Nine long years since it last reached the top, an unlikely band of Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse players reclaimed the Section III Class C championship. The top-seeded Brothers ended the long reign of Skaneateles with a 12-9 victory Tuesday night at Liverpool High School Stadium, saving its best work for the homestretch in a game that perfectly symbolized the adversity CBA faced on its way to the top. Already without the injured Taylor Gait and Natasha Grant, the Brothers saw another star, Michelle Wiese, leave the game with two yellow cards. And a third card left CBA one player down for the last 9:18 of the game. Yet it still prevailed. “It feels so good,” said sophomore Marisa Romeo, who had three goals. “We pushed ourselves so hard and believed in each other, and we showed a lot of heart.” Head coach Doug Sedgwick said his team never got discouraged, even after the mid-season torn ACLs put Gait and Grant on the sidelines. “We stayed the course and made it happen,” he said. “It happened to be our time.” And there was no better opponent to beat for the crown than Skaneateles, who since 2005 had dominated the local small-school ranks, often beating CBA for those honors – including a 12-6 romp in last year’s Class C-2 final at Solvay. For a while in the first half, it looked like the same sad story again. Skaneateles roared out to a 4-1 lead, but could not sustain that momentum. Still trailing 6-4 late in the half, the Brothers got goals from Caroline Webster and Rachel Perla to pull even, 6-6, as it went to the break. Amid hot, sultry conditions, CBA twice saw Skaneateles grab the lead early in the second half, only to answer and pull back even. It was during this time that Wiese, a vital all-around player, picked up her second yellow card, and after Romeo converted to give CBA its first lead 9-8, she fouled hard to draw the third yellow card. Now with just 11 players on the field, the Brothers saw Carly Davis convert with 9:15 left, tying it again 9-9. Sedgwick called a time-out, saying that he told his players to break the rest of the game into three-minute intervals, and to win each of them. That’s exactly what CBA did. It began with Sophie Racciatti winning four straight draws, more remarkable considering that she only took over those duties late in the regular season, after Gait’s injury. Then the Brothers showed terrific patience in its attack, waiting for the right shots and converting them. Meg Hannan was a central figure, putting in the go-ahead goal with 8:34 left, chasing down one of Racciatti’s draws, and assisting on Racciatti’s second goal with 5:54 left. In between, Taylor Poplawski hit on her second goal, to go with two assists. Just as important was the fact that, after Racciatti’s final goal, CBA got the ball again and, for the remaining time, possessed the ball by passing it around and not letting Skaneateles get any chance to catch up. On Thursday, CBA ventures into the Class C state playoffs, meeting Section IV champion Maine-Endwell in the first regional game at 6 p.m. at West Genesee. The Brothers need to win here and also claim a regional final on Saturday to reach the state final four June 10-11 at SUNY-Cortland.