CHSAANow

Tag: Cherry Creek

  • 5A girls golf: Lehigh claims individual title in leading Loveland to team championship

    (Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

    Katelyn Lehigh accomplished several personal goals in spectacular fashion while winning the Class 5A girls golf individual state championship on Tuesday.

    The junior golfer opened the final day at City Park Golf Course in a tie for the lead with teammate Taylor Bandemer and turned in a 4-under 66 that tied the 18-hole course record during her closing round and clinched her first state title. It was a championship effort over two years in the making. Lehigh’s two-day score of 138 added a third individual title to her family name – her older sister Lauren Lehigh won state titles in 2019 and 2018 (4A).

    While she accomplished each of those things, Katelyn Lehigh’s focus remained elsewhere.

    From the start, Lehigh was invested in helping Loveland win its first team title since moving up to 5A and second overall in the program’s history, which the Loveland girls accomplished collectively on Tuesday with a team score of 450.

    “The team title always comes first and we did it together,” Lehigh said. “It has always been the goal to win it as a team and win it individually. But playing for the team title is the most important thing and it took all of us. If Reece (Bandemer) and Taylor (Bandemer) and Maryn (Harlow) didn’t play well, it wouldn’t have really mattered what I did.”

    Taylor Bandemer tied for eighth with a 154. Reece Bandemer shot a 77 on Day 2 and finished in 14th place. Harlow tied for 50th with a score of 181.

    After overcoming her fear of a blow-up opening round on Monday to position herself as the frontrunner for Day 2, Lehigh said her nerves disappeared when it came time to seal the deal on Tuesday. She split six birdies equally between the front and back nines for a 66.

    “I was super nervous about everything yesterday,” Lehigh said. “Today, being paired with Olivia (Steen), it felt like pretty much every other high school tournament because we pretty much played together pretty much every single high school tournament. So, I was surprisingly calm today.”

    Chasing Lehigh for most of the tournament, Prairie View junior Lily Nelson finished runner-up. She shot a 1-under 69 on the second day. It was the first tournament round under par of her prep career, and it came at a good time.

    “It went really well,” Nelson said. “My putting was really good today and I was able to get some up-and-downs. My driver was also pretty good. I’m more confident because I’ve gotten better over the season and I’m looking forward to doing it again next season.”

    Fossil Ridge’s Olivia Steen placed third, going 2-over on Tuesday for an overall 146. Eaglecrest’s Emma Bryant, who won the 5A individual title as a freshman in 2018, carded a 147. Valor Christian’s Grace young placed fifth at 149.

    Rock Canyon was second in the team scoring. The Jaguars were 25 strokes behind Loveland and Cherry Creek was third with a score of 492.

  • 5A boys lacrosse semifinals: Mountain Vista, Valor Christian to meet in title game

    Mountain Vista Cherry Creek boys lacrosse
    (Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

    ENGLEWOOD – Four teams took the field at Englewood High School on Saturday to decide which two would battle for the Class 5A state championship in Season D. The potential for several firsts was established when Mountain Vista and Valor Christian emerged victorious.

    Next Tuesday, those two teams will return to Englewood to one another in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. It will be both teams’ first appearance in the Class 5A title game.

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    (4) Mountain Vista 13, (1) Cherry Creek 12

    There have been many big moments in Mountain Vista boys lacrosse history, but arguably the biggest of the them all now belongs to Cam Brown.

    With his team battling defending state champion Cherry Creek in overtime of a state semifinal game at Englewood High School on Saturday, Brown shouldered his way past his defender and scored from the left side to send his team home with a 13-12 victory. Thanks to the senior’s golden goal, the Golden Eagles will play for a golden trophy when they make their first Class 5A state championship appearance on Tuesday.

    “I knew as soon as we got the ball in overtime, the game was over,” Brown said. “Our offense is good and we were playing Vista lacrosse all-around. I got by my guy and I just did what I had to do. We’re the hardest working team in the state and we knew we had a shot at state. Now, we’re here.”

    Saturday’s penultimate-round game may have ended in favor of Mountain Vista, but it began quite differently. The defending champions raced out to a 4-0 lead before the Golden Eagles scored five unanswered goals to get back in front. The contest was tied eight different times.

