MADISON — West Lauderdale had a plan and it earned them a state championship.

The Lady Knights bottled up Lafayette’s Alley Houghton and scored early en route to a 3-1 win in the MHSAA Class 4A girls state championship match on Saturday at Madison Central High School.

West Lauderdale pressured the ‘Dores all 80 minutes, keeping the ball on Lafayette’s half of the field throughout the game.

The offensive attack paid off early as Knight forward Riley Thompson got one past Lafayette goalkeeper Ana Branch for the 1-0 lead eight minutes in.

Lafayette found momentum late in the half and had their best chance when Alley Houghton found her siser, Maddy, wide open in front of the net but the shot went straight to West Lauderdale’s Clair Campbell to keep it a one-goal deficit at halftime.

West Lauderdale broke the game open with two goals in the second half. The first coming from Caroline Green at the 51st minute and another one by Celeste Boswell midway through to make it a commanding 3-0 lead.

The ‘Dores were able to avoid a shutout when Alley scored their lone goal off a rebound when her penalty kick was blocked by Campbell with two minutes left in the match.