DENVER — Michaela Onyenwere appeared to be just about everywhere Thursday evening — at least that is how it must have seemed to Rampart.
The Grandview freshman was a force to be reckoned with in the Great 8 round of the Class 5A state girls basketball playoffs, notching a double-double in the first half alone. Her efforts proved to be contagious as the Wolves’ dominance on the glass keyed a 50-34 victory over the Rams at the Denver Coliseum.
Grandview (24-2) advanced to the state semifinals for the second year in a row and will face Fossil Ridge (25-1) on March 13 at the CU Events Center in Boulder.
“It feels amazing because I feel like we still have unfinished business at Boulder,” Wolves senior Katie Cunningham said of a three-point loss to eventual state champion Regis Jesuit last year. “I feel like now we get a second chance to go back and show everyone what we can do.”
Onyenwere paced Grandview with 19 points and 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. She had 13 points and 10 boards at halftime but battled foul trouble in the second half.
“She’s awesome,” Cunningham said. “She gives us an extra spark when she keeps scoring. It just gives us so much energy.”
Cunningham added 13 points and seven rebounds and Natalie Halbleib chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds. Grandview outrebounded Rampart 39-24 and had an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Those extra opportunities made the difference and prevented Rampart from getting back into the game.
“We were really emphasizing to our girls to get offensive rebounds and to try and attack,” Wolves coach Josh Ulitzky said. “We feel like the special teams that we’ve seen in the tournament in the past, they’ve been able to attack the offensive glass.”
Rampart (20-6) received 12 points each from Cassidy Budge and Nicea Eliely. The Rams will graduate just three seniors.
DENVER — In its three Class 5A state playoff victories, Regis Jesuit’s girls basketball team has outscored opponents by a combined total of 124 points.
Even with that success though, the Raiders have not let up on the gas. The players continue to fight for every basket, every rebound, every loose ball.
“I think that just says how much fight we have and how much desire we have to just be the best and give it our all,” Regis Jesuit senior Justine Hall said after the defending state champions moved into the state semifinals with a 72-31 victory over Lakewood on Thursday at the Denver Coliseum. “Especially as seniors and this being our last year, we just want to leave it all on the court.”
The Raiders (24-2) will play Poudre (21-5) on March 13 at CU Events Center in Boulder.
While Regis Jesuit has experience playing at the Coliseum, Lakewood (24-2) hadn’t been to the Great 8 since the 2008 season. The Tigers were coming off a hard-fought victory over 2013 state runner-up Highlands Ranch on Tuesday but were just 10-of-48 shooting from the field against Regis.
“It’s very difficult to come off such a big win, beating Highlands Ranch, and then going back-to-back 48 hours,” Raiders coach Carl Mattei said. “And on this stage too.”
Diani Akigbogun led Regis with a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds. Hall added 16 points and Jordan Molyneaux contributed 13.
The Raiders forced 21 turnovers and out-rebounded Lakewood 49-32, taking advantage of a healthy size advantage inside.
“We were just penetrating and getting it into our bigs,” Hall said. “It was working, so it was a good advantage.”
Lakewood didn’t knock down its first field goal until three minutes, 40 seconds remained in the first quarter and trailed by 17 points going into the second quarter. Mattei said the key was shutting down Lakewood guards McKenna Bishop and Mackenzie Forrest.
“Our kids are going to come out and play right in your face and get after it defensively,” Mattei said. “That inspires us to get going.”
Jessica Brooks led the Tigers with eight points and seven rebounds and Bishop added seven points and nine boards. Lakewood has only two seniors on its roster, with the rest of the team consisting of sophomores and freshmen. The experience will prove to be an asset for the Tigers in the coming seasons.
That’s the recipe Regis Jesuit has used after reaching the finals in 2011 before winning it all a year ago.
“We know we just have to take it game-by-game and give it our all,” Hall said. “Just come out as hard as we can, and when we do that, we’re good.”
AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association today released 13 student-produced videos from every region across Colorado as part of its “You Can Play, Colorado!” contest—a program focused on stopping bullying and delivering messages of inclusion and acceptance for all students participating in high school activities such as sports, speech, music and student leadership.
To learn more about the “You Can Play, Colorado!” contest and to view the videos and vote, please visit YouCanPlayColorado.com.
