COLORADO SPRINGS — The state basketball championship games for 1A boys and girls, 4A boys and girls, and 5A girls are on Saturday at World Arena.
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More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — A fast start can make all the difference in the world. For the Flatirons Academy girls basketball team, that difference was simply maintaining a lead rather than having to stretch it out.
The Bison outscored Fleming by 11 in the first quarter and held that lead to get a 64-52 win to capture the Class 1A girls basketball state championship.
It turned out that first quarter was going to have an impact that would be felt until the final buzzer sounded.
“When I went into (the first quarter) I didn’t know how big that would be,” coach Mike Durrill said. “I was hoping it would be. Our last four games, the first quarter has been huge for us and today we were able to hit that outside shot and it opened things up for us.”
That outside shot was made by Savana Kascak. Fleming’s Whitney Chintala answered right away but that’s when the Bison (14-4 overall) got hot and Wildcats went cold.
Flatirons Academy closed out the first quarter on a. 15-4 run to open up an 11-point lead.
“We’ve had a great team and our team is focus on defense,” Emma Cox said. “We played them at the beginning of the year and came up short. We came up with a defensive plan and tried to (execute) that as best we could.”
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What helped that effort was that the offense didn’t sputter for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats (12-4) finally found their footing. Kendyl Kirkwood was held scoreless in the first quarter but averaged eight points per quarter for the remainder of the game to score a game-high 24.
But her effort alone couldn’t get the Wildcats to close the gap. Cox finished with a team-high 19 points and Kascak added 18 to keep that 11-point edge firmly in hand.
“Fleming is a great team and they school us in the regular season,” Durrill said. “Our girls have been resilient. They’ve been cool, calm and collected. They’re really enjoyed the process and haven’t gotten tense or felt any pressure.”
Any time that pressure could’ve crept up on the Bison, they’d find a way to brush it off. Fleming switched to a full-court press in the second half which did a great job at forcing turnovers and giving the Wildcats a chance to close the gap.
But each time, the Bison would find a way to halt that momentum. That was apparent at the start of the fourth quarter when Cox knocked down a big 3-pointer from the top the key to keep momentum with her team.
“I don’t think that one mattered as much as everyone else’s,” Cox said. “We were led by a great group of seniors and our coaching staff is absolutely amazing. I just happened to accidentally hit a shot.”
Accident or not, that shot had a big hand in ensuring the Bison would capture the first girls basketball championship in school history.
For right now, the 2021 team will go down as the benchmark for what the program is capable of.
“They love each other,” Durrill said. “We haven’t had any drama this year, this team has just been a family.”
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COLORADO SPRINGS — A year ago, Mullen’s girls basketball season didn’t with a clock running out and a buzzer echoing through the Denver Coliseum. It ended with an announcement that they wouldn’t get to defend their Class 4A state title after advancing to the championship game.
COVID-19 had other plans. So when this season started, the focus for the Mustangs turned to finishing what you get the opportunity to finish.
They took that to heart and finished their championship run with a 67-44 win over Windsor.
“It was on every single practice plan, we talked about it at the beginning of every practice,” coach Frank Cawley said. “This is what we wanted to do. We needed to finish what we started last year.”
One way to do that is to shoot efficiently. The Mustangs (17-2 overall) shot nearly 54 percent from the floor, including going 6-for-15 from 3-point range.
Oddly enough senior Megan Pohs was one of the few Mullen players to struggle early. She was 0-for-4 from the field in the first half, but finally found her rhythm, hitting four 3-pointers in the third quarter. She scored all 12 of her points off those shots which accounted for all but two of the Mustangs points in that quarter.
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Her shooting woes didn’t bug her as Gracie Gallegos scored a game-high 17 points and Alexa Dominguez added 10.
“Our whole method is that if your shots aren’t falling you have to keep your head up,” Pohs said. “Eventually they’ll start to fall and the team helps with that by keeping you in check.”
The Wizards (16-2) kept pace with Mullen throughout the first quarter, but a quick 4-0 spurt by the Mustangs in the closing seconds gave them an eight-point pad. Where the Mustangs had an efficient shooting night, Windsor struggled from the field. Olivia Reed scored a team-high 10 points and Alexis Backhaus had eight and added seven rebounds along the way.
Even after building a comfortable lead, Cawley refused to believe that his team would maintain control.
“I’ve watched Windsor play four or five games and I wasn’t comfortable until the final buzzer went off,” he said. “That’s my nature, but I was never comfortable until the clock showed twin zeros.”
Mullen is now the third team in a row to claim consecutive 4A girls titles. Valor Christian did it in 2015 and 2016 before Evergreen won in 2017 and 2018.
