The 3A boys basketball tournament kicked off on Friday night.
Month: March 2014
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Photos: 3A girls basketball’s opening round
The 3A girls basketball state tournament kicked off on Friday night.
Cedaredge 50, Centauri 43
Holy Family 60, Estes Park 39
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Photos: 4A girls basketball’s Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum
DENVER — The 4A girls basketball Great 8 spanned the full day Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
Go to:
- Valor Christian 67, Sand Creek 60
- Mesa Ridge 47, D’Evelyn 41
- Pueblo South 36, Elizabeth 21
- Broomfield 74, Palmer Ridge 51
Valor Christian 67, Sand Creek 60
Mesa Ridge 47, D’Evelyn 41
Pueblo South 36, Elizabeth 21
Broomfield 74, Palmer Ridge 51
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Valor Christian avenges earlier loss to Sand Creek, wins in 4A girls Great 8
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) DENVER — On Jan. 3, Sand Creek’s girls basketball team ran away from Valor Christian in a 67-34 rout.
Saturday, in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum, Valor decided not to let that happen again.
The Eagles turned in a dominant late game performance that saw them outscore the Scorpions 39-23 to reach their first Final Four in school history.
Valor Christian attacked the rim aggressively and shot an incredible 36 second half free-throws, making 28 of them. Caroline Bryan, Kendall Bradbury and Madison McCoy impressed offensively for the Eagles.
More photos. (Kelly Thornburg/MVPSportsPics.com) “We talked a lot at halftime about staying aggressive and playing our game, which is pass and cut, and just ball movement, not trying to score too early in our offense,” Valor Christian coach Sherryl Klosterman said afterward. “When we start jacking up perimeter shots, we don’t play well, so we just talked about attacking and trying to get to the line and it worked out real well for us.”
Valor Christian played tough half-court defense against Sand Creek’s talented core of Oliana Squires, Liah Davis and Mikayla Reese as each of them got points, but had to work for every basket. Davis, a 6-foot-2 big, grabbed an incredible 19 rebounds and scored 11 points, but only shot 4-of-12 from the field. Squires scored 18 and had a great third quarter, but was mostly held in check the other quarters. Reese chipped in 13 points and impacted the game with her quick slashing.
It was not enough for the Scorpions as Valor’s Caroline Bryan had a big 22 points and a solid-all around game.
“Caroline’s a kid that loves the game,” Klosterman said. “She’s passionate, she’ll shoot, she’ll drive, she’ll do whatever you need her to do. She’s a bit of a perfectionist and a gym rat. She wants to get better and better and better every day. She’s been a great leader for the team in that way, just in her work ethic.”
Sand Creek finished its season 22-4. Valor Christian turned its year back around after the tough blowout loss to Sand Creek in January and will face the winner of Broomfield vs. Palmer Ridge in the final four.
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Sand Creek overcomes D’Evelyn’s McGee en route to 4A boys semis
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) DENVER — D’Evelyn’s Ty McGee was dominating the game against Sand Creek in the Great 8 on Saturday afternoon. McGee’s size, athleticism, skill and strength gave the Scorpions fits as D’Evelyn was in control early with an 18-8 lead.
Yet Sand Creek regrouped and showed a ton of heart in fighting back and securing a 58-51 win to reach its first final four in the program’s history.
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) McGee finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds and had 11 third-quarter points as the Jaguars took a 47-39 lead into the final quarter. The Scorpions stymied D’Evelyn’s offense from then out with an impressive 19-4 quarter.
Jason Pasley, a 6-foot-4 junior forward who was quiet most of the game, came alive late and played tough defense on McGee. Sand Creek held a 52-51 lead with 20 seconds remaining when Pasley drained four straight free-throws to seal the victory. Pasley had nine points and 10 rebounds and was fantastic down the stretch.
Michael DeCarmo and Nick Pasley had solid games with 15 and nine points, respectively. Dylan Clark, the Scorpions’ star and an Air Force commit, scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds, and had his usual intelligent, all-around performance.
“Of course I’m biased, but I think he’s the best player in the state,” Sand Creek coach Joe Rausch said about Clark. “We put every responsibility on that kid. He leads us in assists, rebounds, points, and he’s such a great press-breaker.
“He handles the ball so much that we just wear him out game after game after game and that kid just finds another gear. He finds somewhere deep down inside to keep pushing and keep fighting.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) The story of Sand Creek’s victory was defense with an absolutely smothering last quarter.
“For four years, that’s really what we’ve tried to hang our hat on,” Rausch said. “These guys, because of our size and everything, I wasn’t really sure how good we would be defensively, but they’ve really bought into the execution of our defense and it made us a super defensive team.
“I think I have to give all the credit to those seniors,” Rausch concluded. “We’ve worked really hard and to go to three out of four Great 8’s and not make that final step would have been such a disappointment. They weren’t going to settle for that. I didn’t know we could come back on a team as good as D’Evelyn, but I knew we could give it a run and these kids weren’t going to fold.”
D’Evelyn concludes its season 20-6. Sand Creek will face Pueblo East in the final four in Boulder next week.
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Purnell leads Mesa Ridge girls basketball to the 4A final four
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) DENVER — Gabby Purnell is the Peyton Manning of Mesa Ridge girls basketball.
The 5-foot-5 senior point guard controls games and runs the show. Purnell worked a masterpiece against D’Evelyn in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum with a 9-of-11 shooting performance for 22 points as Mesa Ridge girls beat the Jaguars 47-41.
Purnell is a quick player with great ballhandling skills. She controlled the pace of the game and led a strong Grizzlies effort throughout.
