The Toll Gate girls basketball team completed its unlikely run to the Division III Championship on Monday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, upsetting Exeter-West Greenwich 44-39 thanks to a late rally in the final three minutes.

This came days after beating top-seeded Narragansett 33-30 in the semifinals. Toll Gate entered the playoffs with an 0-4 combined record against the Mariners and Knights, but would win when it mattered the most.

The Titans led for much of the game against EWG in the final, but the Knight shooters would get hot in the fourth quarter and build a five-point lead with less than three minutes remaining.

Toll Gate senior Adeline Areson would take over from there, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in less than a minute to give her team the lead. Mary McNulty and Dulce Garcia would score for the Titans while Adeline Areson added free throws with 50 seconds left to close out the win.

Toll Gate was firmly in control early in the second quarter and led by as many as eight points. A late EWG run would pull the Knights within just one score at halftime as the Titans looked for answers.

“I was very frustrated (at halftime). I couldn’t hit shots, couldn’t hit the easy ones. I went into halftime and was like, ‘I just have to keep shooting, they’re going to fall. That’s what they did,’ said Adeline Areson after the win.

Adeline Areson led the way with 16 points while McNulty added 10 and Garcia seven.

For coach Jim Areson, it was his first hoops championship and his first coaching title since he led Vets to a field hockey crown in 2005.

“He’s made such an impact on Toll Gate sports. We wouldn’t be the team we are without him. We owe everything to him,” said Adeline Areson.

The Titans were in a similar spot in the semis against Narragansett. After erasing an early deficit, the Titans found their rhythm in the second and third quarters before allowing Narragansett to go on a late 7-0 run to take a lead with just 2:45 remaining. The Titans defense shined in the final exchanges, shutting down the Mariner offense and giving the ball back to the offense.

Garcia was the difference for Toll Gate, leading the way with 12 points on offense while putting the clamps on Narragansett’s Delaney Bonneau on the defensive end.

“Dulce Garcia shut down their best scorer. She was a big difference. Dulce has been shutting down people all year. Our team defense kept executing all day,” said Jim Areson after the win.

Toll Gate’s mantra for the season has been, “One stop on defense, one offensive execution.”

“One stop at a time, one offensive execution at a time. They didn’t lose their minds and they performed. Now they have to do it for one more game,” said Jim Areson.

Adeline Areson added: “As a team, we’ve come so far since day one. Mentality is a big thing. We were 0-2 against them, so coming into today, we knew we had to give them everything we had. One stop on defense, one offensive execution. Our grit, determination, composure, it came down to that. Culture and wanting it more.”

The Titans will now flip the page to the state tournament. They will be in action taking on Ponaganset on the road on Friday night in the opening round.