This is the sixth state championship for Mullen girls basketball. The Mustangs won their first four championships between 2000 and 2006. This win was also the most points they’ve scored in a championship game, topping their mark of 62 points in 2019.
It was a feat they were hoping to accomplish a year sooner, but it was clear with the emotional reaction at the end of the game that the wait was well worth it.
“As soon as last year ended, it was our goal to get back here,” Pohs said. “To do that is amazing, especially with this team. It’s a great way to end my high school career.”
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COLORADO SPRINGS — Winning a state title means at time, fear has to go out the window. On the very first possession of the third quarter, junior Trista Marx picked up her third foul for Limon.
The logical move was to take her out. Considering she had scored 19 of the Badgers’ 30 first-half points, she was a crucial part of Limon’s championship chances. But she stayed on the floor and the gamble paid off.
Limon beat Wray 63-50 to claim the Class 2A girls basketball title. Marx finished with a game-high 27 points.
This is the sixth girls basketball title for the Badgers (16-3 overall) and the first since 2007.
“We had eight seniors graduate last year and they didn’t get this chance,” coach Bart O’Dwyer. “It’s really special to have these kids do what they did. They believed in themselves and they really came through.”
It was a bit of a shaky start as the Eagles caused some havoc in their 2-2-1 press. They forced seven Limon turnovers in the first quarter and built a 10-6 lead.
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“I think it was just nerves and being in a bigger gym,” Marx said. “We’ve had trouble with presses before but our new press break helped settle us down. After a little bit we figured it out.”
That’s when Marx got going. She scored all but four of Limon’s points in the first quarter and once the Badgers got the ball into their half-court set, she was seemingly unstoppable.
She helped the Badgers build a 10-point lead at halftime before picking up her third foul. Sending her to the bench was never an option unless absolutely necessary.
“I don’t worry about three fouls,” O’Dwyer said. “I’ll play them in the first half with two and if they get a third I’ll take them out. With three fouls, that’s how we’ve played that all year long. I’ve told these girls they have to learn how to play with fouls.”
She scored just five points in the third quarter but dominated the glass, pulling down five rebounds, three of which were offensive. She pulled down 10 boards to end the game with a championship double-double.
She couldn’t allow herself to be as aggressive as she was in the first half because of her foul count. It’s exactly what O’Dwyer is talking about when he says that she has to learn how to play with them.
“I have to back off a little bit,” Marx said. “I still try and play hard and if I get my fourth, it is what it is.”
While her offensive numbers were impressive, it was the overall team defense for Limon that changed the feel of the game late in the first quarter. Wray had trouble getting open looks and knocked down just 18 percent of their shots in the first half and 22 percent for the entire game.
Taby Jones and Karly Godsey usually combine for around 30 points per game, but were kept in check through the first three quarters of the game. Jones scored 14 before committing her fifth foul in the fourth quarter and receiving a well-deserved ovation from the Eagles fanbase in attendance.
More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — The fifth girls basketball title for Platte Valley is a family thing.
Three sets of siblings and some of their closest friends battled through a tough fourth quarter, getting the ultimate reward at the end. Seventeen years after last hoisting the trophy, Platte Valley beat Lutheran 51-44 to claim the Class 3A girls basketball championship.
And in the strangest of years, the championship game was the first time during the entire playoff run that the Broncos (16-1 overall) played an opponent that didn’t come out of the Patriot League.
“We were kind of hoping that we’d see someone different that we hadn’t played yet,” coach Tonya Schissler said. “It felt like our district tournament getting through the state tournament. These girls did a great job playing as a team. That’s what got us through it.”
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That team is made up of two of her daughters as well as two other sets of siblings. But even considering the girls that aren’t related, this team has felt like a family for a really long time.
“It’s so fun, we’ve all played together for so long,” Bree Bunting said. “We’re so familiar with each other and it’s so much fun to see our hard from when we were really young to now pay off.”
The trust in each other was the primary factor, however. The Broncos jumped out to a 9-1 lead to start the game, but Lutheran’s Stephanie Schultz erased in the blink of an eye. The two teams battled into halftime where Platte Valley held a three-point lead.
The Lions (15-2) started knocking down big shots in the third quarter and Raelyn Kelty scored seven of her 11 points in that quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave them a 34-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Broncos weren’t phased. They knew they had the mental toughness to keep the momentum from fully swinging back to the Lions.
Cora Schissler scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the fourth as the Broncos pulled ahead and refused to let go of the lead.
