The girls basketball Class 5A Great 8 was played at the Denver Coliseum on Friday. Arapahoe, Grandview, Highlands Ranch and Valor Christian advanced to the Final Four, which will be played next Thursday back at the Coliseum.
(3) Grandview 70, (6) Cherry Creek 38
Josh Ulitzky can remember the first time he brought his Grandview girls basketball team to the Denver Coliseum. It didn’t go well.
Fast forward to Friday evening, when his Wolves were the ones making it no go well for their opponent — Centennial League rival Cherry Creek — in a Class 5A Great 8 contest they won handily, 70-38.
Grandview led virtually from start to finish as it swept the season series of three games with the Bruins and in the process earned a spot in the March 10 semifinals against second-seeded Highlands Ranch.
“I can still remember when we played Highlands Ranch here for the first time and we did not win,” said Ulitzky, referring to a 70-47 loss in the Great 8 in 2012. “Once you get here and understand what it is and how you win, it makes a difference.”
The Wolves have made the Denver Coliseum a comfortable place for quite some time, as they’ve reached the Final Four in seven consecutive seasons, including last season, when the semifinals were played at home sites due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This contest with Cherry Creek was decidedly more lopsided than either of the two regular season meetings, wins of 54-34 at home and 54-47 on the road, for Grandview.
The Wolves had the edge in experience at the Denver Coliseum as standout seniors Lauren Betts and Marya Hudgins played two games at the venue in 2020 before the pandemic wiped out the championship game Grandview was supposed to play against the same Cherry Creek program.
This time, Hudgins poured in a game-high 21 points and the 6-foot-7 Betts — a Stanford University signee — turned in a 16-point, 16-rebound performance as the Wolves rolled to a third straight postseason win of 38 points or more.
“It feels super natural to shoot with this backdrop,” said Hudgins, who was 7-for-10 from the field, including 5-for-7 for 3-point range, in a shooting environment that often throws players off given how different it is from a high school gym.
Grandview’s passing — honed by practicing against boys in preparation — helped it overcome early struggles and find its rhythm.
Hounded by multiple Cherry Creek defenders, Betts surveyed the floor and found her open teammates often, while her freshman sister, Sienna, fed it to big sis inside on several occasions with adept entry passes.
“I feel like that’s an area of improvement,” Ulitzky said of his team’s passing. “To get where we want to, we need to get better, but it was a step in the right direction.”
Grandview led by double figures two minutes into the second quarter over the Bruins — a team made up largely of sophomores and freshmen — pushed the margin to 20 late in the opening half to go into the break up 19.
Freshman A’Neya Chambers (who had a team-high 13 points) asserted herself for Cherry Creek early in the third quarter and helped get the margin down to 17, but the lead went back to 20 after three quarters and crested with the final margin of 32.
Next up for Grandview — who also got 10 points apiece from Sienna Betts and senior Amaya Charles — is preparing for its next opponent.
“We’ll have a tough matchup no matter who we get,” Ulitzky said. “They both present different challenges, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
(5) Arapahoe 46, (13) Fossil Ridge 46
Arapahoe has now built a Final Four team and it has been a long time coming.
The Warriors finally broke through the postseason barrier that stood in front of them — many times in the form of fellow Centennial league teams — with a 53-46 victory over Fossil Ridge in a Class 5A Great 8 girls basketball contest Friday afternoon at the Denver Coliseum.
Fifth-seeded Arapahoe held off a rally by the 13th-seeded SaberCats in the fourth quarter to earn a spot in the March 10 Final Four against No. 1 Valor Christian.
“Getting to this level and getting beyond is tough,” veteran Arapahoe coach Jerry Knafelc said. “I just think this is great for our program. We’ve been on the verge before. Any win we get at this point belongs to everybody in the last 12 years that has played in my program.
“We’re on the shoulders of giants that helped us keep climbing this ladder and I want to give them credit, but I don’t want to take anything away from the unbelievably special group of young ladies I have.”
While Grandview, defending 4A state champion Mullen and Cherry Creek might have been expected to be at this point as they have in the past on multiple occasions, Arapahoe is the Centennial League program that feels like it can get overlooked.
“We’ve been working hard all season,” said freshman Gianna Smith, who finished with a team-high 15 points. “I think everybody doubts us, so it feels good to show them how good we are.”
The Warriors (18-7) had progressed to the Denver Coliseum with decisive wins over Lakewood (51-25) and Columbine (72-54), but found a much stiffer challenge from a Fossil Ridge team that knocked off fourth-seeded Monarch in the Sweet 16.
A 9-1 run to end the first quarter — which included a pair of 3-pointers by 6-foot-2 senior Sam Crispe — put the Warriors in the lead at 15-9, but the SaberCats had an 8-0 burst of their own to take a brief lead in second quarter on two Kate Davis free throws.
