A day before Friday’s showdown with Lake Washington in the 3A KingCo title game, Juanita High softball coach Traci Odegard promised a dogfight — and so happened to nail her prediction 24 hours later.

The Rebels rallied from a 3-0 deficit, taking their first lead in the top of the seventh inning and reeling off a five-run streak to defeat Lake Washington 5-3 on Friday, May 13 at Woodinville High School.

Juanita won the league title for the first time since 2012, despite looking dead to rights through the first four innings as the Kangaroos (18-4) jumped out to an early lead.

“I keep telling them good teams find a way to win,” Odegard said. “That’s exactly what they did. They had clutch hits. They made a couple mistakes on defense, but we made up for it.”

The Rebels (17-5) trailed 3-0 heading to the top of the fourth inning, finally scoring on a two-out RBI single from Eden Radke.

Starter Lisa Nelson caught three consecutive Lake Washington batters swinging in the bottom of the fifth, which Kristina Warford followed with a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth inning.

Then all hell broke loose.

“It didn’t matter what [the Rebels’] previous three at-bats had been, they came out to win this at bat — their third or their fourth,” Lake Washington coach Traci Tawney said. “Huge energy in both dugouts, and you just felt that momentum shift after the home run that made it 3-2. They kept riding that momentum.”

With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Lexi Blackburn singled to center field, driving home two runners and putting Juanita ahead for the first time in the game. Briar Swayne dropped an RBI single into center field on the next at-bat.

Blackburn singles, scoring two. Rebels take a 4-3 lead, top of the seventh. pic.twitter.com/RXQhPvxQ6t

— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) May 14, 2016

“I think we all just realized that was it,” Nelson said. “If we didn’t do it then, it wasn’t going to happen. I think we really pulled together as a team.”

Nelson struck out home run-threat Marissa Ewald, drew a popup from Lake Washington pitcher Tori Bivens and caught Olivia Smallman swinging to end the game.

Strike three! Juanita wins it 5-3 over Lake Washington. pic.twitter.com/XD2nkstk7j

— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) May 14, 2016

Nelson, despite a slow start and five walks, finished with 14 strikeouts and pitched a gem in the final four innings. She’s drawn double digit strikeouts in four of the last five games, with 14 being a season-high for the senior.

“We started biting more at that screwball, so she kept throwing it,” Tawney said. “Why not? If we’re not going to be disciplined and stop swinging at the dang thing, keep throwing it. She did a great job doing that, recognizing that pattern and the undisciplined look from our batters.”

Bivens wasn’t far behind, fanning 10 batters but allowing nine hits, eight of which came during innings five, six and seven.

“With these girls, it’s just the approach,” Odegard said. “They seem to kind of start slow early and then in the fourth or fifth inning, they pick it up. Once one hits, the second one hits. It’s kind of a team thing and they just rally behind each other and support each other.”

It was the second loss to Juanita in as many tries for the Kangs, who had previously beaten their crosstown rival for nearly three consecutive seasons. Several of the Lake Washington players were visibly shaken following a long postgame huddle.

“The crowds are going to get louder, the teams are going to be amped and it’s just going to keep getting bigger as we go in postseason,” Tawney said. “We need to soak it in, learn how to channel it and play ball. 60 feet, turn left.”

Next up, for both teams, is the Sea-King District tournament. Lake Washington is scheduled to play at 4 p.m. on Monday, May 16 at Southeast Athletic Complex in Seattle against the No. 8 team from the Metro League.

Juanita earned a bye as a league champion, and is scheduled to play at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17 at Southwest Athletic Complex in Seattle.