Three years ago, Rob Bromley put a lacrosse stick in the hands of Lisa Cook.

She knew little, if anything, of the instrument or the game in which it is used. But like thousands of teenagers across the country in recent years, Cook took to lacrosse and fell in love with it.

One of two seniors who have been a part of the Apex High girls’ lacrosse team since its founding in 2005, Cook remembers practices that first season when she and her teammates had no idea what they were doing.

How times have changed.

In the space of four seasons, Apex has gone from a haphazard bunch to the class of the state. The Cougars downed Charlotte Catholic 19-13 at Durham County Stadium on Saturday to win its second straight N.C. High School Women’s Lacrosse Association state championship.

“We’ve been state champions and we still are state champions,” said Cook, who scored one goal and was one of six Apex players to find the net Saturday. “This is my last year, my last game with this team. I couldn’t ask for a better ending. It’s the best.”

Apex goalie Bethany Shenberger, the other senior to have been along for the ride since day one, cannot fathom how the last four years transpired.

“When I first started, I never thought we would get this far, let alone win it back to back,” said Shenberger, who had 14 saves on 27 shots Saturday, a nick above her season save percentage of .498. “I never thought it would happen — ever.”

But it has happened. And the formula for the Cougars’ fast-track ascension was simple.

“The girls just fell in love with the game,” said Apex coach Jessica Pinneo. “And when they love the game, they do extra outside. It went from coming just two days a week to practicing five days to practicing summer, fall and winter. That’s the difference.” All that practice begot what the game relies on: guile, finesse and speed.

No player has more of that combination than senior attacker Sasha Vedock, who scored four goals and had an assist Saturday and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. Twice in transition, Vedock raced several yards ahead of the Catholic defense, received a perfect pass from the midfield (once from Sarah Fellows, once from Courtney McLaughlin) and easily dumped it in the goal.

This scene played out countless times throughout the season. Vedock scored 107 goals and had 33 assists and finished her career a four-time state champion. She was a part of Green Hope’s title teams in 2005 and 2006.

“I don’t know what else to say about her,” Pinneo said. “She goes out hard and she plays hard the whole time. She plays at full speed and she’s smart.”

While the rest of the state won’t have to defend Vedock anymore, they might have another prolific scoring Cougar to contend with. Freshman attacker Cawley Bromley scored a team-high six goals Saturday. She scored the game-opening goal 15 seconds into the first half, punishing Catholic for giving her an unimpeded path to the net. In the second half, she scored three goals — all assisted by McLaughlin — in a span of 2:08.

“I did so well because my teammates did so well,” said Bromley, who finished the season with 69 goals and 23 assists. “They got the draws, they set me up, so that’s how I think of it.”

McLaughlin, a junior midfielder, did most of the setting up. She had six assists, plus a goal of her own. Junior attacker Sarah Stark scored twice.

Apex (17-3) was in control throughout the championship game, but the pesky Cougars from Catholic wouldn’t go away. A repeat of their March 1 regular-season meeting — a 21-9 Apex victory — wasn’t going to happen.

Apex went up 4-1 in the first half, but Catholic cut it to 4-3. Apex went up 6-3, but Catholic cut it to 6-5. Apex went up 8-5, but Catholic cut it to 8-7.

With just less than four minutes remaining in the first half, Apex came alive. Bromley, Cook, Fellows (five goals, one assist) and Vedock scored to give Apex a 12-7 advantage with 31 seconds left in the first half.

Moments before taking the field for the second half, assistant coach Rob Bromley reminded the Cougars they had only 25 minutes left in their season and he asked what they were going to do with it.

Fellows scored once and Cawley Bromley thrice in the first five minutes to open up a 16-8 lead with 21:19 remaining in the game. After that barrage, Apex led by at least five goals the rest of the game.

“Over the season, sometimes we don’t go full speed,” Cook said. “We have a little trouble and we give the other team confidence to come back. And our biggest goal was to make sure they knew this was our game. At halftime, we knew we needed to pick it up and put them out.”

Apex’s meteoric rise to the top is enviable, though not unprecedented. East Chapel Hill won two NCHSWLA state championships in 2003 and 2004. Green Hope won the 2005 state championship in its second season of existence, then won it again in 2006.

In the space of four seasons, Apex has gone from chasing those two teams for state supremacy to eclipsing them and becoming the team whose success most of the other 48 teams across North Carolina want to emulate.

“I think it’s been our goal all year to get where they are,” said Catholic coach Dee Bier. “I think we’re a lot closer but not there yet. We’ll keep working until we are.”