Smith helped give Arapahoe a 24-19 lead at the break with a pair of putbacks, part of a distinct rebounding advantage for the Warriors.
Fossil Ridge kept coming in the escond half, keeping Arapahoe from pushing the lead into double digits and finding a way to stay within striking range.
“It was definitely frustrating because we couldn’t get that lead up, but we executed in the end,” Smith said.
After a turnover-plagued third quarter, Arapahoe saw its lead shrink to two twice at 44-42 with 3:12 left and 48-46 with 1:29 remaining, but Smith calmly sank free throws at the end and the Warriors closed it out.
Coming through in the clutch was in no small measure owed in part to a difficult non-league schedule followed by the grueling Centennial League gauntlet.
Several days of practice will be invaluable for Arapahoe ahead of its semifinal, no matter what the result.
“It’s great because even the kids that aren’t playing have seen this and want to be there,” Knafelc said. “They are excited about it.”
(2) Highlands Ranch 54, (7) Doherty 39
(2) Highlands Ranch 54, (7) Doherty 39
Sinking 3-pointers can be the great equalizer. And with Doherty so determined to shut down Alex Priog, Highlands Ranch was bound to make some big shots from beyond the arc. The three of them that the Falcons made to start the fourth quarter made a huge difference as No. 2 Highlands Ranch held on to beat the Spartans 54-39 to advance to next weekend’s Final 4 at the Denver Coliseum.
“It was a huge help and a huge relief,” Falcons coach Caryn Jarocki said.
After scoring five points in the first quarter, Priog entered the fourth with just 10 points to her name but Erza Simonich and Katie Johanning hit some clutch shots to force the Doherty defense shade more toward the perimeter.
Priog took full advantage to score seven points in the fourth, ending her night with a game-high 17. But those points in the fourth don’t happen if the Falcons don’t heat up from the outside.
“It brought the defense out and then they could kick to me,” Priog said. “They were at some points tripling some of our guards so it just got other people open.”
The Spartans entered the game with a plan to shut down the looks for Priog in the paint and for the most part, Gabby Beauperthuy did a great job of denying the ball and creating turnovers for Doherty.
Offensively it was Payton Sterk and Brooke Mansanares keeping the Spartans alive. Sterk led Doherty with 13 while Mansanares scored 10.
The Falcons are onto the 5A Final 4 for the fourth year in a row. They’ll have the unenviable task of taking on Grandview and Stanford women’s basketball commit Lauren Betts.
“We have four days to prepare, which is helpful,” Jarocki said. “But their bigs are a huge concern.”
If the Falcons can keep the bigs near the post and knock down the 3-pointers that they sank to start the fourth quarter against Doherty, it should be a fun game for the Denver Coliseum crowd to see.
(1) Valor Christian 54, (8) Chaparral 44
The defending 5A girls champs are still rolling.
No. 1 Valor Christian fended off the underdog as they defeated No. 8 Chaparral, 54-44 Friday evening inside the Denver Coliseum. The Eagles have now moved on to their third consecutive final four appearance.
“I was really proud of our grittiness and toughness,” head coach Jessika Caldwell said. “Chaparral is a great team and they really did some amazing things tonight. We stayed steady, we really didn’t hit a lot of shots, but to do what we did, I’m just really proud of our girls.”
Raegan Beers led the way for the Eagles, scoring 16 points, while Macey Huard was right behind with 15 and Mariah Hilliard added 14. For Chaparral, who ended its season with an 18-7 record, were led by Reagan Lentell who poured in 16, while Payton Bang added 11.
The Wolverines went toe to toe with Valor in the first quarter, as they took a 14-13 lead with around a minute left, and only trailed by two, 16-14, after the first stanza.
Chaparral tied the game at 16-all to start the second, and after trading a few buckets, took a 21-19 lead with four minutes to play in the half. The two teams continued to trade punches down the stretch, and Valor took a 28-26 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the half, Valor upped their lead to four, but Chaparral answered back to take a 31-30 lead with five minutes left in the third. Valor responded with four straight points of their own to get a three point lead back, 34-31. The game remained a one score affair until a three pointer from Valor at the 1:16 mark made it 39-33. The Eagles held onto a 42-35 advantage into the final quarter.
The Eagles continued to hold onto their steady lead for most of the fourth, until Chaparral cut the deficit to four, 46-42, with two and a half minutes to play. From there, Valor scored the next five, including a clutch three from Huard, to get the lead back to a comfortable nine and hold on for the 10-point victory.
The No. 5 seeded Arapahoe Warriors await Valor in the semifinals, and while they haven’t seen them on the court yet this season, are a familiar face as they shared facilities earlier this season when there was flooding in Valor’s gym.
“They helped us in a gym-less situation, and that has brought us close together,” Caldwell added. “I’m really excited to be able to matchup with them and just go at it and have some fun.”