DULUTH — Diamond DeShields probably summed up Friday night’s Class AAAAA state girls basketball game best and most succinctly.

“It all came down to free throws,” the 6-foot-2 freshman said. “Free throws and rebounds win championships.”

They certainly did for Norcross on Friday.

The No. 4 state-ranked Blue Devils connected on 32 of 39 free throws and outrebounded Redan 37-24 to rally from a nine-point, third quarter deficit to hand the top-ranked Raiders their first defeat of the season and take the title with a 76-63 win at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Kaela Davis scored 21 points, while DeShields and Judean Hanks scored 17 apiece and Briana Jordan added 15, with the latter three connecting on a combined 29 free throws to give Norcross (28-4) its first state title in girls basketball.

“This was just a gutty, blood and guts kind of game,” Blue Devils coach Angie Hembree said. “I’m so proud of these girls, I don’t know what to do.”

The Blue Devils knew what to do, even after falling behind 47-38 after a 3-pointer by Alisha Andrews with 3:39 to play in the third quarter.

They began to isolate DeShields, Davis and Jordan, each of whom began to drive to the basket and draw fouls to get to the line.

And when they got there, they cashed in.

DeShields made 5 of 6 free throws and Davis added a pair to lead a 9-2 run over the final 3:28 of the period to pull Norcross to within 49-47 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Devils then began to clamp down defensively on Andrews and Redan’s other big gun — Kierra Page. Andrews was held to just five of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, while Page had just six of her game-high 22 points after halftime.

And after Page hit a free throw 51 seconds into the final frame to push Redan’s lead to 50-47, Norcross began to turn it up on the offensive end, and the big blow came from an unlikely source.

Following two Davis free throws to make the score 50-49, Hanks stepped up on Norcross’ next possession and hit arguably the biggest shot of the night — a wide-open 3-pointer on the left wing off a pass from Davis.

The shot gave the Blue Devils their first lead since the 2:03 mark of the first quarter at 52-50 and keyed a run of 10 straight Norcross points that pushed that lead to 57-50 following Jordan’s three-point play with 4:55 left.

“I knew I was going to make it,” said Hanks, whose 17 points were the most in her Norcross career. “I had plenty of time to set myself. I just had to keep my composure and hit it.”

Norcross’ collective composure had to endure one more test as Andrews keyed a 6-1 Redan run over the next 1:11 with a three-point play to bring the Raiders as close as 58-56 with 3:46 remaining.

But with the lead at 66-62, the Blue Devils began to do much of their free-throw damage.

Hanks hit 1 of 2 to make the score 67-62 with 1:24 left before being fouled again 10 seconds later to begin the sequence that helped seal the win.

Page was hit with the foul on Hanks for her fifth foul of the game, and was assessed a technical foul after arguing with an official.

Hanks hit the two original free throws and Jordan added the technicals to extend the Norcross lead to 71-62.

With the Blue Devils still in possession, the Redan bench was assessed another technical 10 seconds later, and Jordan cashed in for two more free throws. That was followed by two more Raider fouls and 3 of 4 free throws from Hanks.

When the smoke cleared, the two seniors had combined to hit 10 of 12 from the line in a span of 38 seconds that made a four-point lead a 76-62 advantage, and after a free throw by Olydia Walker with 38.7 seconds left, Norcross was able to dribble out the clock to seal the title and begin its celebration.

“This is exactly what we prayed for from the beginning of the year,” said Jordan, who added seven rebounds, four assists and five steals to her point total. “This team in general stepped up.”

In addition to all the scoring, DeShields also contributed eight rebounds and four assists, Davis finished with four rebounds, two assists and two steals and Alex DeMercy pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.