It was another patented scrappy Red Storm win on Saturday, but this time with a heap of heroics thrown in at the end as Scarborough knocked off two-time defending state champions Deering 37-34 to capture their first ever Western Class A championship in girls basketball.

Scarborough (21-0) will face Skowhegan (21-0) for the state title Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Scarborough had some early trouble on both sides of the ball as they had three quick turnovers following full-court pressure from Deering. On defense, the Red Storm were slow to step out on Deering standout Kayla Burchill, who made them pay with her outside shot, with 10 of her team’s 14 first-quarter points.

Despite falling behind early, Scarborough continued to linger just behind the Rams through the second and third quarters. Following a 21-16 lead at the half, Deering went scoreless for the first three minutes of the third quarter. Scarborough was unable to capitalize though, putting up only two points in the stretch.

As they went into the fourth quarter down 26-21, the Scarborough players looked as if they knew something the rest of the Civic Center crowd did not. The Red Storm knew they had Deering just where they wanted them.

“We knew this was going to be a knock-down drag out, it always is when you get to this level,” said Scarborough coach Jim Seavey.

Deering soon lost one of their key players in the fourth, as Ella Ramonas picked up two quick fouls and left the game. Deering’s Kayla Burchill then fouled out with 2:35 left, and picked up a technical on her way out as she slammed the ball down on the court in frustration.

Ellie Morin stepped to the line and hit two of four free throws to bring Scarborough within four points. Morin grabbed a bucket on the next possession to bring the Storm even closer.

As Deering tried to bring the ball up court after the Morin bucket, senior Brittany Ross tied up one of the Rams’ players and a jump ball was called. The arrow pointed to Scarborough.

“We just buckled down and knew we had to get it done, because we didn’t want our season to be over,” said Ross.

“We weren’t going to give up without a fight,” said Sarah Moody, who had been quiet all game, but decided the fourth quarter would be her time to shine.

Following Ross’ gutsy jump ball effort, Moody hit a 3-pointer to give Scarborough their first lead of the game with just 1:38 left. Deering quickly answered with a 3-point play by Claire Ramonas on the other end.

Not to be outdone though, Moody came down on the following possession and sunk another 3-point shot to regain the lead once more.

“It was amazing, it was crazy,” said Moody, who was still in shock after the game. “I was shaking the whole time.”

Seavey has said his mantra all season to his players has been “shooters keep shooting.” It seems Moody took that lesson to heart, showing up just when her team needed her most.

“You can’t just take one piece of us away because someone else is going to hurt you,” said Seavey. “Tonight happened to be Sarah Moody’s night, next Saturday we’ll see who it’s going to be.”

After Deering regained the lead once more with a bucket by Britni Mikulanecz with 25 seconds left, another Scarborough player who had been relatively quiet all game stepped up. Standout Christy Manning found herself wide open under the hoop and put up an easy lay in. It proved to be the game-winner as Scarborough went on to the 37-34 win.

It was the second straight win for Scarborough without their offensive star Jenn Colpitts who was sidelined with a broken wrist following the quarterfinal round.

“We talked about replacing her by committee; you don’t replace her with just one kid,” said Seavey. He said that without Colpitts, people assumed they wouldn’t be able to keep winning.

“Nobody gave us a chance tonight, David against Goliath. And I told the kids, remember what the one stone did,” said Seavey.

“We liked the underdog roll tonight,” added Seavey.

The Red Storm had reached the regional final with a 39-29 win over Biddeford the night before, coming back from an early deficit to keep their season alive.

Biddeford jumped out to an early 6-0 run but Scarborough battled to just a one-point deficit going into the half. The Red Storm took that offense by committee strategy to the bank in the second half, with key buckets by Ross as well as Carly Rogers coming off the bench.

The Red Storm hit their free throws down the stretch and put away the win in the final minutes as No. 5 Biddeford’s upset bid fell short.

Members of the Scarborough girls basketball team celebrate their thrilling 37-34 win over Deering on Saturday as they captured the school’s first-ever Western girls Class A championship at the Civic Center. (Staff photo by Brandon McKenney)