“They came out strong in that third quarter,” Schissler said. “We came right back out and knew that this was the last game of our season no matter what. We had to give it our all.”
That’s exactly what they did. There was a brief moment of panic when Bree Bunting fouled out, but even as she watched from the bench, she knew the game was in capable hands. It all goes back to that family trust.
“It was tough,” Bunting said. “But I was so glad my team was able to carry it out and they played hard and did such a great job.”
The last time the Broncos won a girls basketball title was 2004 when they beat Lamar 85-77. This also completes a one-loss season for the Broncos. They fell to Vanguard back on Jan. 30. The Coursers were the No. 1 seed heading into the 3A tournament but lost to Lutheran in the semifinals.
More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
LAKEWOOD — Windsor will play for the Class 4A girls basketball state championship Sunday at the World Arena in Colorado Springs.
The No. 3-seeded Wizards defeated No. 2 Green Mountain 70-44 on the Rams’ home court Thursday night. It’s the first girls basketball title game appearance for Windsor since the program won the 4A championship in 1994.
“This means so much. We were so ready and excited,” Windsor junior Alexis Backhaus said. “We’ve been ready since June. We’ve been doing things since then to prepare. This is what we were meant to do this season.”
Windsor senior Kylie Sanger (3) bring the ball down the court while being guarded by Green Mountain sophomore Jayda Maves. Sanger poured in four 3-pointers to help the Wizards to a 70-44 victory in the Class 4A state semifinal. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Windsor faces No. 4 Mullen (16-2 record) in the championship game scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday. The Mustangs dominated No. 2 Holy Family 75-50 in the other semifinal.
“Mullen is a really good team,” Windsor junior Olivia Reed said about the title game Sunday. “We are just going to do what we’ve been doing. We’ll stay together and take it on as a team.”
The Wizards (16-1) took on the previously undefeated Rams on Green Mountain’s home court. Green Mountain led 9-8 through a sluggish first quarter for both teams offensive, but Windsor turned it on in the second quarter.
Backhaus poured in a pair of early baskets in the third quarter. Reed powered her way inside to put Windsor up 14-11 with 4:55 left in the second quarter. Then it was senior Kylie Sanger’s turn to get going offensively with a pair of 3-pointers before the midway point of the second quarter.
“We are super in shape,” Backhaus said of the Wizards outscoring the Rams 43-26 in the second and third quarters. “We just kept running and pushing. We kept running our offense like we do every game.”
Backhaus (23 points), Sanger (14 points) and Reed (20 points) carried the load offensively combining for 57 points. Backhaus and Sanger poured in three 3-pointers each during the middle quarters. Reed dominated down low to help the Wizards to an eighth straight victory.
“My teammates do a really good job of getting me good looks,” said Reed, who scored most of her points in the paint. “It was awesome.”
Green Mountain’s lone senior — Courtney Hank (33) — played her final game of her prep career Thursday night. Hank finished with more to 1,000 points and 600 rebounds during her stellar 4-year career with the Rams. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
It was a heartbreaking loss for Green Mountain (17-1). The Rams were undefeated going into the state semifinal game. Green Mountain’s last loss came a year ago when the Rams lost in the 4A state semifinal against Holy Family.
“Windsor is on a different level for now,” Green Mountain coach Darren Pitzner said. “It’s something our next senior class and our underclassmen can emulate and shoot for. I’m excited about where Green Mountain is going.”
The Rams have a 41-4 record over the past two seasons that included the program’s first state semifinal appearances.
“I’m really excited about the whole Green Mountain community that they’ve got a program from our 2nd-graders all the way up to our seniors to be proud of and motivated to see what they can accomplish,” Pitzner said.
Green Mountain graduates just one senior in Courtney Hank. Last year’s 4A Jeffco League MVP finished her career with more than 1,000 points and 600 rebounds.
“I’ve been lucky to coach a special senior in Courtney,” Pitzner said. “She has been the foundation of the turnaround of this program and the face of this program.”
Green Mountain senior Courtney Hank, left, and Windsor junior Olivia Reed tip things off during the Class 4A state semifinal game Thursday night at Green Mountain High School. Windsor got the road victory to set-up a showdown against Mullen in the 4A state championship game Sunday, March 21, at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
No. 1 seed Valor Christian beat No. 4 Highlands Ranch 66-45 in the Class 5A girls basketball Final 4.
Mullen girls basketball beat Holy Family 75-50 in the Class 4A Final 4.
Windsor girls basketball beat Green Mountain 70-44 in the 4A Final 4, and now heads to the championship game.
Regis Jesuit girls basketball beat Grandview 73-69 to advance to the 5A state championship game.