their first state championship since 1992 with a 49-39 win over Joseph City on Saturday afternoon.

It is the ninth straight victory for St. David (29-2, 6-0 1A Tucson Southeast), which lost to this very same Wildcats club in the 1A state semifinals a season ago.

Up 39-35 with 3:19 to play, the Tigers watched Joseph City chip away at their momentum piece by piece, but when Wildcats guard Gabrielle Jesmer knocked down a jumper to make it 41-39 at the 2:23 mark, St. David players didn’t seem to flinch.

“I think the experience of being here last year helped us out, helped us stay calm and poised in those moments,” St. David coach Matt Brogan said. “We have a couple of great seniors that are great leaders for us, they kind of set the tone on the court and keep us collected. That was helpful.”

One of those seniors is Mayla Trejo, who scored only eight points on the afternoon, but was 4 for 6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to help seal the deal for the Tigers.

“Our dedication, we fought over the last few minutes, and it came down to who worked harder, who tried harder, who played to the last bucket,” Trejo said. “Our effort mattered.”

St. David lost in a 1A state play-in game two seasons ago, then watched Joseph City move on after beating them 47-36 in the Final Four last season.

But Tiger players were determined to change that in 2023-24 and Trejo reflected on her club’s journey to a championship.

“We’ve been working for this for three years now. We’ve been a young team, but we’ve been growing and growing,” Trejo said. “We spent hours and hours in the gym, working to push each other as hard as we can. This year has been tough for us, but we pulled it through.”

Jesmer finished with 14 points for Joseph City (28-8, 10-0 1A Copper), which have now lost two consecutive state championship games, watching Rock Point claim their second-straight title last February at the Findlay Toyota Center.

“Bottom line is, we have a great group of girls who play their butts off. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s just the way life is,” Joseph City head coach Dan Boshman said. “Can’t take anything away from St. David, they played great. We played great. Next year, we’ll see what happens.”

Joseph City won four straight titles from 1976-1979, then again in 1988 and lastly in 2001.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.