Englewood – It was hot and cold inside the Black Fieldhouse on Thursday night. Denver Christian was hot and Kent Denver was cold.
The Crusaders scored the first 11 points, hitting all but one of their first seven shots, and sunk host Kent Denver 58-30 in the first Class 3A Metropolitan League game of the season for both teams.
Chelsea LeFebre and Lauren Baity dominated in the paint for a combined 32 points, and Kiley Gill sunk three 3-pointers to finish with 16 points in the one-sided victory.
Gill and LeFebre have scored 110 points each over seven games.
Ranked sixth in The Denver Post/9News 3A poll, Denver Christian (6-1) shot 50 percent from the field while the Sun Devils (3-4) hit just 9-of-55 shots.
“The looks were good and we had open people. We took advantage of that,” said LeFebre, who scored a game-high 19 points.
LeFebre and Baity, who dropped a combined 48 points on Colorado Springs Christian earlier in the season, could think of no better way to start the league portion of the schedule.
“This really sets the tone for the rest of the season. We have a lot of senior leadership and only lost one player from last year, so I think this sends a message,” said Baity, who added seven rebounds to her 13 points.
Denver Christian led 20-5 after the first quarter while Kent Denver struggled to find the basket. Rebecca Macari scored her team’s first points with 4:10 left in the first quarter, and another Kent field goal did not fall until 4:45 remained in the second quarter.
Kent Denver’s cold night on the court made Craig Macari a bit icy after the game. The coach would only say, “We’ll get better.”
Kent senior Halley Everall scored 10 points, and Macari eight. Freshman Raquel McCagg came off the bench for nine rebounds.
Denver Christian 20 14 15 9 – 58
Kent Denver 5 9 7 9 – 30
Denver Christian – Gill 6 1-4 16, Van Deren 1 1-2 3, Lai. Baity 2 0-0 4, Lau. Baity 6 1-2 13, LeFebre 9 1-6 19, Landhuis 0 2-4 2, Van Denend 0 0-0 0, Rosendale 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 7-20 58.
Kent Denver – Brezinski 0 0-0 0, McMillan 0 0-0 0, Everall 3 2-2 10, Marsh 3 0-0 7, Macari 2 2-2 8, McCagg 1 1-2 3, Lehigh 0 2-4 2, Kaewert 0 0-0 0, Secora 0 0-0 0, Dix 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 7-10 30.
3-point goals – Gill 3; Everall 2, Macari 2, Marsh. Total fouls – Denver Christian 15; Kent Denver 16. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
