Aurora – The first meeting between Regis’ Aija Putnina and Grand Junction’s Raysha Ritter lived up to the hype. And fans will be able to watch the two battle it out at the college level for the next four or five years.
Putnina, who will play for the University of Colorado, had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in Regis’ 63-53 victory over Grand Junction in a cross-classification contest Friday night in the Raiders’ gym.
Ritter, who signed with Colorado State, scored 16 points to go with five rebounds and said her Tigers will not be forgotten.
“I feel like we had more heart than them; they just made more shots. They haven’t seen the last of us,” said Ritter, a 6-foot-2 post.
Actually, both teams connected on 22 field goals. And it was hard to question the desire of either squad with head coaches for CU and CSU on hand for a game that started as a barnburner and never seemed to slow down until the final minutes.
Grand Junction (5-1), No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, took a 19-16 lead after one quarter with Jonell Devenceny’s 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Tigers held the same three- point lead going into halftime.
But Regis (5-1), the top-ranked team in 4A, reeled the Tigers back in behind the play of freshman point guard Mariah Williams. Williams scored nine of her 13 points in the third quarter and Katie Mihalco, who finished with 16 points, drilled a 3-pointer with time winding down to put Regis up 49-45 heading into the fourth.
“It was our home court. We had to win,” said Putnina, a 6-3 exchange student from Latvia. “It was pretty hard. (Ritter) is a really good player.”
Regis coach Carl Mattie agreed.
“This was a heavyweight fight with two teams going at it,” Mattie said.
The pace slowed in the fourth quarter, and Putnina gave Regis breathing room with a 3-pointer to make the score 56-52 with four minutes to play. Grand Junction sunk a free throw seconds later, but the Tigers would not score the rest of the way.
Two steals in the final 30 seconds by Mindy Nielson clinched the game for Regis.
“They started stalling with three minutes left in the game, and we didn’t call a time out until there was 2:30 left,” Ritter said. “We wasted those 30 seconds. But they played a smart game at the end.”
Grand Junction 19 12 14 8 – 53
Regis 16 12 21 14 – 63
Grand Junction – Ritter 8 0-3 16, Cupp 2 1-2 5, Diaz 2 1-2 5, Trottier 2 2-4 6, Walsh 4 0-0 9, Devenceny 2 2-3 7, Heaps 0 0-0 0, Claussen 1 0-0 2, Ankrum 1 0-0 3, Knackendoffel 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-14 53.
Regis – Putnina 4 6-7 15, Mihalco 5 4-4 16, Hendee 1 1-2 3, Williams 6 0-0 13, Nielson 4 1-2 9, O’Dorisio 0 0-0 0, Rolniak 2 2-2 7, Winters 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-17 63.
3-point goals – Walsh, Devenceny, Ankrum; Mihalco 2, Putnina, Williams, Rolniak. Total fouls – Grand Junction 17; Regis 15. Fouled out – None. Technicals – Ritter, Cupp.
