SACRAMENTO -- Tierra Rogers' game-winning basket with 10.5 seconds left added a dramatic triumph to a tumultuous season as unbeaten Sacred Heart Cathedral held on to win the Division III Northern California girls championship.

Rogers, whose father was shot and killed at halftime during a January game in San Francisco, scored in the key to give the Irish a 46-45 win over St. Mary unbeaten going into the game.

Sacred Heart Cathedral (32-0) is ranked the number one girls high school basketball team in the nation by Sports Illustrated and St. Mary

Rogers finished with 12 points, while Jazmine Jackson led the Irish with 17 and Kiki Moore scored 12.

Afure Jemerigbe, who played only 24 minutes due to foul trouble, led the Rams with 14 points. Backcourt mate Chelsey Gray had 12.

Allie Moreno, who had drawn a key charge on Moore with 30 seconds to go, missed the front end of a one-and-one to set up Rogers

The game did not begin like a contest that matched two of the top five teams in the country.

Defense dominated through the first 16 minutes, and both teams went without a basket for 7:45 in the first half. St. Mary not generate any offense against Sacred Heart Cathedral's one-on-one defense, and the Irish were unable to get anything going against the Rams.

St. Mary helped the Rams build a 20-14 halftime lead. Sacred Heart Cathedral was just 5 of 25 in the first half and turned the ball over 13 times.

The Irish came back to tie the score at 24 with an aggressive start to the second half. St. Mary carried a 35-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Sacred Heart Cathedral pushed back behind the inspired play of Jackson and took its first lead since the first quarter, 44-43, after Moore converted a steal into a layup. Both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes before Gray went left to the hoop to put the Rams back ahead 45-44.

Moore made another steal with 33 seconds left, but Moreno drew the contentious charge to preserve the lead, setting up the last crucial sequence.

Sacred Heart will face the Southern California champion in the Division III girls the team tries to complete its perfect season.

The Irish won the California title in 1998 but have lost their last three championship games.