AUGUSTA — There was no time to dribble.  There was no time to think. There was barely enough time to shoot.

Liz Noddin knew time was running out. She knew she had to get a shot off quickly despite trying to catch a tough pass over the outstretched arms of defenders.

“I just saw the ball in the air,” said Noddin, a senior guard. “I saw the Brunswick girls. I jumped and got the ball somehow.”

Noddin not only caught the cross-court pass from Adrienne Davis but was able to get a quick shot off that fell just as time elapsed in regulation. Her last-second heroics lifted Skowhegan to a thrilling 38-36 win over a stunned Brunswick team in the Eastern A championship game at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I caught it,” said Noddin. “I didn’t even look up. I just kind of figured I could throw it up — worse come to worst we’d go into over time. After it went in, I thought we had five seconds left or something. Then I saw everyone around me. It was the greatest feeling in the world knowing that it was over.”

Skowhegan executed the game-winner with just eight seconds left in regulation. The Indians got the ball up court against the Dragons’ pressure and finished off the most unlikely of last-second plays.

“They’d been man-pressing us for awhile,” said Skowhegan coach Heath Cowan. “So we were going to run a clear-out for Whitney (Jones). It went into a zone trap. To our kids credit, they went right to a zone break, and they snapped the ball reversal – just the way we do it in practice.”

It is the first regional title since 1979 for Skowhegan. The Indians have been in the regional title game four times in the last six years and lost the previous three, including last year to Messalonskee.

“We worked really hard the last four years,” said Noddin. “All this season we worked really hard. All 13 players put in everything they had.”

Davis led Skowhegan (21-0) with 11 points while MacKenzie Smith added nine and Whitney Jones had seven. Noddin finished with six. Jones was named the Eastern A tourney’s most outstanding player.

“It’s great for the kids,” said Cowan, whose team is 127-19 in the last eight regular seasons and have won 28 straight regular season games. “You look at their faces. You look at their smiles and the hugs. I’m just so proud of them for the way they reacted. As a basketball coach, this is the feeling you want for the kids.”

Brunswick (16-5) got 11 from Hilary Champagne and six from Becky Champagne. The Dragons had the lead late in the fourth when Hilary Champage scored off an inbounds pass. That made it 34-32. Smith tied it off a feed from Noddin with 2:50 left. Then Amanda Johnson hit a short jumper for the lead. Brunswick tied the game when Hilary Champagne finished off a nice baseline move.

The Dragons had the chance at the game-winner with 40 seconds left. After letting the clock run down,  Alexa Dearborn took the ball to the hole but the shot didn’t drop. Brunswick scurried for the rebound and had possession but was called for travelling with eight second left.

Skowhegan got possession on the endline but had the full court to manuever in eight seconds. Jones got the ball in the backcourt but was quickly swallowed by the Brunswick defense. She got the ball to the midcourt to Davis. She bobbled it for a second before heaving the ball cross-court to Noddin, breaking toward the hoop.

“I just saw a girl out of the corner of my eye,” said Davis. “I thought she’d catch it if I threw it. It went right over a girls’ head.”

Noddin made the catch but had no time to pause or dribble. She caught, landed and shot in one fluid motion.

“I was just trying to get it on the rim,” said Noddin. “It bounced around there for a little bit. I was just hoping that it would fall down. When it did, it was just a great feeling.”