Students, parents, school supports and, well, every Coloradan are welcomed to vote for their favorite. CHSAA encourages school communities to vote early and often for their hometown video candidate. Each school submitting a video is eligible to receive prize money, with the grand prize school receiving $2,500. One Fan Favorite from each CHSAA classification will receive a $500 prize. On-line voting begins Friday, March 7 and closes Wednesday, March 12. The winning student videos will be announced and highlighted at the March 15 state basketball championships at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Videos were submitted from the following schools:
Center High School, Center
CIVA Charter High School
D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School, Denver
Dolores High School, Dolores
Global Leadership Academy, Denver
Grandview High School, Aurora
Holyoke Senior High School, Holyoke
Liberty Junior/High School, Joes
Moffat County High School, Craig
Monarch High School, Louisville
Pagosa Springs High School, Pagosa Springs
ThunderRidge High School, Highlands Ranch
Jefferson County Schools
“You Can Play, Colorado!” is part of the “We Are CHSAA” positive leadership campaign, an educational experience—in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, You Can Play and the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado—dedicated to ensuring that all students are encouraged to participate and be accepted for what they bring to a team or activity, and not excluded for what some might see as differences.
Mountain Vista Brady Subart (23) looks to drive on Ralston Valley junior Andrew Wingard during the Class 5A Sweet 16 game Wednesday night at Mountain Vista High School. Subart gave the Golden Eagles a spark with three 3-pointers in Mountain Vista’s 68-38 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Mountain Vista turned the tables on Ralston Valley in the Class 5A boys’ basketball Sweet 16 game Wednesday night.
The Ralston Valley Mustangs came in as the defensive-minded squad having held a dozen opponents this season to under 50 points. However, the Golden Eagles turned to their defense early to build a lead and take a 68-38 home victory.
Ralston Valley senior Zac Stevens, far left, and junior teammate Andrew Wingard fight for a rebound with Mountain Vista senior Graham Smith during the first quarter Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We did something different, which we normally don’t do,” Mountain Vista coach Bob Wood said after his team’s 16th straight win. “We went with our zone trap at the start of the game. We normally play man-to-man for a while. We thought with (Ralston Valley’s) size we could go to the zone trap and see if we could prevent them from going inside and force some turnovers.”
The plan worked to a tee. Mountain Vista (24-1) forced 22 first-half turnovers and built a double-digit lead by halftime. Senior Jake Pemberton, Golden Eagles’ leading scorer, got off to a hot start on the offensive side scoring 10 points in the opening four minutes of the game.
“Today we were a little pumped and electrified,” said Pemberton, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “We came out strong in the first half, got some steal and some easy baskets.”
Mountain Vista came in averaging 78.5 points per game. Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad was hoping for a low-scoring affair, but the Mustangs couldn’t keep the Golden Eagles’ offense in check.
“We definitely knew we could win the game if we played to our potential on the offensive side and kept playing defense like we have,” Pemberton said.
Ralston Valley’s only scoring success it had was when it was able to get the ball down in the paint to senior Zac Stevens (13 points) and sophomore Dallas Walton (10 points).
The Mustangs (18-8) struggled with their outside shooting the whole game. Ralston Valley didn’t make a 3-pointer the entire game. Senior Bryn Finnefrock (nine points) and junior Jordan Harnum (four points) were the only other Mustangs to get in the scoring column besides Stevens and Walton.
Mountain Vista senior Jake Pemberton, middle, has the ball knock out of his hands while driving to the basket on Ralston Valley senior Bryn Finnefrock, left, and sophomore Dallas Walton on Wednesday night. Pemberton scored a game-high 24 points in the Golden Eagles’ 68-38 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“That was a big factor,” Walton said of Ralston Valley’s poor shooting night. “I think if we would’ve made some shots it would have been much closer of a game. Still, we need to execute and take care of the ball.”
Junior Brady Subart stepped up his game after the first quarter for Mountain Vista. The guard made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
“He (Subart) is a really good shooter. He hasn’t really shot the ball well the last couple of ball games. I thought Brady had a bad first quarter,” Wood said. “I was glad to see him step up and starting hitting in the second quarter. I thought he played really well in the second half.”
A long jumper by Pemberton with 2:43 left in the third quarter pretty much put the game out of reach by extending the No. 1 seed’s lead to 20 points, 43-23.
Wood was able to empty his bench in the fourth quarter. When the final horn sounded 12 Golden Eagles scored in their last game on their home court this season.
