Caribout celebrates with the Gold Ball after beating Biddeford 49-48 in the Class A girls basketball state championship game on Saturday in Portland. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

It was an ending you had to see to believe. And even that may not have been enough.

Freshman Quinn Corrigan stole an inbounds pass in the final second of overtime and hit a pair of pressure-packed free throws, and the Caribou girls basketball team stunned Biddeford, 49-48, to win the Class B championship Saturday afternoon at Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena.

There was disbelief on both sides after the final buzzer, and the emotion was still on the face of Caribou senior star Madelynn Deprey as she held the Gold Ball — Caribou’s first since 1983 — that during a whirlwind finish alternated between being well in hand and totally lost.

“I’ve never wanted something more. I’ve dreamed about this since I saw my brothers (Parker and Sawyer) win back-to-back state titles,” said Deprey, who finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds. “To be here, to play in this game, is the biggest blessing I could ask for. And to win is unbelievable.”

Caribou (21-1) appeared to be on its way to the championship until Biddeford (16-6) mounted a furious rally, erasing a seven-point gap in the final minute and a half of regulation. The Tigers continued the momentum in the extra period and held a 48-45 lead with 1.5 seconds left when Deprey was fouled. She made both free throws — even while trying to miss the second to give her team a chance for a rebound.

But the Tigers still needed to inbound the ball, and while Ayla Lagasse saw Gabby Silva near the baseline, Corrigan (six points, nine rebounds) was waiting to pounce.

“I knew we needed a steal,” she said.

She got it, cutting in front of Silva to pick off the pass and drawing a foul when she quickly put up a shot. With 0.4 seconds left, the freshman went to the line, the outcome resting entirely on her shoulders.

“I was shaking the whole time,” she said. “I was not calm at all.”

Did Deprey have faith in the freshman?

“One hundred percent,” she said. “Quinn thrives in those situations.”

And she did, knocking down both shots to give Caribou the lead. Seconds later, after the Vikings tipped away Biddeford’s desperation inbounds pass, the shocker was complete.

“I know a lot of people in this gym thought the game was over, but our girls didn’t. I didn’t,” said Caribou coach Kayla Brown, who also got 11 points from Liv Adams. “We talk about (how) it’s not over ’til it’s over, and it really wasn’t over until it’s over today. Just incredible, I don’t think anyone could imagine that finish.”

Brown said Corrigan’s steal wasn’t a designed call, but the freshman’s instinct at play.

“You can’t draw that up,” she said. “That’s just heart and effort.”

Heart and effort from both teams created the wild finish. With Deprey proving to be a matchup nightmare, and with the Tigers unable to connect enough from the field to keep up, Caribou led all of regulation and took a 40-33 lead into the final minute and a half.

With their title chances on life support, the Tigers roared back. Natalia Silva (17 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter and overtime) hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 left, Lagasse (12 points, 11 rebounds) scored on a cut to the basket off a Jordyn Crump inbounds pass with just under a minute remaining, and Crump, who battled foul trouble and a hurt ankle, drove for a tying basket with 38 seconds to go.

“We could do a lot of coulda-would-shoulda,” Biddeford coach Jeannine Paradis said, “… but at the end of the day, we’re down 10 with two and a half minutes to play, and we clawed our way back. … I can’t complain about that.”

Caribou, meanwhile, turned the ball over four times in the final 82 seconds of regulation, allowing Biddeford’s rally.

“Their perimeter ball pressure is phenomenal. It’s the best we’ve seen all year,” Deprey said. “We were just getting a little bit flustered, as we had turnover after turnover.”

Deprey drove for a basket to tie the game at 43-43 in overtime, but Natalia Silva put Biddeford back in front with 1:50 to go, and Gabby Silva (nine points) hit a pair of free throws for a three-point lead. Moments later, a Gabby Silva steal gave Biddeford the ball with under 10 seconds to go.

A pair of missed free throws on Biddeford’s next possession — the Tigers missed four of their last six — kept Caribou’s hopes alive, but they were seemingly extinguished when Deprey went to the line with 1.5 seconds left, made the first free throw, and accidentally banked in the second.

“I tried to miss it right,” she said. “But I guess it worked out, right?”

Corrigan saw to that.

“It feels great,” she said. “There are no words to describe it.”

Nor were there many to describe the dejection the freshman- and sophomore-heavy Tigers felt after seeing their comeback fall one second short.

“That’s an indicator of the true grit that this group has,” Paradis said. “I’m pretty proud of them for that. … They’re just going to get better. They’re just going to get more seasoned, they’re going to get more composed. There’s going to be ice in their veins, and they’re going to be ready to rock.”