CORRECTION: The originally published version of this article misidentified St. Michael's girls basketball coach Martin Romero. The error has been corrected. Please contact citydesk@sfnewmexican.com to report any corrections.

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ALBUQUERQUE — As Rachel Nakamura limped off the court in the closing seconds of Friday's girls basketball game between No. 1 Albuquerque Hope Christian and No. 4 St. Michael's, it was apparent from the look on her face that she'd just done something special.

Make that a few things.

Lead her Lady Huskies to the District 5AAA regular season championship with a 43-34 win over the visiting Lady Horsemen? Check.

Celebrate Senior Night by posting a double-double with 11 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots? Check.

Add to her school-record career rebounding total while setting a single-game standard by taking five charging calls -- the last of which came when Erin Torrez lowered her shoulder and crashed into her, sending both players careening to the deck with 32 seconds left in the game? Check.

"I just wanted the win," Nakamura said, brushing aside the individual accolades in favor of earning the district's top seed. "We had motivation for this game and that's all we were really concerned with. I'm more proud of that than anything."

Hope (23-3 overall, 7-1 5AAA) will play host the 5AAA tournament championship game on Feb. 24, then presumably get one of the top two seeds as the Class AAA state tournament begins one week later.

St. Michael's (17-7, 5-3) will enter the 5AAA tournament as the No. 3 seed behind Santa Fe Indian School.

The Lady Horsemen will play either Pojoaque Valley or Sandia Prep, with the winner traveling to SFIS in the district's third round.

Hope sidestepped the possibility of a three-way tie for the 5AAA regular season crown by doing what it didn't do against St. Michael's during its previous meeting, a loss.

That night Lady Horsemen senior Alexa Chavez carried her team through the first three quarters, at one point outscoring Hope's entire roster by herself as St. Michael's pulled a mild upset.

On Friday, it was all about Hope's triangle-and-two defense. Guards Kasey Howington and Robyn Walker shadowed the taller, stronger Chavez all over the floor.

The aggressive tactic worked beautifully as Chavez was held scoreless in the first half and finished the night by fouling out with six points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

With Hope leading 21-14 at halftime, the Lady Huskies switched to a man defense that ignited an 11-0 Lady Horsemen run that put St. Michael's ahead for the first -- and only -- time of the night, 25-21 midway through the third quarter.

Cris Gabaldon hit consecutive 3-pointers, then Elizabeth Serrano hit a 15-foot pull-up jumper that was followed by Chavez's first points of the game on long 3 from the top of the key.

Hope responded with a 7-0 run to close the quarter, then scored seven of the first eight points in the final period to open a nine-point margin.

St. Michael's head coach Martin Romero said his girls were naturally down after the game, but not so much that they were despondent over the loss.

"They know there's a lot of basketball to be played," he said. "We've beaten Hope once before and we were right here with them most of this game. The girls aren't down on themselves at all."

Gabaldon led the Lady Horsemen with 11 points. Serrano added eight while Alex Groenewold came off the bench to score half a dozen.

Hope got a game-high 17 points from all-state candidate Marissa Perry. She was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and it was her fastbreak layup in the third quarter that tied the game at 25-all.

As for Nakamura, her bruised hip from taking the body blow from Torrez was worth the pack of ice she was destined for after the game.

"I think any time you lose to a team like we did [in Santa Fe] you have a sense of revenge the next time you play them," she said. "We had our chances that first game. This time we made the plays we didn't that first game."

And because of it, the Lady Huskies are the 5AAA champs.

For the regular season, anyway.

Contact Will Webber at 986-3060 or wwebber@sfnewmexican.com.