Next up for Mountain Vista is a trip to the Denver Coliseum. The Golden Eagles will face defending 5A state champion Eaglecrest in the Great 8. The Raptors knocked off Chatfield 77-62 on Wednesday night.
Eaglecrest ended Mountain Vista’s season last year in the state semifinals with a 73-59 victory.
The Mustangs finished third in the 5A Jeffco League this season and now turn their attention to next season. Conrad will return two starters in Andrew Wingard and the 6-foot-9 Walton.
“We need him to get stronger, and I think he will,” Conrad said of Walton. “He is determined and he is going to be a great player.”
Ralston Valley senior Bryn Finnefrock, right, drives on Mountain Vista senior Carson Simon during the second half Wednesday night. Finnefrock finished with nine points in the Mustangs’ season-ending loss. (Dennis Pleuss)
FORT COLLINS — It was the type of back-and-forth affair typical in these later-round tournament games. The type of game Fossil Ridge coach Matt Johannsen thinks his guys don’t get enough credit for being able to win.
“We haven’t gotten a lot of credit this year for having hard-nosed kids and kids that aren’t going to give up. They had us down several times,” Johannsen said after a 60-53 survival of No. 5-seeded Legend in the Class 5A Sweet 16 Wednesday night.
Fossil, the No. 1 seed in the Chauncey Billups Region, moved to 25-0 this season.
(Brock Laue)
“I’ll tell anyone that I think Kevin is one of the top one or two coaches in the state,” Johannsen added about Kevin Boley, the coach at Legend. “When we opened Fossil Ridge ten years ago and he was at Broomfield, I said this is what we want to pattern our program after. Playing him sucks, because one of us is going to go home and he’s a good friend of mine, but it didn’t surprise me that they played that well.”
Said Fossil’s senior point guard Evan Smith: “Legend is very underrated. I think they should’ve gotten a higher seed than they did. They’re a tough team and played in a tough conference.”
In a game with several ties and lead changes, Fossil Ridge took early command with smothering defense and a power outage offensively for Legend. The Titans didn’t score until 1:45 remaining in the first, and the SaberCats held an 11-4 lead after one.
Legend’s 6-foot-4 athletic wing, Elijah Cherrington, decided to put on the superman cape in the second and drained five 3-pointers, scoring 17 of the Titans’ 22 points to give Legend a 26-24 halftime lead. Cherrington was unconscious and went 5-of-5 from downtown in the quarter. He ignited a fantastic game.
“We knew Elijah could shoot a little bit,” Johannsen said about Cherrington, “but he’s only shooting 27 percent (from 3) on the year and then he comes out with a little bit of confidence after he hit his first two and it really snowballed from there. Give him credit. He did a great job shooting the ball. He got shots, we had guys running at him, man he’s a player.”
But, Johannsen added of his team trailing in stretches — a rarity this season, “They didn’t hang their heads and I guess that’s the biggest thing that I really appreciated about them.”
Legend opened with a 30-25 lead in the third, Fossil’s largest deficit of the game, but the SaberCats quickly roared back on the play of Evan Smith, Ryan Quaid, Brandon Bodnar and Matt Laine.
Legend’s talented sophomore point guard, Riley Matticks, cashed a 3-point runner to tie the game at 40 headed into the final quarter.
Monroe Porter, another of Legend’s sophomore studs, was keyed on by Fossil’s defensive gameplan throughout.
“We wanted to limit Porter’s looks. We knew he was a good shooter,” Johannsen said.
Porter was snuffed out offensively until he pulled up for a deep, contested trey with 56 seconds left. The shot brought Legend within one, 54-53.
(Brock Laue)
Fossil, displaying its hard-nosed toughness and refusal to lose, answered at the other end with a pair of Sawyer Novak free-throws.
Legend’s Riley Matticks drove hard to the basket the next play looking for an easy two, but was rejected by Smith, a surprisingly bouncy six-foot point guard who played with amazing fire throughout.
Legend inbounded to a wide open Zach Mihalicz down low but Mihalicz, who had some nice moments in the game, missed the layup and Fossil closed out the victory.
Evan Smith had 12 points, all of them critical for the SaberCats. He added six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and seemed to make a play every time Fossil needed one. The senior is an ultra-competitive player with a high basketball intelligence.
“Evan’s a stud,” Johannsen said. “You see three years of being a varsity starter and just understanding what we need to do. He understands being patient, he can go to the basket, he can shoot, he’s a good defender. He’s got long arms, he causes a lot of problems on defense. He’s our floor general. He makes us go.”
