Jessica Tapaha made the biggest shot of her season at the time when her team needed it most.

Trailing by two points with exactly one second left on the clock, Tapaha received an inbound pass, took a quick dribble and nailed a bank-shot 3-pointer to give the Flagstaff Eagles a 49-48 win over Scottsdale's Notre Dame Prep Saints.

After watching the Saints (No. 19 in Division II at 11-5) take the ball coast to coast for an easy layup, the Eagles took a timeout as soon as they passed the half-court line and drew up a play. Just like trying to ice an NFL field goal kicker, Notre Dame's coach called a timeout of his own, which may have been the Saints' undoing.

Head coach Tyrone Johnson said Notre Dame's timeout gave him a chance to adjust his inbound play, setting up the Tapaha game winner.

"I did change the play. I drew one play, and when they called their timeout, I drew up another one to come off at some different angles," Johnson said. "We were able to get Tap at an angle where she's more comfortable shooting from. It would have been perfect without the dribble but we'll take it."

With just one second, Tapaha's single dribble to her right made a lot of people in War Memorial Gymnasium gasp, but she said she knew how much the team wanted the win and just made that shot for her teammates.

"It was very exciting and I'm glad that I came through for my team," said Tapaha, who had nine points and three rebounds in the Eagles' (No. 7, 12-4) eighth straight win.

As excited as her teammates were for her, Tapaha's tears of pure elation were enough to see that she was happy for herself.

"She was excited and the girls were excited for her and she was definitely the woman of the hour," Johnson said. "She came in cold off the bench and executed that play almost to perfection."

The dramatic and exciting end saved Flagstaff from its first loss in month, though at times the Eagles did not play good basketball.

Shooting just 28 percent from the floor and hitting on 10 of 21 free throws, the Eagles definitely had to do work in the second half to overcome the feisty Saints.

Tapaha said it was all about having the right attitude that helped Flagstaff walk away with the victory.

"In the first half, the team got down on each other, so we kept it up on the bench and really wanted the game. Winning is on our mind," she said.

For Johnson, there are a lot of things his team has to correct before Friday's regular-season ending game against Coconino and a run at the state tournament.

"Execution-wise, we have to be better and not run just one set. We have to get cleaner looks and finish shots more than we've been," he said.

Flagstaff missed basket after basket in the paint and was out-rebounded 35-32 by the Saints. Notre Dame collected 11 offensive rebounds and cashed in on some second-chance points.

Johnson said the solid man defense the Eagles played in the first half got changed to a zone because Flagstaff started to tire out as the game went on.

"Our man defense was solid in the first half and we were able to stick with them, but in the second half we started to fatigue a little bit, and they started to out-rebound us some," he said. "We switched into more zone stuff and though I wasn't really satisfied with the zone, it bought us some time."

Notre Dame had trouble hanging onto the ball as the Saints committed 25 turnovers in the loss, something that helped out the Eagles offense, even with all the missed shots.

Savannah Bix scored 10 points and grabbed four boards, Kyndell Kelly, who played much of the second half in foul trouble, netted nine points, and Rancita David scored eight while Shieda Washington grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Flagstaff -- which beat the Panthers at Coconino 41-39 on Jan. 15 -- will host the cross-town nemesis at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Johnson said it's the game of all games to finish the regular season with.

"We have to have a solid effort (today) and need a very solid effort Friday against Coco and our defense is going to be key," Johnson said. "They're going to be ready, the players are all going to be excited and we have to make sure we're ready also."

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.