PILOT MOUNTAIN — Anyone who has been around the Mount Airy girls basketball team this season probably has heard the phrase, “Do work,” thrown around quite often.

One might not understand exactly what they’re talking about, but to see the Granite Bears’ emphatic 56-43 triumph over Bishop McGuinness Friday, it might make things a little more clear.

The Bears defeated the once untouchable Villains for the second time in a week to take the first Northwest 1A Conference tournament crown for a team other than Bishop in four seasons.

With title expectations few and far between for coach Howard Mayo’s squad in the off season, Mayo said Friday’s win helped validate the hard work the Bears put into becoming the best team in the Northwest in 2009-2010.

“To be the champs, you’ve got to beat the champs, and there is no denying we are the conference champs this year, because we beat the team that had dominated our conference for the past four years,” Mayo said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of our kids. It all goes back to what we did in the summer time to make ourselves better. The weight room, the shooting, the ball handling. All those things changed us, and we took advantage of that tonight.”

It wasn’t exactly easy to knock off a tough team like Bishop, but after Jordan Hiatt nailed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to give Mount Airy a 26-25 halftime lead, Bishop never came any closer.

The Bears started the third quarter on a roll and jumped out to a 14-point lead to head into the fourth and never look back.

Bishop, behind Northwest 1A/2A conference player of the year Megan Buckland, did pull to within 10 points with just more than two minutes remaining, but just as they had done a week prior, the Bears hit their free throws down the stretch to ice the game and claim the title.

Mayo said he thought the Bears’ inside play was much better in Friday’s meeting than in the previous, which saw Bishop’s Erin Fitzgerald give Mount Airy fits on the glass. Fitzgerald was held to just six points on the night.

“I thought tonight we did a very good job of hedging, and when we hedged, we had people on the backside rotating, so if she (Fitzgerald) caught it, it wasn’t a layup, it was a contested shot and we were boxing out,” he said. “I thought it really showed the heart of our kids, because we rebounded the ball extremely well, especially in the second half.”

Four players finished in double-figures for Mount Airy, led by 1A tournament MVP Ellie Case with 13. Behind Case for the Bears were Andria Leonard with 12 along with Jordan and Taylor Hiatt with 10 points each.

Buckland led Bishop with 21 while no other player hit double-figures for the Villains.

Ellie Case, Danielle Williams, Andria Leonard and Jordan Hiatt were named to the all-tournament team for the Bears, while East Surry’s Kelsey Long also picked up all-tournament honors.

With the win, the Bears secure a home first-round playoff game for Monday.

Mount Airy 56,

Bishop McGuinness 43

BM —  8 17 8 10 — 43

MA — 13 14 21 9 — 56

Bishop McGuinness — Megan Buckland 21, Goldsmith 6, Fitzgerald 6, Petranagele 3, Liebal 4, Coon 3

Mount Airy — Ellie Case 13, Andria Leonard 12, Taylor Hiatt 10, Jordan Hiatt 10, Willams 4, Webster 4, Hamilton 3