SLIPPERY ROCK — The five Slippery Rock senior starters stood in front of the bench, eyed the clock and waited for the chance to celebrate.

They had been waiting for three years. What was a few more seconds?

Four seconds. They inched closer to the floor.

Three seconds. They exchanged a series of high-fives, hugs and held hands.

Two seconds. Smiles as big as the Slippery Rock University basketball floor formed on their faces.

One second and then zero. Karly Rhoads, Kourtney Rhoads, Ali Doyle, Sarah Cessar and Adele Campbell stormed the court. They jumped. They hugged. They screamed.

Finally, they were able to release the emotion of three years of close calls and near misses. Finally, they were District 10 champions again.

The celebration was a mere formality in a game Slippery Rock broke open with 10 straight points in the first two minutes of the second half on the way to a 59-40 win over Sharon at Morrow Field in the Class AAA title game Saturday.

"It's an incredible feeling," said senior guard Kourtney Rhoads. "Honestly, we have been working for this for so long. Last year, we came up short. Our sophomore year, we came up short. This year was our last year. Our last chance."

Slippery Rock (22-2) wasn't about to let this chance slip away.

The Rockets built an early eight-point lead, but the Tigers stormed back to tie the score at 22-22 late in the second quarter.

Slippery Rock, though, closed the first half with five straight points, then blitzed Sharon with a 10-0 run to start the third quarter to all but bury the Tigers.

Sharon (20-4) spent the rest of the game in catch-up mode, but the Rockets' lead never shrunk to fewer than seven points.

"I told them at halftime that we're going to get a run," said Slippery Rock coach Adrienne Orris. "The key in the second half was, when we get our run, we don't let them come back. We got that run a little bit earlier than expected. But I'll take that."

Balance has been the M.O. for Slippery Rock all season, and it was again in the title game.

Four Slippery Rock players scored in double digits, led by sophomore Bre Northcott with 13 points off the bench.

Adele Campbell and Karly Rhoads each added 11 points and Kourtney Rhoads chipped in 10 for the Rockets.

Karly Rhoads also had eight assists.

The balanced attack allowed the Rockets to recapture the district crown.

The last time Slippery Rock won a district title was three years ago when the six seniors on this year's roster were freshmen.

That team was led by Jence Rhoads, who is currently a star at Vanderbilt University.

But twins Karly and Kourtney Rhoads can now boast about doing something their elder sister Jence never did: win both a region and district title in the same season.

"It was a little bit different this year," Orris said. "Being able to do both shows how consistent these girls have been this season."

The outside shot was consistent again for the Rockets after a one-game hiatus.

After being held to just one 3-pointer against Franklin in the semifinals, Slippery Rock hit eight against Sharon.

All five starters had at least one.

Even Doyle got into the act. The senior guard's 3-pointer started the scoring 15 seconds into the game. Her second 3-pointer kicked off the Rockets' run to start the second half.

Doyle came into the game with just four 3-pointers this season.

"Not many teams can say they have five players who can shoot like that," Kourtney Rhoads said. "It works really well for us."

Orris said she will extend the 24-hour celebration rule to two days, then get back to business.

Slippery Rock will open the PIAA playoffs Saturday against the winner of the Westinghouse-Blackhawk play-in game, which will be played Tuesday night.

No matter what happens in the state playoffs, the seniors on the Rockets were able to come full circle, winning championships as freshmen and seniors.

"This morning at the shootaround, I had tears in my eyes," said Orris, who was in her first year as coach the last time the Rockets won the district crown. "I remembered back to their freshmen year, and it was totally different back then. Our focus today wasn't on winning, but enjoying the moment. This is a memory they are going to take with them for the rest of their lives. I don't want them to get all caught up in Xs and Os and winning. When we enjoy the moment, we win."

SHARON 40Brittany Benedetto 6-12 3-4 15, Annie Carpenter 2-6 0-0 5, Brittany Johnson 0-6 0-0 0, Kristin Johnson 3-5 2-2 8, Karlesia Edwards 5-20 1-2 12, Olivia Shaffer 0-0 0-0 0, Marketta Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Kendra Ham 0-0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Black 0-0 0-2 0, Rachel Shaffer 0-0 0-0 0, Gwen Crosby-Dryer 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16-49 6-10 40.

SLIPPERY ROCK 59Karly Rhoads 4-11 1-2 11, Ali Doyle 3-7 1-2 8, Kourtney Rhoads 4-11 0-0 10, Adele Campbell 5-10 0-0 11, Sarah Cessar 1-2 0-0 3, Taylor Crocker 0-0 0-0 0, Bre Northcott 5-7 3-4 13, Morgan Siebka 1-3 0-0 2, Jackie Basta 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Weitzel 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23-51 5-8 59.

Sharon 14 8 9 9—40Slippery Rock 20 7 13 19—593-point goals: Sharon 2 (Carpenter, Edwards); Slippery Rock 8 (Ka. Rhoads 2, Doyle 2, Ko. Rhoads 2, Campbell, Cessar).

Saturday: Slippery Rock vs. Westinghouse-Blackhawk winner at Slippery Rock University, 5 p.m.