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AUGUSTA — You have three minutes. Three minutes to show off two and a half months of work. Three minutes to let muscle memory take over. Three minutes in the spotlight. Three minutes to shut out the world and just do it.

The Lawrence High cheering team was on the mat Saturday morning at the Augusta Civic Center, ready for its three minutes in the Class B state championship.

The Bulldogs were introduced, and they took their spots. Their minds played through what would happen in the next three minutes, three minutes they’ve performed hundreds of times now.

The music started, but it was wrong, and the Bulldogs knew it. Still, they performed, until it got to the point where they couldn’t. The verbal cue they were expecting wasn’t there, and it wasn’t coming.

“Normally, the word is Varsity, but the music said the word Bulldogs. So we knew it was the one from last year. We were looking at our coach and the judges,” said Ramona McDonald, a Lawrence senior.

This is what happens when something goes wrong, and it becomes time to show rather than let the opportunity to compete melt away. Standing next to the judges table, it dawned on Lawrence coach Chelsea Harrison what was happening.

“I didn’t realize as I was watching the girls, and they all kept looking at me. Finally, when the cheer was wrong, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ So I got up and stopped it,” Harrison said.

It was the soundtrack for last year’s routine, just as McDonald had figured out. Teams send their music electronically to the MPA. Somehow, last year’s music was loaded into the day’s collection. A simple, regrettable mistake, but solvable. Harrison asked if she could plug her phone into the system and play it that way, but they didn’t have that capability, she said.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs stood on the mat, waiting for their three minutes to begin again. A senior, Alexis Harding knew her job at the moment.

“Keep everyone in high spirits. Keep energy up so they don’t get stressed out about it,” Harding said.

After a few minutes, it looked like the music issue was fixed. They played a bit for Harrison, and it was the correct music, she said. Lawrence cheerleaders took their spots, waiting for the cue.

The music started. Almost instantly, the Bulldogs knew it was wrong again. You prepare for a lot going into a competition like this.

“We didn’t prepare for that,” McDonald said.

On the Augusta Civic Center PA, “No Scrubs” by TLC played, and the Bulldogs formed a circle and danced to it. The judges suggested Lawrence go last while the issue was sorted out.

“They wanted us to go last, and I said no,” Harrison said. “They want to go right now. They’re ready to go right now. And they proved that.”

Harrison resent the music, and finally, it was correct and ready to go. The Bulldogs recaptured the moment, and in three minutes, two and a half months of practice unfolded.

They started practice the week before Thanksgiving. A choreographer made the trip from Connecticut to Fairfield to develop the routine with the Bulldogs. In two days — one 4-hour session and one 6-hour session — the routine was created. Then there was 10 hours a week of practice, Monday through Friday, to get every move down. Every note becomes a cue.

“A lot of us don’t count any more. We just rely on the music. When the music isn’t right, we obviously know it’s not going to match up,” McDonald said.

You grind away at it, learning every step and motion. You deal with illness and aches. Lawrence played seventh at the KVAC championships, tightened up the routing, and placed third at the Class B North regional. After Saturday’s confusion and restarts, the Bulldogs finished sixth in the state.

“It’s never happened in the six years I’ve been coaching the varsity. It was something that I’ve never had to deal with. They really did a great job and persevered through it,” Harrison said. “I think they did great. I couldn’t have been more happy.”

You have three minutes. You’re not going to give it up to a computer glitch.