Galena's Eric Maupin (22) attempts a layup as Mojave's Donte Poole tries to block it in the third quarter Friday night at the Orleans Arena. Galena won the Class 4A state championship with a 54-51 victory. Photo by Jane Kalinowsky.

When things get tight in big games, it's nice to have a superstar to lean on.

So when things got dicey for Galena in the fourth quarter Friday, the Grizzlies turned to 6-foot-8-inch forward Luke Babbitt, considered one of the top 25 juniors in the country.

Babbitt responded, scoring 12 of the team's 13 fourth-quarter points to lead the Grizzlies (23-9) to a 54-51 win over Mojave (22-7) in the Class 4A boys state championship game at the Orleans Arena.

The lead changed hands eight times in the fourth quarter, and Mojave led 51-49 after a 3-pointer by Anthony Marshall with 2:43 to play.

But Babbitt responded with a 3-pointer with 1:23 left, putting the Grizzlies ahead for good.

"I thought both teams showed good character," Galena coach Tom Maurer said. "It wasn't about free throws at the end. It wasn't about defense; both teams scored when they had to. It wasn't about rebounding. God, it was just a great chess match. Thank God I had one more piece."

That piece was Babbitt, who shot 5-for-6 from the field in the fourth quarter. He finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

"The Babbitt kid is an awfully talented player, and down the stretch in the second half, he made shots," Mojave coach Tony Hopkins said. "We had a hand in his face. Just down the stretch, it was too much of Luke being on."

After Marshall's go-ahead 3-pointer, Mojave got the ball back with 2:15 to play, and spread the floor. Rattlers scoring leader Donte Poole saw an opening and chose to drive, but his shot missed and the Grizzlies got the ball back.

After Babbitt's 3-pointer gave Galena the lead, Mojave's Darian Norris missed a long 3-pointer, and the Grizzlies got the rebound. Galena's Eric Maupin was fouled, and made 1 of 2 foul shots to make it 53-51 with 52.4 seconds to play.

The Rattlers took their time looking for a good shot, and finally got the ball to Marshall on the wing. He drove to the basket, but lost the ball, Maupin recovered it and got the ball to Babbitt, who was fouled.

Babbitt made 1 of 2 free throws with 5.7 seconds for the final margin. Mojave had a final chance, but Marshall's 35-foot attempt went off the front iron at the buzzer.

"Great players make great shots, make great plays," Maurer said. "Luke wanted the ball, and Luke produced."

Galena led 28-18 at halftime, but Mojave stormed out of the locker room, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the second half.

Mojave began looking for the sophomore Marshall, the team's third-leading scorer. The youngster responded, scoring six of the team's first nine points in the third quarter. He scored nine points in the quarter and 16 in the half.

"We went straight isolation," Hopkins said. "They were (isolating) their best player, and we started isolating our most talented player. So it was tit-for-tat."

Darian Norris also had a big third quarter for the Rattlers, making all three of his 3-point attempts, and the game was tied at 41 entering the fourth.

"It wasn't nothing that they were doing to us," said Hopkin, whose team shot 35 percent from the field in the first half. "We just missed shots in the first half.

"We got the shots we wanted. We got the shots we shoot all the time."

Poole led Mojave with 19 points, 14 in the first half. Marshall added 18 points, and shot 6-for10 from the field in the second half as the Rattlers started to look for him almost every time down the floor.

"He's going to have to start somewhere, and the beauty of it all is he knows he's going to step into Donte's role next season," Hopkins said. "So he'll be the go-to-guy all the time."

The state championship was the first for Maurer, who has coached at the Galena since it opened 15 years ago.

"A good friend just said, 'You can write things in the sand and that blows away, but this one's etched in stone,' " Maurer said.