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COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Last year, Notre Dame was denied a state title by Stockton's Jenna Armstrong.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs weathered an attempt by Elsberry's Kari Koch.

Koch exceeded Armstrong with 34 points, but she couldn't keep Notre Dame from winning the Class 2A championship at the Hearnes Center.

The Bulldogs captured the title that had eluded them for so long by snapping Elsberry's 32-game winning streak with a 63-57 victory. Elsberry (31-1) had started the streak after losing to Notre Dame in last year's semifinals.

Notre Dame finished its season at 29-2 and with an 18-game winning streak.

Making its fourth final four appearance, Notre Dame was 4-0 in semifinal games, but 0-3 in the title contest.

"Everything has been lifted off us," said Notre Dame senior point guard Courtney Vickery. "It's just like -- we're there. We're No. 1. It's a perfect ending."

Despite game-long foul problems, senior center Deana McCormick scored a team-high 20 points and was still on the floor at the end.

She and Vickery played catch in the final seconds, and immediately embraced when the final horn sounded.

"I never felt like we had it until the buzzer went off," McCormick said. "We worked so hard -- four years of practice."

"This is what we wanted forever, especially this year," said senior forward Lisa Millham, who finished with 19 points.

After watching Armstrong, now at Iowa, set a 2A championship game record last year, the Bulldogs encountered another record performance from Koch, who is headed for Southwest Missouri State University.

The Bulldogs' three top scorers on the season teamed up to overcome Koch's high output. Ashley Millham scored 17, of which 11 came in the second half, as the trio combined for 56 points on the night.

Notre Dame trailed Elsberry 32-31 at halftime after Koch had scored 22 points in the first half, well on pace to eclipsing her per game average of 29.

"She is one heck of a player, you can not take that away from her," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "Our pressure wasn't doing the job so we basically dropped back into half-court and tried to make her give the ball up. When she doesn't have the ball, they're not that good a team."

Shanna Lonsberry added 17 points for Elsberry, but no other Indian scored more than three points.

The Bulldogs wasted little time in grabbing the lead for good in the second half as Ali Tyson sank a 15-foot baseline jumper at the 7:27 mark for a 33-32 lead. McCormick followed with two 12-footers to complete a 6-0 spurt for a 37-32 advantage.

Koch snapped the spurt, but McCormick added a pair of free throws with 3:28 left in the period for a 39-34 advantage.

McCormick sat out much of the second quarter with three fouls and picked up her fourth foul on Elsberry's following possession.

In her absence, Notre Dame extended a 39-35 lead to 49-39 by the end of the third quarter.

The Millhams scored Notre Dame's final 12 points of the period, including nine from Ashley.

"Deana is very important to us out there on the floor, not only for her scoring but for her rebounding and her court presence," Grim said. "And when she came off the floor and we were able to keep our momentum going, it was very important to us."

McCormick returned with about six minutes left and her team leading by 10 points.

The Bulldogs led 58-50 after a Ashley Millham free throw with 3:05 left, but saw Elsberry close to 58-55 with 1:20 left on a Koch jumper and a Lonsberry 3-pointer.

McCormick then went 4 for 4 from the line on consecutive trips down the floor for a 62-55 lead with 41 seconds left.

Koch scored with 32 seconds remaining to close to 62-57, but Elsberry would not score again.

Elsberry used its Koch game plan from the opening tipoff as she took the Indians' first four shots and eight of their 10 shots in the first quarter. She hit on five of her shots as Elsberry shot 70 percent for the quarter in taking a 20-13 lead.

Notre Dame outscored Elsberry 11-2 in the first four minutes of the second quarter to move ahead for the first time since leading 6-5. McCormick was a force inside for Notre Dame, scoring three times off offensive rebounds, the latter putting Notre Dame ahead 24-22 with 4:42 left in the half.

However, on the ensuing trip down the floor, McCormick, who had 10 points at the time, picked up her third foul and sat out the rest of the quarter.

The lead changed hands four times over the rest of the period with Koch putting Elsberry ahead for the final time, 30-29, with a pair of free throws. Elsberry led 32-31 at the break.