PORTLAND — Tammy Anderson watched one of her star players sprint off the court and become ill. She watched another hobble off the court with an ankle injury. She saw her Leavitt High players take bad shots and miss easy shots.

And she also saw her defense – often overlooked – swing the game in the Hornets’ favor.

Leavitt completed an undefeated season and won the school’s first Class B state championship Friday night, beating Nokomis 49-37 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

“This means everything,” said Anderson. “To the school, to the community We’re a team of firsts. We’ve been a very close-knit team all season.”

Senior Courtney Anderson scored 21 points, 11 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Kristen Anderson, her sister, scored only eight, battling what Tammy Anderson called a stomach bug.

“When we started the game I thought she’d be OK,” said Tammy Anderson. “But when I got into the locker room, she was (ill) and said she felt dizzy. She wouldn’t come out. She said she wanted to play.”

Leavitt (22-0) trailed only once, at 19-18 in the second quarter after a Danielle Watson baseline jumper with 4:24 remaining. The Hornets finished the half on an 8-0 run, sparked by an NBA-range 3-pointer by – sick or not – Kristen Anderson, and finished with a three-point play by Abbey Randall.

With Leavitt leading 26-19 at the half, Tammy Anderson told her players they had to apply more defensive pressure, even though a couple of them were in foul trouble.

And they did, forcing 18 of Nokomis’ 23 turnovers in the second half.

“That’s what they do,” said Nokomis Coach Kori Dionne. “They want to create madness and mayhem the full length of the court. You have to credit them. I just expected us to go out and take care of the ball a lot better.”

Nokomis (19-3), which lost in the state final for the second consecutive year, never got closer than four points in the second half. Courtney Anderson scored 15 points in the second half, picking her way through a Nokomis defense that was backing off because of foul trouble.

She attacked the basket recklessly, getting all her points on drives.

Still, she credited the defense.

“Our defense was 100 percent today,” said Courtney Anderson, who will attend the University of Maine as a preferred walk-on. “We thought we needed it today in order to win.

“We persevered through sickness, injuries, missed shots. That was like our team all year.”

She put the exclamation point on the victory by dribbling out the final eight seconds, then throwing the ball into the air before running to hug her mother and coach.

“I think if I had this with anyone else, it wouldn’t have been as sweet,” said Courtney Anderson.

Tammy Anderson played in two state championship games at Winthrop but never won.

“I love all the kids, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s pretty special to be coaching your own daughters and end up with a state championship,” she said. “I never wanted something so bad for someone else.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com