    “We knew it was going to be an absolute dogfight,” Mountain Vista head coach Matthew Plitnick said. “They’ve got great coaches over there. They’ve got great players. We dug ourselves a huge hole early that I was not very happy with, but then we started to have confidence in the way that we were prepared. We started executing a lot better and this is the first time Vista has ever played for a state championship in lacrosse. We have about 18 kids on the team, so we have a real small roster and I’m real proud of the eight seniors we have to the team because they all play a big role for us.”

    Cherry Creek’s Dakota Johnson and Thomas Power each scored four goals. Mountain Vista’s Dillon Pless, Caleb Bonjean and Brown each recorded a hat trick.

    In Tuesday’s championship game, the Golden Eagles will face No. 2 Valor Christian. Mountain Vista dealt Valor Christian its sole loss of the season back on May 14.

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    Valor Christian Regis Jesuit boys lacrosse
    (Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

    (2) Valor Christian 10, (6) Regis Jesuit 7

    The Valor Christian boys lacrosse team has won two Class 4A state championships in the last six years and the Eagles would certainly love to add a 5A trophy to their growing collection.

    They’ll soon get their chance.

    In the state semifinals on Saturday at Englewood High School, No. 2 Valor Christian won 10-7 over No. 6 Regis Jesuit to reach the 5A state championship game for the first time. After missing out on what they believed to be a promising season when the global pandemic shut down high school sports in 2020, the Eagles are even more motivated to get the job done in Season D.

    “It means everything,” Eagles senior Griffin Mallory said. “Last year was devastating because we had a great senior class. These guys this year, we really came together and we knew what our goals were from the beginning. We wanted to go to state. It didn’t stop with a day of work. We came out every single day and this is the result.”

    With two familiar conference rivals squaring off, Saturday’s game went back and forth throughout the bulk of the contest with both defenses setting the tone early on. The score was tied four times before Valor Christian became the first team to pull ahead by more than a goal in the third quarter. The Eagles led 6-5 going into the fourth quarter and scored four unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter to distance themselves from their opponents.

    Valor Christian led by as many as five goals in the final frame before Regis Jesuit was able to mount a late comeback attempt and cut the led to three before the final buzzer. Valor Christian’s Jake Likes led all scorers with four goals, while teammate Gunnar Fellows and Mallory each had two. Will McFadden led Regis Jesuit with a pair of goals.

    In the championship game, Valor Christian will face a Mountain Vista team that beat the Eagles, 12-10, during the regular season. The blemish stands as Valor Christian’s only loss to date in Season D.

    “We’re excited. We really were hoping for Vista,” Valor Christian head coach Josh Hoffman said. “That’s our only loss for the year, so we’ve been wanting to play them and we’re excited to play them again. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to go.”

    Tuesday’s 5A title game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Englewood High School.

    Regis Jesuit Valor Christian boys lacrosse
    (Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)

  • Photos: ThunderRidge wins thrilling 5A girls lacrosse quarterfinal game with Cherry Creek

    No. 5 ThunderRidge advanced to the Class 5A girls lacrosse semifinals with a thrilling 13-12 win over No. 4 Cherry Creek.

  • Glover shines as Cherry Creek tops Arapahoe in 5A girls soccer quarterfinals

    (Benjamin Parris/Cherry Creek High School)

    GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Any coach can admit that the key to winning any game is often a quick start, and in the playoffs, a quick start is even more important. Cherry Creek girls soccer got off to a quicker than quick start on its way to a 5-2 win over Arapahoe in the Class 5A girls soccer quarterfinals.

    Just 53 seconds into the game at the Stutler Bowl, Senior forward Kelly Francis got on the scoresheet. Less than 5 minutes later, Cherry Creek extended their lead over Arapahoe to 3-0 after Junior Alyssa Glover put a shot into the back of the Warriors’ net, followed by a pass off her foot directly onto the head of Masen Frey, giving Glover an assist. By the time the first half was halfway over, Cherry Creek had a commanding 5-1 lead.

    “We talked about coming out quick, we talked about that all week long,” Cherry Creek coach David Gamelin said. “You never expect to score five goals in 20 minutes; that’s not what I expected, but I did expect us to come out hard.”

    At halftime, the score was 5-2 after Arapahoe’s Paige Foa scored with under 10 minutes to go in the half, but as the teams came out for second, there was no more goals to be found as that score was the game’s final.

    For Cherry Creek, Friday’s win advances them to their first semifinal game since 2012. Ending the 9-year drought, “Was really a team effort,” Alyssa Glover said. “We all worked so hard all season… It’s a great feeling to be able to push for a State Championship.”

