That's why things seemed gloomy Tuesday night at Chapel Hill High School, after Cardinal Gibbons had come into Tiger Gym and given No. 7-ranked CHHS a 44-42 loss.

"Basically, we were playing for the conference championship tonight," Chapel Hill coach Sherry Norris said.

That wasn't hyperbole. CHHS and Cardinal Gibbons have been the top two programs in the Carolina 3A Conference since the league was formed during the most recent NCHSAA re-alignment. The winners of their matches in girls basketball, volleyball, tennis and soccer have won the conference championship each year.

"We're the top two teams," Norris said. "They know that this year Chapel Hill is the team that has to be beaten for someone to win the conference championship."

"This is the game we mark on our schedules," Crusader guard Morgan Reid said. "This is the game we want to win the most every year."

Both teams approached Tuesday's game like wary prize-fighters, playing intensely and physically, but deliberately, neither one wanting to slip.

Chapel Hill (12-2, 0-1 conference) dominated the lane, with post player Catherine Romaine getting a team-high 12 points and six rounds, while Jamella Smith had eight points and nine boards.

Gibbons did most of its damage from the outside, where Morgan Reid hit three of the Crusaders' six 3-pointers on her way to 23 points. Caroline Geradts hit two treys and had 10 points for Gibbons (8-5, 1-0).

Chapel Hill led 12-10 after one quarter and 24-22 at halftime, thanks mostly to nine turnovers the Tigers forced out of Gibbons. More forced turnovers by both teams resulted in long scoring droughts in the see-saw third quarter, which ended with the Crusaders ahead 33-32.

With Gibbons up 33-30 late in the third, Romaine scored six of the Tigers' next eight points to put CHHS back in front; her two free throws with 5:52 to play gave the Tigers a 38-35 lead.

Chapel Hill employed a zone down the stretch to slow the tempo, but it proved to be a two-edged sword. The Tigers missed nine of their last 11 shots and turned over three of their last eight possessions.

"We like a fast tempo, so that zone bothered us a little bit," Reid said. "But I think we were ready for it."

The Tigers got their last lead at 40-37, off Tamia Eatmon's basket from the paint with 1:55 remaining. Geradts answered with a 3-pointer over the top of Chapel Hill's zone to tie it at 40-40.

After two more Chapel Hill misses in the lane, Gibbons, which hit all 10 of its second-half free throws, took the final lead on two free throws by Reid with :39 to play and then two more by Geradts with 19 seconds left.

Down 44-40, CHHS battled in the lane repeatedly and got a last basket by Smith with 4 seconds remaining. The Tigers forced a jump ball with 1 second left, but couldn't get off a shot at the end.

"That was a very good basketball team that we were able to frustrate a little bit in the second half," Gibbons coach Jessica Lowe said. "I got a little nervous on those last possessions, but the free throws down the stretch sealed it for us."

CARDINAL GIBBONS 44,

CHAPEL HILL 42

Tuesday, Jan. 10, at Chapel Hill

CARDINAL GIBBONS (9-5, 1-0)

Ava Avedikah 7, Morgan Reid 23, Caroline Grads 10, Madison Beuris 2, Lane Huger 2.

CHAPEL HILL (12-2, 0-1)

Laura Musalem 2, Audrey Larson 2, Arianna Jacobs 4, Lila Scott 6, Tamia Eatmon 4, Raziyah Fearrington 4, Catherine Romaine 12, Jamella Smith 8.