CHAPEL HILL -- Throughout the season, after running a set of sprints at the end of practice, the East Chapel Hill boys' lacrosse team would listen to their coach talk about playing for a state title.

Often, Sam Carpenter would hold up his two index fingers, spread them just a few inches apart and tell the Wildcats, "Guys, you're this close to greatness."

While that distance might have fluctuated at times this season, under a hot sun Saturday afternoon at UNC's Henry Stadium, it completely disappeared as East Chapel Hill scorched Winston-Salem Mount Tabor 17-5 to win its first-ever N.C. High School Lacrosse Association state championship.

Dwight Weld and Cody Kelly, the game's offensive MVP, scored four goals each, while defensive MVP Peter Curtin came up with 21 saves in a stellar performance in goal.

After they fell behind 1-0 in the first eight seconds, the Wildcats reeled off the game's next six goals and went on to post the most lopsided win in the eight-year history of the NCHSLA championship game.

"Today," Kelly said, "I think we finally achieved greatness."

Mount Tabor coach Dr. Tom Perrault called it "shocking." After upsetting No. 1 seed Apex in the semifinals, the No. 5 seed Spartans (15-5) thought they had a shot at toppling the No. 2 seed Wildcats (17-4), too.

But after midfielder Jamie DeBole won the opening faceoff, drove downfield and hit Tim Brunstetter to give Mount Tabor its only lead, 1-0, East Chapel Hill took complete control of the game.

Working a patient and potent attack, the Wildcats dominated possession the rest of the way, scoring the bulk of their goals out of offensive sets rather than in transition.

Kelly hit a wide-open Weld in front of the crease at 9:24 to even it at 1-1, while four minutes later, Tony Mendes drove and dished to Kelly for a slam-dunk that gave East Chapel the lead for good.

Stephen Barksdale and Kevin McNulty added a goal each to make it a 4-1 lead at the break, while Kelly and Adam Ball shot it to 6-1 in the first 2:27 of the second quarter.

"They scored at will, and to be honest, we haven't faced a goalie like that all year," Perrault said after Curtin stopped two point-blank Mount Tabor shots during the Wildcats' first-half run and added at least a half-dozen other highlight-reel saves in the second half.

"We kept going and kept going," Perrault said, "but when he stops shots when we're standing right on top of him, what else can you do?"

When the Spartans finally managed to possess the ball midway through the second quarter, Laurance Piner muscled into the crease and snuck a shot past Curtin to break a nearly 17-minute scoring drought.

The Wildcats answered before Jordan Wood scored on another close-range shot to bring Mount Tabor within 7-3.

"They drove hard from behind, and other teams have done that to us before," Curtin said. "Our key has been settling down on defense, and that's what we did."

Goals by Weld and Robert Tauchen made it 9-3, and East Chapel Hill slammed an exclamation mark onto its first half by killing a Mount Tabor extra-man opportunity in the final minute.

East Chapel Hill pushed it to 11-4 in the third quarter and closed out the game with a four-goal flurry in the final seven minutes.

"East Chapel Hill played one heck of a game," DeBole said, "from start to finish."

Carpenter, who made his team do more running in practices this season than in the past, said that his team's conditioning paid off in the 100-degree heat coming off the Henry Stadium turf. The Wildcats' depth also proved to be crucial.

"They talk about being solid up the middle in baseball, or in soccer, well being strong in goal in lacrosse won't hurt you, either," Carpenter said. "A good goalie [Curtin] helps you make up for mistakes, and having a player of Cody Kelly's caliber up top is nice, too.

"But the key is that you can't win with just those two guys. You need guys buying into team play. We had 31 guys out here today, and all 31 worked hard to get here."

While none of the current Wildcats were on East Chapel Hill's last team to reach the NCHSLA final in 2000, several of them started on the squad that lost to Wilmington Laney in last year's semifinals.

"I've wanted this since my freshman year," said Kelly. "Maybe being so close makes you want it even more."