LAKEWOOD — It took a half, but Lakewood’s girls basketball team found what it needed to get the victory Wednesday night over old rival Wheat Ridge.
The Tigers and Farmers were actually tied 12-12 midway through the second quarter at Lakewood High School before the Tigers were able to pull away in the second half. Lakewood ended up winning 56-21 in the season opener for both squads.
“People talk about ugly games. Tonight, ugly was pretty good,” Lakewood coach Chris Poisson said. “We couldn’t throw it in the ocean to start. With this team we are either going to score a lot or none.”
Lakewood had issues hitting shots in the first half. The Tigers made just six field goals in the opening 16 minutes. Junior Briana Robles was a big reason why Lakewood was able to hold a 18-12 lead at halftime.
Robles came off the bench to score nine points in the first half to pace the Tigers.
“She (Robles) is an energy player,” Poisson said.
The rest of the Tigers started to find their range after halftime. Junior Juliette Fillion finished with a game-high 13 points. Lakewood made seven 3-pointers in the second half to outscore Wheat Ridge 38-9 after halftime.
“It was just a drive to win,” Fillion said of the difference between the first and second half. “We needed to make our shots. Our energy got a lot better.”
Lakewood graduated its two big outside shooting threats — Nadia Trevizo-Medina and Aaliyah Sabala — from last season. Trevizo-Medina and Sabala combined for nearly 100 made 3-pointers last season.
Finding scorers to step into those shoes is something that Poisson is concerned about heading into a big match-up at the end of the week.
Lakewood will have a tough challenge at home on Friday night against one of the favorites to challenge for the 4A state title. Green Mountain — No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com 4A girls basketball preseason rankings and a 4A state semifinalist last season — squares off against the Tigers.
“Right now I’m just worried about how we are going to score against Green Mountain,” Poisson said. “If we shoot like we did in the first half we are going to be in trouble. If we shoot like we did in the second half it could be a heck of a game.”
The Tigers — No. 14 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A girls basketball preseason poll — finished third in 5A Jeffco last year behind No. 2 Valor Christian and No. 4 Ralston Valley. The conference should be tough against with the Eagles and Mustangs the favorites to lead the pack in 5A Jeffco again.
“We haven’t had much time to work on our stuff,” Fillion said of the shortened COVID-19 season. “It has been nerve-racking, but I think we’re handling it pretty well.”
Wheat Ridge will attempt to rebound under new head coach Cindy Wirth after a rough run in 4A Jeffco League play last season. The Farmers went 1-11 in conference play last year.