Fossil showed their tremendous resiliency, confidence, and depth late in the game with the amount of big plays made by several different players.
“We really believe in ourselves,” Smith said. “We knew we could come back and get it. We never felt out of it at any time.”
Cherrington finished 8-of-10 from 3 and had 23 points for Legend. Matticks chipped in eight, but Cherrington didn’t get quite enough help offensively to lead the Titans to an upset. Legend concludes its season 17-9.
Sawyer Novak led Fossil Ridge with 13 points, Bodnar had nine points and Laine scored eight. Bodnar had back-to-back crucial baskets in the fourth quarter to keep the pressure high on Legend in the tough road environment.
Fossil Ridge will face consistent power Arapahoe (20-5), the No. 3 seed in the region, at the Denver Coliseum in the program’s second Great 8 in history on Friday.
Johannsen has reiterated this season the team’s single-minded focus on how they perform and not how others view them.
“People complain about our schedule,” Johannsen said. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got kids that are going to play hard and we buy into. We’re going to play hard and let the chips fall where they may.”
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Zach Braxton exploded for 22 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks as No. 2-seeded Highlands Ranch advanced to 5A boys basketball’s Great 8 with a 69-50 win over No. 3 Grandview.
Evan Motlong added 12 points, all coming on 3-point shots. Ryley Steward had nine points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and three steals.
LITTLETON — Through the first half of Tuesday’s girls Class 5A third round playoff game, Legacy had visions of pulling off its third upset of the tournament.
Then Lauren Wood took over.
Wood, one of six senior veterans on Dakota Ridge, found her place underneath the basket and the Eagles advanced to the Great 8 with a 60-46 victory.
As is often the case, the game was closer than that final 14-point margin indicated, due in large effect to Dakota Ridge’s 12-for-16 effort from the free throw line.
Legacy figured out how to break the Eagles’ full-court press and half-court trap in the second quarter. Behind junior post player Courtney Smith, the Lightning forged a 29-22 halftime lead.
Dakota Ridge coach Rich Gavelda emphasized two things at halftime.
“We don’t like to rely on those jump shots,” Gavelda said of the factor that led to his team’s shooting 2-of-12 in the second quarter. “We pride ourselves on making the extra pass.”
At the receiving end of most of those passes was Wood, who hit three quick baskets in the first minute and a half of the third.
The other change was to take the other senior post player, Jae Ferrin, off Smith defensively.
“We relied on her to help with the other four (players),” Gavelda said.
“When we adjusted we started scoring on their big girls,” Wood said.
She did most of it, with 19 of her game-high 29 points coming in the second half.
The Eagles advance to play No. 1 seed Fossil Ridge in Thursday’s round of eight at the Coliseum.
“We believe we can go far in this tournament,” Wood said.
“We have to do what got us here,” Gavelda said.
That’s pressure defense and moving the ball around on offense.
Wood said the team believes.
“We rise up to the challenge in every game,” she said. ”We just are making the nonbelievers believe.”
COLORADO SPRINGS — Cassidy Budge scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, and it turned out to be the nail in Mountain Vista’s coffin.
The 3-pointer gave the Rampart Rams a 37-36 lead and they wouldn’t look back. The Rams beat the Golden Eagles 61-52 Tuesday night to advance to Thursday’s Great 8 which will be played at the Denver Coliseum.
The Golden Eagles started the game aggressive, which helped them build an 8-2 lead early. The Rams were able to stay into the game thanks to sophomore Nicea Eliely’s seven first quarter points.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter, both racking up their fair share of unforced turnovers. The Golden Eagles went into halftime with a 20-19 lead but — as has been the case all season — the third quarter is when the Rams came alive. Budge’s eight points in the third quarter set the tone for the Rams going into the final period where they were able to finish off Mountain Vista.
“It’s kind of nuts, but all season long we’ve been a third quarter team,” Rams coach Megan Leatham said. “This team takes some time to kind of sort things out for the first few quarters. I know we had some jitters but it was just about us relaxing and playing Rampart basketball in the third quarter.”
But it wasn’t just Rampart that found their offensive flow at the beginning of the second half. Golden Eagles sophomore guard Chelsea Pearson found her touch from behind the arc, hitting three shots from 3-point range in the period.
The Rams have made their name in the third quarter this season, but the Golden Eagles actually increased their lead to 36-34 going into the final eight minutes of the game.
