BURLINGTON - With matching strengths inside, it might have been tempting for either Hayden coach Wes Meier or Sabetha coach Alex McAfee to try a different tactic in Saturday's girls championship game of the Burlington Invitational.

Then again ...

"That's our game and when you get to a championship game, you have to go with your strength," McAfee said.

Sabetha stuck to its inside strength a whole lot better than did Hayden, and it paid off. Tamera Stallbaumer worked her way to a game-high 19 points, Sabetha controlled the boards in the second half and rode that to a 41-34 victory.

The title was the first at the tourney for the Bluejays since 2004, when they went on to win the Class 3A state title.

"It's exciting," said Stallbaumer, who was named tournament MVP. "This gives us a lot of confidence."

McAfee had plenty of confidence that Stallbaumer and Co. could still get the job done inside against Hayden's strong frontline group of Nicole Federico, Jayde Reid, Sam Tenpenny and Connor McVay. They justified him on both ends of the floor.

Stallbaumer muscled her way to 6-of-12 shooting and made her way to the free-throw line 10 times, making seven. Jill Jackman added nine points and had a big bucket early in the third quarter with Sabetha clinging to a one-point lead after the two teams were tied at 16 at the half.

Her basket started a 7-0 Sabetha run that in a low-scoring affair proved to be a difference-maker. When Taylor DeMint hit a 3-pointer to start the third quarter, Sabetha led 30-22. But Hayden came back with seven straight points, getting a 3-pointer from Reid and scores from Morgan Trobough and Federico.

But those inside baskets were rare for the Wildcats, who often settled for perimeter shots. Hayden went just 2 of 19 on 3-pointers.

Reid scored 13, but was just 5 of 19 from the floor. Federico added nine, but got six shots and Tenpenny and McVay didn't have a field goal attempt.

"They've got good inside players and they went to them and they produced," Meier said. "We didn't have people step up today, and give Sabetha credit for that. They outplayed us, and today wasn't our day."

Hayden was down 36-32 with 2:30 left and got a steal by Trobough, but she missed the layup. Sabetha made 5 of 7 free throws in the last 1:57 to seal the win.