When Providence Academy and Albany met a week before Christmas it was the Huskies emerging with a two-point win.

Turns out it was just an appetizer because the excitement and tension of that one was topped Saturday afternoon.

And the result went the other way.

Maddyn Greenway went nearly coast to coast for a game-winning layup with 9 seconds remaining and Providence Academy earned a storybook finish by beating Albany 81-78 in the Class 2A championship game at Williams Arena.

It is the third straight title for the Lions. Providence Academy beat Albany by 14 in last year’s state title game.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Lions senior Brooke Hohenecker.

How about you, coach Conner Goetz?

“This is something I’ve never been a part of, that comeback that late. That was special.”

Down by one, Greenway grabbed a rebound of a missed free throw, raced down the court and deftly banked the ball off the glass and through the netting.

It was the first lead for the 28-4 Lions, who had trailed by 18 late in the first half.

“I saw they were kind of on their heels, and I saw it was (5-foot-4 Callie Holthaus) so she wouldn’t block it like (6-foot-3) Alyssa Sand. I was just going to take it,” Greenway said.

“She just beat us down the court,” said Albany coach Aaron Boyum.

Greenway defended a last-ditch effort by Holthaus, and Hope Counts sank two free throws with 0.4 seconds left.

Greenway picked up her fourth foul with just over 11 minutes to play, yet the sophomore finished with 30 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Hohenecker added 14 points, and Counts and Arianna Flies-Peterson each had a dozen. Peterson had a team-high 10 rebounds.

“This is the fourth year in a row that we’ve seen them in the state tournament. I believe if it wasn’t for us they’d be a four-time state champion,” Goetz said. “… They’re absolutely fantastic and they pushed us to the absolute brink. To come back is really special.”

Albany beat Providence Academy in the 2021 final.

Sand led the Huskies with 29 points and 17 rebounds but was whistled for her fourth foul early in the second half.

Initially called a charge against Counts, a second official quickly raced in, and after a discussion, the call was reversed to a blocking foul on Sand.

“I think it was a charge, I thought I was set,” said Sand, a University of St. Thomas commit. “I don’t know if it changed the course of the game, I just had to be more aware because I didn’t want to foul out.”

Boyum was told by an official it is not a play that can be reviewed by video.

With its top offensive threat routinely being subbed in and out, Albany (30-2) struggled to regain its offensive flow, missing 13 of its first 14 shots in a second half where it finished at just 30%.

Still, a pullup jumper by Sand gave the Huskies a 76-73 lead with 2:03 left. A pair of free throws from Kylan Gerads made it 78-74 with 53.1 seconds to go, but Greenway countered with a 3-pointer seven seconds after to set up the wild finish.

Sand had 20 points and Gerads 14 as the Huskies shot 51.5% in the first half and made 13 of 15 free throws — Sand was 7 for 7 — for a 55-44 lead.

Gerads finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

The Huskies led 49-31 with 3:33 left in the first half, but a late 9-1 run by Providence Academy kept the Lions within striking distance. Greenway, often knocked to the floor on drives, had 15 points in the first half and seven assists.

Down by 11 at the break, Greenway said the message in the locker room among teammates was confidence. “We turned to each other and said we’re not losing this game.”

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