The laughter, the giggles, the hoots and hollers bounced off the walls in the bunker-like media interview room tucked away in the bowels of Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines late Saturday night.

The journey was over, the mission accomplished. The unbeaten, unshaken and uncompromising Linn-Mar Lions were the 2010 Class 4A girls' state basketball champions, and pure joy was the order of the evening.

"I am so happy beyond belief. It's amazing," Linn-Mar senior D.J. Norman said as a broad smile stretched across her face. "I'm just overwhelmed."

It was perhaps the first time all night - and all week - the Lions felt overwhelmed.

All-tournament team captain Kiah Stokes posted her third double-double of the three-game tournament, Kiley Haines swished a key 3-point basket with 70 seconds left, and 4A top-ranked Linn-Mar held off No. 2 Des Moines East, 38-35, in Saturday's state championship game at Wells Fargo.

The Lions found themselves in a giddy human pile at mid-court after the final buzzer sounded, while the large contingency of Linn-Mar fans cheered wildly and a statewide television audience looked on. After pulling themselves off the arena floor and exchanging innumerable hugs, the Lions rushed over to their pulsating student section to express their thanks to the loyal following.

"I'm just in heaven. It's just unbelievable," Coach Mike Brandt said. "I'm so proud of everyone and all our fans and my wife and everybody. It's just been a whole group effort all the way through."

Linn-Mar finished its season 26-0 and brought home its first girls' basketball state championship since 1985, the first year the state of Iowa hosted a five-player tournament. The Lions lost in the state semifinals each of the past two years.

"Our goal was a state championship because last year we fell short. That was our motivation this year. That was our fire," Stokes said. "We didn't want to have that feeling of losing again, and I think that's what motivated us."

Stokes played out-of-this-world in all three tournament games but may have saved her best for last in the championship game. She finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 18 rebounds and six blocked shots. She scored six points in the game's final 4 minutes, 49 seconds, including a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left that tucked the win safely away.

She averaged 20.3 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.3 blocks in Linn-Mar's three wins last week.

Norman added 13 points in the championship game and Haines scored five, and with Stokes they were the only Lions to score. Stokes and Norman combined for Linn-Mar's first 27 points.

Three of Haines' five points in the second half were huge.

With the score tied at 33, Haines collected a pass in the right wing and let go a high-arching jumper from just beyond the 3-point circle that found nothing but net. It gave the Lions a 36-33 lead with 1:10 left, and they were able to hold on after that.

"Kiley's 'three' there in the fourth quarter, that really (gave) us a bunch of emotion and a bunch of energy and defensive power," Norman said. "It was a great turnaround in the game."

This was a defensive battle from the get-go. Linn-Mar finished 14 of 38 from the field (35.3 percent) and East 13 of 46 (28.3 percent). As a team, Linn-Mar held its three opponents to a 4A tournament-best 32.6 shooting percentage and only 42 points per game.

"(East has) good scorers and good shooters, and we needed to stop them in order to get the victory," Stokes said. "Everyone played a big part and I think everyone came together and just stopped them."

This was the epitome of a back-and-forth affair with 14 lead changes and six ties.

East (25-1) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but Norman and Stokes keyed a 10-2 run that gave Linn-Mar a 12-9 lead late in the first quarter. There were five lead changes in the second quarter and Linn-Mar led at halftime, 19-18.

"I knew they were going to be an extremely tough team," Brandt said. "We wanted to make sure that first half to try to take them out of sorts and not let them just penetrate. They're so quick, and we wanted to make them have to run offense. "

The Lions fell behind early in the third period but an 8-0 spurt midway through put them up by four before settling for a 27-26 lead heading into the final period. The lead changed hands five more times in the fourth, the final time on Haines' clutch 3-pointer.

"They are a great team and it was a lot of fun," Norman said. "They are a great defensive team and so are we, and we both brought our 'A' games tonight. It was unbelievable and we both gave a great effort.

"It was a great season and we took it to everybody we could. We kept our composure and we just played Linn-Mar basketball all year, and I think that's what put us on top."

Playing "Linn-Mar basketball" paid off all season for the Lions, who will regroup next season with Stokes returning for her senior season as their pillar. She's a great cornerstone to have, but the graduation of her senior teammates is going to leave a void. They include starters Norman, Haines, Kayla Klopfenstein and Morgan Terpstra.

"Four out of our five starters were seniors, and they're my sisters, my teammates, and I'm going to miss them," Stokes said. "We're going to try to do it again next year but it's not going to be the same. The seniors were a big part of our team and we're going to miss them a lot."

Klopfenstein, held scoreless in the championship game, joined Stokes on the all-tournament team.