Ewen-Trout Creek’s Bree Besonen, left, works to get to the basket with Fowler’s Selena Stump defending during the MHSAA Division 4 state championship girls basketball game at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos)

EAST LANSING — Fowler’s Katie Spicer recalled all season the disappointment of losing in the MHSAA Division 4 semifinals to finish the past two seasons.

She didn’t want to relive that emotion to close her final year in an Eagles uniform.

Spicer and her teammates ended their season back on top again after downing Ewen-Trout Creek 53-29 on Saturday morning in the Division 4 final at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University.

It was the third Division 4 title over the last five years for Fowler (27-2).

“That feeling of getting so close and not being able to finish, it hurts a lot,” said Spicer, who led Fowler with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. “Obviously it felt great that we made it here, but it hurt falling short. So we used that a lot as motivation throughout the whole year. It helped a lot.”

It was another dominating performance for the Eagles, who won every MHSAA tournament game by at least 20 points.

“These seniors have been locked in,” Fowler head coach Nathan Goerge said. “We talked about some preseason goals, and I had open communication about what we wanted. And the message all season has been ‘finish’ because we knew where we got last year, and the girls didn’t like that feeling of losing in the semis.

“Every time they broke a huddle, every time they left a locker room, it was always ‘finish’ and I’m just so happy that they were able to do that this year.”

Fowler forced eight turnovers during the first quarter, but led only 14-8 as E-TC junior guard Emma Besonen scored all of her team’s points, including burying two deep 3-pointers.

Fowler went ahead by double digits, 19-8, in the second quarter when Spicer lofted a perfect pass downcourt to Neelah O’Rourke for a lay-in.

A driving layup by freshman Bree Besonen during the waning seconds of the first half closed the gap to 23-16. The Besonen sisters combined to score all but two of the Panthers’ first-half points.

Fowler scored the first six points of the third quarter to push the lead back to 29-16. Paige Thelen’s offensive rebound and putback during the closing seconds gave the Eagles a commanding 42-19 advantage as they outscored E-TC 19-3 during the period.

“Very proud of the girls, especially in the second half,” Goerge said. “We had some defensive lapses in the first half, and to their credit they had some good looks and made some shots.

“The girls really picked it up and played our style of Fowler girls basketball, and I thought that was the difference in the second half. We played with so much more energy and did a fantastic job.”

Senior Elizabeth Hufnagel added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals for Fowler, while Brooke Weber also had 10 points.

“Coming back here and winning it my senior year is a great feeling,” Weber said. “I think our ability to run and stay focused and locked in really helped us. This is amazing.”

The Panthers (27-2) played in their first championship game since the Class D final in 1985 and had no seniors on their roster.

“They have a place in history at our school, and I’m super proud of them,” E-TC head coach Jacky Besonen said. “Fowler is very balanced, they are very physical and strong, and their defense caused some problems for us.

“I was crying during the ceremony, but they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy that I’ve been holding in for days because I’m just so happy that they got to experience this, being here at the state championships. I told them many times that you are living a dream that a lot of little girls hope to get to.”

Emma Besonen led the Panthers with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Bree Besonen had nine points and Irelynd McGeshick finished with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Dean Holzwarth writes for the Michigan High School Athletic Assocaition’s website, www.mhsaa.com.