PORTLAND — Asking the Leavitt girls’ basketball team to slow its pace or to win a game in overtime is no different than asking the Hornets to speak Swahili in the huddle.

You can’t change who you are, and Leavitt’s predisposition is to run, shoot, build a 20-point lead, then run and shoot some more. Not to rub it in the opponent’s face, but because the style that led to blowout after blowout this winter comes naturally as breathing.

“We really don’t believe in stalling,” Leavitt sophomore Kristen Anderson said. “We want to get the score higher so we don’t have to worry about that.”

And overtime? What’s that? Or so a team that averaged 77 points per game might ask.

Not being able to manage a pedestrian tempo probably is what cost Leavitt a chance to put away Saturday’s Western Class B championship in regulation. Rather than fret about a wasted seven-point lead, however, the Hornets stayed true to themselves and walked out of Cumberland County Civic Center 58-55 overtime winners over York.

Anderson scored eight of her team-high 21 points in overtime for the No. 2 Hornets (21-0). She also secured seven steals.

Senior sister Courtney Anderson amassed 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Adrianna Newton notched 15 points and 15 boards.

That one-two-three kick was enough to ward off the brilliance of Wildcats seniors Nicole Taylor and Stephanie Gallagher, who repeatedly rallied No. 1 York (20-1) in the second half and overtime.

Taylor, a six-foot forward headed for the University of Vermont on a basketball scholarship, led everyone with 23 points and 20 rebounds. Gallagher put up 16 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer from the right corner in the final minute of regulation.

“She hit that in a double team,” Courtney Anderson said. “You can probably go back and look at that tape. We were all saying what a ridiculous shot.”

Anderson — set to attend the University of Maine as a hoop walk-on next year — provided the answer with a drive for two, ultimately forcing the extra period.

“I hadn’t hit a layup all game,” she said. “I finally made one. I don’t really know what happened after that.”

Here’s the short version.

First, York called timeout to design a would-be game-winner. The Wildcats went to their hot hand, Gallagher, who scored seven points in the final 4:25 of regulation.

But with the giant civic center clock at an odd angle behind the play, York seemed to lose track of time. Gallagher hurried a bid from the top of the key that fell short. Newton tied up Taylor for the rebound, and the possession arrow favored the Hornets with a half-second remaining.

“The timeout I called was to get the last shot, but we didn’t get the shot I wanted,” York coach Rick Clark said. “It was in the right hands but the wrong spot. We were about five seconds behind when we started it, and Stephanie knew that, which I think is why she shot it when she did.”

So it was onto overtime, where Andrea Mountford got it started with a right-handed runner for her first points of the game and a short-lived York lead.

All of which was the warm-up for the Kristen Anderson and Adrianna Newton Show.

Anderson banked in the tying shot. Newton’s steal and dish set up Anderson for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:21 left.

Taylor followed with two free throws before Anderson swished a 30-footer — a normal part of her repertoire, by the way.

“It came down to the end. I said to the coaches whoever comes down to the end with the ball in their hands is going to win, and we just have to make sure we get it,” Leavitt coach Tammy Anderson said.

Mountford sank her first free throw when Leavitt’s Abbey Randall fouled out with 1:49 remaining but missed the second. That left the door open for Newton’s inside bucket and a five-point lead.

York’s next two trips ended in a throwaway and a player control foul drawn by Kristen Anderson.

Anderson’s missed front end of a later one-and-one gave York the chance to pull within two, 57-55, on another Gallagher 3-pointer with four seconds showing.

Newton nailed her second free throw in an ensuing double bonus situation, though, and York’s desperation heave from beyond half court fell far short of its target.

Leavitt won its first regional championship since the Maine Principals’ Association started sanctioning girls’ basketball in 1975.

“It’s history for Leavitt girls basketball. That’s really all you can describe it as,” Newton said. “We just knew we had to push more. This could potentially be the last game that we ever had. For our seniors, having Abbey foul out, we just knew we had to give it everything we had. Just keep pushing and get as many steals as we could and get the lead and win it.”

York lost the turnover battle, 26-14, but surprisingly ran stride for stride with Leavitt from start to finish.

Eight lead changes highlighted the first quarter, alone.

Emily Campbell’s 10 first-half points left York with a slim 25-23 margin at the end of a first half that saw Leavitt shoot 8-for-41.

Courtney Anderson — winner of the Mike DiRenzo Award as tournament MVP — delivered seven points in the third period. Nobody but Taylor (six points) scored for York, and Leavitt inched ahead, 36-31.

The fourth quarter began with a Courtney Anderson steal and a Newton layup. But the leopard couldn’t change its spots.

Taylor took advantage of a few Leavitt misfires from the perimeter to score seven straight points. Gallagher’s foul-line jumper gave the Wildcats a brief lead before Leavitt’s smothering press delivered its own 5-0 run.

“Stalling, we just couldn’t do it,” Tammy Anderson said. “We had to play great defense and cause as many turnovers as possible. Box out, because they’re huge. Keep the game within reach and not panic if it slides a little bit. We did that.”

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