    Next up for No. 3 Cherry Creek is No. 2 Broomfield who scored late against Mountain Vista on Friday night to win their quarterfinal match 2-1. The Bruins and Eagles will meet at Englewood High School on Wednesday, June 23rd, for the opportunity to play in the state championship next weekend.

  • 5A boys volleyball state tournament bracket

    The Season D state tournament bracket for Class 5A boys volleyball is below.

    All matches will be played at Rock Canyon High School. Quarterfinals will be played on June 25. Semifinals will be played at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on June 26. The championship match will begin at 2 p.m.

    Tickets cannot be sold in person at Rock Canyon High School and can only be purchased online at GoFan.

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    2021 CHSAA State Boys Volleyball Championships (Colorado) Boys Volleyball

  • Photos: No. 4 Valor Christian girls lacrosse edges No. 3 Cherry Creek

    The girls lacrosse regular season came to a thrilling end as Class 5A No. 4 Valor Christian edged No. 3 Cherry Creek 13-12.

  • Girls lacrosse rankings: The final coaches poll of Season D

    In the final coaches poll of Season D, Colorado Academy and Evergreen finished at No. 1.

    The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. This data will be used as one criteria for postseason qualification and seeding.

    Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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    CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

    Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

    Class 5A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Colorado Academy (10) 10-0 142 1
    2 Valor Christian (1) 9-1 129 4
    3 Cherry Creek 7-3 112 3
    4 Fairview 8-2 103 2
    5 ThunderRidge (1) 9-1 99 5
    6 Regis Jesuit 6-4 87 6
    7 Kent Denver 6-4 76 8
    8 Grandview 7-3 56 8
    9 Air Academy 8-2 49 7
    10 Rock Canyon 6-4 29 11
    11 Chatfield 6-4 25 –
    12 Palmer Ridge 7-3 13 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Mullen 10, Arapahoe 5, Dakota Ridge 1
    Dropped out
    Arapahoe (10), Mullen (12)
    Class 4A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Evergreen (4) 8-2 125 2
    2 Aspen (3) 10-0 121 1
    3 Grand Junction (3) 10-0 110 7
    4 Denver South (2) 10-0 93 4
    4 Rocky Mountain 6-2 93 3
    6 Thompson Valley 8-2 85 6
    7 Golden 7-3 80 8
    8 Green Mountain 7-3 70 5
    9 Roaring Fork 8-2 57 8
    10 Castle View 5-5 33 10
    11 Northfield 6-4 24 12
    12 Conifer 3-8 11 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Telluride 10, Eagle Valley 9, Dawson School 9, Cherokee Trail 5, Fruita Monument 1
    Dropped out
    Dawson School (11)

  • 5A girls lacrosse state tournament bracket

    The Season D state tournament bracket for Class 5A girls lacrosse is below.

    • Girls lacrosse brackets: 5A | 4A

    2021 CHSAA Girls Lacrosse State Championships (Colorado) Class 5A

  • Photos: Valor Christian rolls by Cherry Creek and into 5A baseball tournament

    HIGHLANDS RANCH — After watching Cherry Creek edge Rocky Mountain, Valor Christian beat the Bruins 10-0 to advance to the Class 5A state baseball tournament.

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    Valor Christian 10, Cherry Creek 0

    By Tim Bourke

    (Tim Bourke/TimBourke.com)

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    Cherry Creek 8, Rocky Mountain 6

    By Tim Bourke and Jack Eberhard

    (Tim Bourke/TimBourke.com)

  • Boys volleyball rankings: The final coaches poll of Season D

    In the final coaches poll of Season D, Douglas County finished in the No. 1 spot.

    The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.

    Complete rankings for all classes are below.

    [divider]

    CHSAANow.com Boys Volleyball Poll

    Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

    Class 5A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Douglas County (5) 14-0 46 1
    2 Legend (1) 12-2 40 2
    3 Valor Christian 12-2 28 3
    4 James Irwin 13-1 24 5
    5 Bear Creek 13-1 22 5
    6 Eaglecrest 11-3 20 6
    7 Cherry Creek 9-5 15 7
    8 Cherokee Trail 7-7 7 8
    Others receiving votes:
    Stargate School 7, Colorado Springs Christian 4, Regis Jesuit 2, Grandview 1
    Dropped out
    None