Holy Family senior Joe Conroy hit arguably the biggest shot of the night Thursday against Waconia.

With Waconia trailing by three and charging and about five minutes remaining at Chanhassen High School, Conroy hit a three-pointer to give Holy Family a six-point lead. The shot catalyzed an 11-2 run that led to a 69-57 victory for the Fire, which clinched its first state tournament berth since 2007.

"I think that made everybody breathe a lot easier," Holy Family coach Matt Thuli said of Conroy's shot.

Holy Family improved to 27-2 in holding off Waconia (19-9) to win the Class 3A, Section 6 championship.

Waconia surprised Holy Family by playing zone Thursday, which the Fire hadn't seen in their two regular-season victories against the Wildcats.

"We weren't used to it," Fire senior Colton Stenerson said. "It kind of caught us off guard, but we adjusted."

Stenerson scored 11 points in the first half and helped stretch the Waconia zone. Holy Family took a 30-20 halftime lead, but Waconia began the second half on a 7-2 run. The Wildcats stayed close until Conroy hit his three.

"We were looking for the cutter. He got doubled-teamed. No one was up top, so I was wide open," Conroy said.

The win was redemption for Holy Family, especially for its nine seniors. The team lost to Blake in the section in the section championship last year and had won only one game the year before.

Nate Gotlieb is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.