FAIRVIEW — Cold Springs’ girls had good reason to be intimidated going into Saturday’s county middle school championship against West Point.

After all, the top-seeded Warriors were 16-1 and had handed the No. 2 Lady Eagles one of their three losses earlier in the season.

But then came the fourth quarter inside Joe Shults Gymnasium. And, in the blink of an eye, Cold Springs no longer had any reason to feel faint-hearted.

A relentless closing stretch led by Sadie Terry was all the Eagles needed to calm their nerves and claim the crown with a 40-32 victory. Terry jumpstarted a 14-2 run to open the fourth quarter and tallied all nine of her points — including a pair of 3’s and all the hustle points a coach could ask for — in the final six minutes.

Neely Ellison and Anna Kate Voce kicked in offensively to help the Blue and Gold outscore West Point 15-4 in the deciding stanza.

Kylon Hamby and Toni West matched Terry’s nine points, the former around the basket and latter solely from behind the arc. Voce posted eight points, and Ellison netted five.

Cold Springs concluded the campaign 14-3.

“After losing the first game against West Point, we were definitely a little intimidated coming out here,” Ellison said. “But we knew we could do it and we worked hard since that game. We had a three-game losing streak and we got back on top and did what we had to do and we won county.”

Added Cold Springs coach Greg Tomlin: “It feels great, because these girls really worked hard all year. I couldn’t be prouder of another group of girls like these. They’re absolutely wonderful to coach and be around.”

Molly Pendley made a trio of 3’s for the Warriors and topped all scorers with 11 points. Brooke Brownfield and Mackenzie Carter chipped in six points apiece. Sheridan Bowers recorded five, and Lexi Shadix collected four.

“They’re a heckuva team,” West Point coach Drew Adams said. “The fact we were able to split with them, we were very fortunate. They’re well-coached, and they just know how to play the game. We got beat by a great team.”

Brownfield had the game’s only field goal in the first quarter, nailing a 3 to put West Point up by a 5-1 score more fitting for baseball.

Both offenses awoke in the second, with Shadix, Voce, Pendley and Hamby at one point trading shots in rapid succession. Voce’s and Pendley’s were 3’s that ignited each bench and set of bleachers.

Hamby, Ellison and West combined on an 8-0 tear in the third quarter to give Cold Springs a 25-18 advantage, only for Carter, Pendley and Bowers to reel off an 8-0 spree of their own and send the Warriors into the fourth leading 26-25.

Terry and Co. wasted no time making sure it didn’t stick.

“I knew if we wanted to win this game, that somebody was going to have to step it up,” Terry said. “We worked very hard for this, and I knew we could do it. I knew it.”

Looking back on how far his players have come from their seventh- to eighth-grade seasons, Adams had no doubt the Warriors overachieved by finishing 16-2.

“If you would’ve told me that we would’ve been 16-1 and playing for a county championship, I would’ve said you’re crazy,” he said. “They’ve worked incredibly hard. And most importantly, they strive to be great Christian girls. It doesn’t really matter what we do on the court as long as we’re living our lives in a way that honors Jesus.”

Terry, Ellison, Hamby, Pendley, Brownfield and Bowers gave the finalists plenty of representation on the coaches All-County Team. Fairview’s Maddie Yeager, Good Hope’s Savanna Derrick, Hanceville’s Cassidy Campbell, Holly Pond’s Elizabeth Miller, Parkside’s Jacy Gorham and Vinemont’s Sadie Stanley rounded out the honorary squad.