There may not be a more tense setting in high school badminton than the third set in the final doubles match of a state team championship.

All of the fans’ attention is laser focused on just those four players who will ultimately determine the outcome. Hamilton and Sunnyslope were tied 4-4 when their No. 1 doubles teams became essentially the center court attraction Saturday.

And they didn’t disappoint during the back-and-forth match. In the end, Sunnyslope’s Sabrina Case and Corinne Valente added the final touches to win their duel and clinch their team’s 5-4 upset over previously unbeaten Hamilton.

Right after the final point of Case and Valente’s 14-21, 22-20, 21-19 victory over Nihira Sane and Katheryn Yi, their teammates rushed to their side to celebrate the Division I title they secured at Desert Vista.

“It felt like that’s what a state championship is supposed to be, coming down to the wire,” Sunnyslope coach Sarah Schlesinger said.

Winning her program’s sixth team title had extra meaning for Schlesinger, an alum of Sunnyslope’s badminton program.

When the matches got underway, top-seeded Hamilton, not surprisingly, jumped ahead quickly, winning four of the first six sets that were played. But No. 2 seed Sunnyslope from there on out refused to lose.

The goal for Sunnyslope was to get Hamilton to doubles play, one of Sunnyslope’s strengths. To do so, Schlesinger needed her No. 4 (Jessa Jacobs), 5 (Annabelle Schlesinger) and 6 (Mia Aronsohn) seeds to deliver, and they did just that.

Schlesinger and Aronsohn won in two sets, and Jacobs rallied from a set down to win in three and give her team the momentum heading into doubles play. But with the D-I match tied 3-3, Hamilton’s Samiya Bodhanker, the D-I singles state champ, and her partner, Shreya Deshpande, defeated Sunnyslope’s No. 2 21-7, 21-12 to put Hamilton a doubles win away from defending its crown.

“I love them,” said Bodhanker, who helped Hamilton win its first team title last year, about her teammates. “It was my dream to get a team state championship for this team. I’m so proud of them. We’ve come this far because of us. It’s not about me. I’m grateful that we’ve come this far in the tournament.”

In that No. 2 doubles match, Jacobs was accidently hit in the face by her partner’s racket, causing a cut above Jacobs’ left eye.

The senior was attended to by trainers and eventually return to play but not before a well-deserved ovation from the crowd. Sunnyslope’s No. 3 doubles, Phoebe Roussin and Annabelle, knotted the match at 4-4 with their 21-13, 21-5 win, setting the stage for the final showdown between each teams’ No. 1’s.

Case and Valente were swept by Sane and Yi in the regular season, and despite losing the first game of their Saturday final, Case and Valente remained calm during a match that turned intense.

Hamilton is 34-2 in the past two seasons, with state championship appearances each year. (Jose Garcia/azpreps365)“We just kept giving each other good reinforcement and telling each other we got this,” said Valente about what her and her teammate said after losing the first set.

Sunnyslope remained in the lead after the 11 point break in the second set and went up 20-18.

But Hamilton then scored twice to tie it. Sunnyslope, however, came back with two points of its own to move to the third and deciding set.

Valente and Case trailed 11-10 in the third set break but then scored three of the next four points and didn’t relinquish the lead after that. Sane and Yi kept battling, but Valente and Case just executed down the stretch.

“It’s so amazing,” said the tall and strong Case about helping clinching the title for her team.

What made it even sweeter was that she did so while playing alongside her best friend, Valente.

“I’m so in shock,” Case added. “It doesn’t feel real.”

Sabrina Case (right) and Corinne Valente were clutch down the stretch during their final doubles match of the year. The best friends finished the season with a 13-2 record. (Jose Garcia/azpreps365)