“(Pearson) was a little quiet there in the first half, but she hit some shots and she got hot and kept us in it,” Golden Eagles coach Mike Willahan said. “But when you only go six or seven deep, people start getting tired and things start opening up.”
For the Rams, things indeed did open up. After taking the lead with Budge’s 3-pointer, the Rams were able to score baskets in transition and start drawing fouls which got them to the free throw line.
In the fourth quarter alone, the Rams got to the charity stripe 19 times, sinking 16 of those shots. Their ability to sink their free throws helped turn a two-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter into a 12-point lead near the end of the game.
“(Getting to the free throw line) was huge,” said Budge, who led all scorers with 30 points. “They had a great three-point shooter and we knew we had to do whatever we could do to beat them and this game it was making shots at the free throw line.”
The Rams are now set to play in Thursday’s round of eight at the Coliseum. They’ll face Grandview, which advanced to the Great 8 after a hard fought win over Castle View.
Should the Rams get by the Grandview they’ll find themselves in the state Final Four, which will be played at the Coors Events Center in Boulder on Mar. 13. Tuesday’s game gave Leatham confidence that her team has what it takes to make it to Boulder and contend for a state championship. She knew that once her players were able to feel out their opponents they would find a way to advance, a trend she hopes will continue over the next week and a half.
“Once we got through the first quarter and realized we were just as good, if not better than this team, that we settled down a bit and were able to play our basketball,” she said. “Once we were ahead I knew this team wouldn’t fall back off.”
GREENWOOD VILLAGE – For the first time in a decade, Cherry Creek’s girls basketball team has found its way into the Great 8.
Backed by a monster first-half effort from senior Mikaela Eppard, combined with a strong showing in the second half by junior post Molly Rohrer, the Bruins held off Rock Canyon 59-43 in the Class 5A state playoffs Tuesday night at Cherry Creek High School.
After faltering in the Sweet 16 the past two years, Cherry Creek (22-3) — the top seed in the Alice Barron Region — meets No. 2 Poudre on Thursday at the Denver Coliseum.
“This was one of our big goals, to make it to the Coliseum,” Eppard said. “We’ve kind of gotten stuck at the Sweet 16 the past couple years.”
Cherry Creek hadn’t advanced to the quarterfinals since 2004, according to coach Chris Curneen. The squad accomplished the feat this time behind a combined 43 points from Eppard and Rohrer — Eppard went for 17 of her game-high 24 points in the first half, and Rohrer notched 13 of her 19 points in the second half.
Rock Canyon (17-8) could get no closer than seven points in the second half. The Jaguars struggled from the field and led only once in the game.
Cherry Creek’s defense prevented Rock Canyon from settling into an early rhythm, and senior Lexy Thorderson — who averages 18 points a game — was limited to only 11 on the night.
Thorderson didn’t knock down her first field goal until three minutes, 45 seconds remained in the third quarter.
“Lexy is a great shooter, but they can all shoot the ball,” Eppard said. “We had to make sure that we were getting a hand in everyone’s face.”
“We try to play inside-out on offense. On defense we try and make people not be able to penetrate and not be able to get in the post where they like to,” Curneen added. “Kind of push them out a little bit so they have to shoot shots they’re not comfortable with.”
Despite controlling the first half, the Bruins found themselves in a fight midway through the third quarter. Rock Canyon’s full-court press created six turnovers in the quarter, and a pair of Thorderson free throws cut the lead to 37-30.
On the ensuing possession, the Bruins broke the press and Eppard found freshman Lauren McMillen for a bucket to up the lead to nine. McMillen scored again on the next possession, and Eppard then made it 43-30.
“She’s done that all year. We don’t run a single play for her, but she’s a ball magnet,” Curneen said of McMillen. “She always finds the ball and she always finds it at the right time and she finishes when she gets it.”
With the Jaguars fouling down the stretch, Cherry Creek went to the free-throw line 16 times in the final four minutes.
Curneen said his biggest challenge Thursday will be making sure his players aren’t rattled by playing in the Coliseum.
“It’s a huge step for us. Now, by the same token, none of these girls have ever been to the Coliseum either,” Curneen said. “We’ve got to calm them down and get them to play just like it’s another game.
Erin McClarie finished with 10 points and four steals for Rock Canyon and Morgan Roos added 10 points as well. The Jaguars will graduate four seniors.
