Littleton – Teenagers … Some of them just do not know who they want to be.
Take the Heritage girls basketball team – please, coach Ron Burgin might have added, with apologies to Henny Youngman after the way his team played in the first quarter. The Eagles managed just one basket and trailed by 13 points after the first six minutes of their game against Dakota Ridge on Tuesday night.
But Heritage found itself just before halftime and exploded for 48 points in the second half to drop visiting Dakota Ridge 69-53 in a Class 5A nonleague game.
“We can’t figure ourselves out right now,” Burgin said.
No. 8 Heritage (5-2) trailed 15-2 late in the first quarter and was slow to make a move on No. 7 Dakota Ridge (2-4) until the final minutes of the half.
Kari Pfannenstein helped spark a rally with a tricky pivot move deep in the paint to make the score 23-16, and Beckett Brennan followed that with a basket from her favorite spot – long range. Pfannenstein then stole the ball from Dakota Ridge at midcourt and tossed ahead to Brennan, who missed a contested layup. Andrea Swanson was in position for a rebound and putback at the buzzer, and Heritage suddenly had cut the lead to two points, 23-21.
“The last two minutes of the half were the turning point for us,” Brennan said.
Brennan made five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 21 points. Teammate Kelsie Gourdin made all seven of her free-throw attempts to finish with 15 points.
For Dakota Ridge, playing without point guard Tiffany Tripp (flu), Brooke Pendergraft led the way with 17 points, and Lauren Holm added 14.
But Dakota Ridge did not see the same team it faced in the first half. Heritage took its first lead, 33-32, with a 3-pointer by Brennan with 4:35 to play in the third quarter, and there was no looking back.
What happened?
“We got yelled at, basically,” Gourdin said.
Brennan showed she could go inside as well as outside with a weaving move through the paint to give Heritage a nine-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
Dakota Ridge 15 8 15 15 – 53
Heritage 7 14 26 22 – 69
Dakota Ridge – Pendergraft 8 1-2 17, Noel 1 1-3 3, Baal 2 0-1 4, Branting 1 0-0 3, Shepler 0 0-0 0, La. Holm 5 2-2 14, Santisteven 2 0-0 4, Li. Holm 4 0-0 8. Totals 23 4-8 53.
Heritage – Brennan 8 0-0 21, Dylla 1 0-0 2, Jackson 3 0-0 8, Pfannenstein 3 0-0 6, Swanson 4 1-1 9, Haugen 1 3-4 6, Gourdin 4 7-7 15, Semin 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 11-12 69.
3-pt. goals – La. Holm 2, Branting; Brennan 5, Jackson 2, Haugen. Total fouls – Dakota Ridge 13; Heritage 11. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