“Gabby Purnell is a coach on the floor,” Mesa Ridge coach Jeff Beatty said about his point guard. “I very, very rarely call any plays. Gabby calls everything. She does it all on the floor for me. I’ll change up defenses and such, but she pretty much calls the offense out there and runs the show and gets the ball to the open player. She’s extraordinary. I can’t believe there aren’t D-I’s beating my door down to get her.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.coms) Mesa Ridge looked like they were going to blowout D’Evelyn out in the third as they had a commanding 45-26 lead, but the Jaguars’ Malia Shappell led a furious late run. Shappell scored 11 second half points and 17 overall, but it wasn’t enough as the Grizzlies held on.
Mesa Ridge’s 6-foot-4 sophomore Kylee Shook only scored four points, but grabbed 10 rebounds and was a defensive presence. She was injured and out for last year’s Great 8 loss to Pueblo South, the eventual champion.
“Last year we made the final 8 and lost and that hurt us a little bit,” Beatty said. “They’ve really come together and they really share the ball. Our defense was really good today.”
D’Evelyn finished 21-5 after being the state runner-ups the past two seasons.
Mesa Ridge will play the winner of Pueblo South vs. Elizabeth in the Final Four in Boulder. The Grizzlies are now 26-0 this season.
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2015 girls lacrosse recruiting commitments
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A on-going list of college lacrosse commitments from girls high school athletes in Colorado’s class of 2015. Send additions, along with position and height, to rcasey@chsaa.org.
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Photos: 5A girls basketball Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum
DENVER — Eight teams played for spots in the 5A girls basketball tournament’s final four at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday evening.
Games:
- Poudre 47, Cherry Creek 38
- Fossil Ridge 60, Dakota Ridge 50
- Grandview 50, Rampart 34
- Regis Jesuit 72, Lakewood 31
Poudre 47, Cherry Creek 38
Fossil Ridge 60, Dakota Ridge 50
Grandview 50, Rampart 34
Regis Jesuit 72, Lakewood 31
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Poudre girls basketball advances to final four for first time since 1978
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) DENVER — It’s been a long drought for the Poudre girls basketball team, but the Impalas finally earned a spot in the Class 5A final four.
Poudre upended Cherry Creek 47-38 in Thursday’s Great 8 to advance to next week’s state semifinals in Boulder.
Cherry Creek, a number-two seed, struggled to get untracked. The Bruins didn’t score their first basket until 6 ½ minutes had expired. By that time, Poudre had built up a 6-0 lead.
Cherry Creek briefly took a lead on Laura Pranger’s 3-pointer, but the Impalas, behind twins Ashley and McKenzie McDaniel, retook the advantage, which grew to seven before a Molly Rohrer’s short jumper cut Poudre’s advantage to 25-20 by halftime.
Every time the Bruins seemed intent on making a run in the second half, the Impalas answered. Despite a height advantage by the Bruins, Poudre got good production inside from twins Ashely and McKenzie McDaniel, who combined for 17 points, but got its biggest push off the bench from Cecelia Berkner, who scored a game-high 15.
Poudre coach Curtis Glesmann said his team executed its defensive game plan well.
“We just had to make a good mess in the paint,” he said of counteracting the taller Bruins.
A big factor in that was senior Myanne Hamm.
“My first couple of shots didn’t fall,” Hamm said. “I made up for the shots I couldn’t make (with defense).”
Glesmann said playing in the Front Range League helped his team down the stretch.
“We feel like we’re battle tested,” he said.
As for helping the team make its first trip to the final four since 1978, Hamm said its been a season-long goal.
“It’s what every senior wants,” she said.
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Fossil Ridge forces 24 turnovers en route to Great 8 win vs. Dakota Ridge
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) DENVER — Playing in one of the tougher Class 5A girls basketball conferences has helped steel Fossil Ridge for the playoffs.
The SaberCats (20-1) turned it up a notch on Thursday, forcing 24 turnovers in advancing to next week’s state semifinals in Boulder with a 60-50 win over Dakota Ridge.
“It started from day one,” Fossil Ridge coach Chad Salz said of the mission of reaching the final four.
“Playing in a tough (Front Range) conference helped,” he said, the SaberCats’ only loss this season coming to another final four qualifier, Poudre.
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) Dakota Ridge struggled against the SaberCats’ stifling defense, which forced 24 turnovers.
On the offensive end, Savannah Smith and Kellee Willer paced Fossil Ridge, scoring both outside and driving into the paint to combine for 20 points as the SaberCats forged a 26-15 halftime lead.
Smith came out on fire in the third quarter, scoring on a pair of three-point plays within a minute of each other and producing another layup as Fossil Ridge pulled away to a 17-point lead by the end of the third.
Smith, who scored a game-high 29 points before fouling out with 4:46 remaining, said Salz set the tone in the halftime locker room.
“Coach told us to pick it up,” she said.
Her penetration into the lane was a key factor in the SaberCats’ ability to keep the Eagles at bay despite limited production from Brooke Pemberton, who is nursing a sore ankle.
“That’s always my style,” Smith said of being unafraid to attack the basket, despite often times being the smallest player on the court.
Willer helped by adding 12 points and, more importantly, eight rebounds.
Jae Ferrin paced Dakota Ridge with 18 points underneath while Caitlin Navratil added 15 from the outside.
Smith and Salz both said the SaberCats’ effort on one end of the court must improve in order for them to win their final two games.
“We’ve got to do some fine-tuning defensively,” Salz said
“For us (to succeed) we’ve got to pick up our defense,” Smith echoed.