SPRINGFIELD - Friday was a milestone day for the California Lady Pintos, who set a state record with most 3-pointers made by a team in a season, as well as advancing to the first state championship game in program history.
On Saturday, the milestones belonged to the Strafford Lady Indians.
Strafford coach Steve Frank earned his 500th career win Saturday, leading the Lady Indians to their third straight Class 3 state championship with a 77-36 victory against the Lady Pintos at JQH Arena.
"Losing's always hard, but a team like Strafford, a team coached by a gentleman as classy and good as coach Frank is, I'm very proud of our effort," California coach Bobby Sangster said. "I'm very proud of our season."
Strafford (33-0) also became just the third team in Missouri girls basketball history to post back-to-back undefeated seasons, joining Northeast Nodaway (1977-78) and Marshfield (1988-90). Saturday's win extended the Lady Indians' win streak to 82 games.
"This is very special," said Frank, who was presented a plaque for his 500th win by his team during the postgame press conference. "This a very special group of kids right here."
After Friday's semifinal win against Clark County, Sangster said it would take "a Herculean effort" to beat Strafford.
"We knew a lot of things were going to have to fall our way for us to have success tonight," he said. "But when their shots kept falling, and our shots did not, it got very, very difficult to continue to look to find success.
"They worked very hard to come out and take away what we did best."
Strafford outdid California at what it does best Saturday. The Lady Indians finished 8-of-17 from 3-point range, while the Lady Pintos were just 7-of-30 for 23 percent.
After committing a turnover on the opening possession of the game, Strafford made its first four field-goal attempts to jump out to a 10-2 lead less than two-and-a-half minutes into the game.
Sangster called a timeout to settle down his team. The Lady Pintos answered, as Tristan Porter and Gracie George made back-to-back 3s to make it 10-8.
"Had we had a couple more shots fall, maybe it'd be a little different," Sangster said.
California kept within reach of Strafford for the first half, trailing 19-12 after one quarter and 41-26 at halftime.
The game became out of reach when the Lady Indians started the second half on a 17-0 run.
Porter banked in a 3-pointer at the 2:30 mark to snap California's scoreless drought. Hailey Cain added a basket for the Lady Pintos' only other field goal in the third and Strafford led 65-31 entering the fourth quarter.
California missed eight straight shots to start the third quarter and had another 0-for-8 slump after Cain's basket. The Lady Pintos finished 4-of-23 (17 percent) from the field in the second half, 14-of-45 (31 percent) for the game.
"We were pressing a little bit, but it's the state championship game," Sangster said. "These girls were battling and they all wanted to do it.
"Once (the lead) kept getting further and further and further, we did some things that were a little out of character."
Strafford's win truly was a family affair. Juniors Hayley and Kayley Frank, the twin daughters of the head coach, combined for 42 points to lead the Lady Indians.
Hayley Frank, a 6-foot-2 junior who has already committed to play at Missouri, scored a game-high 22 points and was nearly perfect in the game, shooting 9-of-10 from the field.
"She's a very special player," Sangster said. " She's got a lot of God-given talent, but she's put the work in to develop that talent. That's what's impressive to me."
Porter led California (26-5) with 12 points, shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Elizabeth Lutz, California's all-state 5-7 senior guard, finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Fittingly, she ended her career by knocking down a 3 from the top of the key in the final minute of the game.
California also loses two more seniors, Hallie Oliver and Brittney Ellington, who combined for three points. The Lady Pintos return three starters next season, among other key players who came off the bench.
"I told their coach before the game, 'Your team is exactly where we were two years ago,'" Steve Frank said. "I've been more nervous about this game than I've been about any game, because they're coached well, they have great kids, they shoot the ball well.
"Teams like that, if they get hot and start hitting some 3s, it makes for a tough night. We have great respect for them."
After the game, players from both teams got together at mid-court for a group photo.
"The Strafford girls asked us to pray with them before the game, and I thought that was very special," Sangster added.
While California's season ended with a lopsided loss to a ballclub ranked No. 25 by USA Today in a national poll, Sangster said it doesn't take anything away from what his team accomplished, that "it's not an accident that we're here."
"You can be frustrated, you can look back and say 'what if?'" he said. "But I'm proud of my girls. I'm proud of what we've done, what we've accomplished. I'm proud of us making it here, I'm proud of us playing in this game and competing in this atmosphere."