LOWELL — The goal from day one for the Bishop Feehan girls basketball team was to get back to the Tsongas Center and finish the job.

On Friday night, the Shamrocks accomplished the mission, winning the Div. 1 state championship.

Facing an unbeaten Wachusett team that had beaten them handily earlier in the season, the Shamrocks locked in on the defensive end and held down the Mountaineers while riding the efforts of senior leaders Julia Webster (15 points) and Maddie Steel (12 points) to a 48-40 win and the program’s second state championship to go along with its 2016 crown.

“We woke up the day after (losing to Andover in last year’s final) and said that we were going to get back here and do this,” Webster said. “It feels like everything that we did paid off here.”

The Shamrocks (21-4) threw a blanket over the potent Wachusett backcourt of Rileigh Leary and Mary Gibbons and set the tone for the evening right from the opening tip.

Gibbons finished with a game-high 16 points, but she had to work to get almost every one of them as there was a white shirt with a No. 5 on it following her every move.

“For Maddie to take a player like Gibbons and guard her like that, she did a great job,” Feehan coach Amy Dolores said.

Wachusett (24-1) led only twice in the game at 3-0 and 5-4 as Feehan’s swarming defense made it extremely tough to get baskets.

The Shamrocks led 22-16 at halftime and looked like they had delivered a knockout blow to Wachusett when Steel, Webster and Brooke Canty combined to lead Feehan on a 13-4 run that opened up a 35-21 lead.

Wachusett responded with a 10-0 run that closed the third quarter and spanned into the fourth and closed the gap to 35-31.

The Mountaineers got even closer when Gibbons hit a three with 2:56 left that made it 38-36.

It was as close as Wachusett could get though as the Shamrocks weren’t going to be denied for a second time.

Webster scored on a layup before Canty’s conventional three-point play with 68 seconds left to go proved to be too much for Wachusett to overcome.

“I am so happy for these kids,” Dolores said. “They’ve worked so hard and kept their focus on getting back here but never overlooked a single team on our schedule.”

Bishop Feehan celebrates after capturing the Div. 1 girls basketball state title thanks to a 48-40 win over Wachusett Regional in Lowell. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)