Gilbert High's girls basketball team is making strides. The program, which has struggled the last six years to return to respectablity, completed a successful 4-0 run Tuesday morning by defeating Liberty, 41-38, in the championship game of the Black Division at the Nike Tournament of Champions at Highland High.

Freshman shooting guard Hanna Cavinder poured in 25 points with expert marksmanship from three-point range to key the victory. Hanna Cavinder sank seven threes and they weren't reserved for a favorite spot on the floor. Her final points (a three) negated the one lead Liberty gained all game at 38-36 just 20 seconds earlier. Hanna Cavinder's game-winner came from the right corner with 3:23 left.

"We're a young team and hopefully we're hitting our stride," Gilbert coach Kyle Pederson said. "Hanna is a lights-out shooter, and we run a lot of sets to get her shots. We lost some close games to good teams before this tournament. Now we feel like we're getting close."

Gilbert's starting lineup features three Cavinder's -- Hanna and Haley, who are twins and junior Brandi. Hanna and Haley Cavinder lead the team in scoring , each averaging in double figures and a combined 28 points a game between them. Junior Tiffany Hurd is sharing her athletic time with Gilbert's highly successful volleyball program. She gives the team an inside presence, particularly on the boards. Hurd had 17 rebounds in the tourney semifinal on Monday. The lone senior starter is Lucy Guerrette. No other Gilbert player scored more than four points in Tuesday's contest, but performed their roles in helping make it going-away present to the 2015 portion of the season.

Gilbert (9-5) led by four to eight points most of the game, but turnovers and more aggressive play on the offensive end by Liberty in the second half brought the Lady Lions back. Five-foot-6 guard Anissia Hughes became an inside force, scoring all 12 of her points in the second half in the paint. Her final basket with 3:45 left gave Liberty its only lead. Liberty (6-6) trailed 21-15 at halftime and staying close thanks to 12 first-half points from Kayla Macedo off the bench. Macedo led Liberty in scoring with 17.

Only two points were scored in the final 3:23 -- two free throws by Gilbert (one each by Brandi Cavinder and Guerrette). Liberty was forced to foul in the final minute to get possession. Twice after missing free throws, Gilbert grabbed offensive rebounds to extend posssessions. Prior to that Liberty committed two turnovers and missed three field-goal attempts. They trailed 40-38 with 54 seconds left and had one of their top scorers -- Jenae Lewallen -- at the line shooting two free throws. Both shots were missed.

Liberty had the final possession, down 41-38 with 15 seconds left. Guard Megan Smith ended up taking an off-balance shot just before the final buzzer that likely would have been only a two had it been good.