Thornton – Ponderosa’s methodical offense – with passes around the perimeter and patience until the end – generated a great deal of shots Thursday night in the first round of the Class 5A girls state basketball playoffs’ Sharon Wilch Region.
Not many of those shots fell, however, as the Mustangs connected on just 18-of-57 shots from the floor. But that was enough for a 45-39 victory over Lakewood at Horizon.
“We couldn’t get our shots to fall,” Ponderosa senior Sydney Specht said. “We would have been way ahead … if we would have made our shots.”
Specht led Ponderosa (11-12) with 14 points, Emily Elliott finished with 12 points and Kristen Wyatt grabbed 11 rebounds. The Mustangs will play the region’s top seed, Horizon, on Saturday.
Lakewood (15-9) shot a little better – 15-of-48 – but turnovers hurt the Tigers. Kait Goodall scored a game-high 16 points to go with 13 rebounds, and Carly Cator pitched in seven points and nine rebounds.
Lakewood rallied a number of times but never managed to pull ahead.
Ponderosa took a 13-5 lead, but Janeen Cooper’s 3-pointer for the Tigers in the final minute of the half cut the deficit to a point. With the game close in the fourth quarter, Cator stole the ball at midcourt and finished at the other end. A free throw by Cator moments later made it 36-34 Ponderosa.
But the Mustangs started sinking baskets down the stretch. Ponderosa freshman Chandler Guetz capped a small run of six points with less than three minutes to play. Goodall would cut the lead to three but Lakewood would get no closer.
CENTRAL (G.J) 60, MITCHELL 58
After a 240-mile trip over the mountains, Central (Grand Junction) nearly found itself on the wrong end of an upset.
The fifth-seeded Warriors needed a huge third quarter to stop 12th-seeded Mitchell in a back-and-forth game. Central (16-7) will face Dakota Ridge on Saturday.
Mitchell (10-13) led 33-25 at the half, but Central outscored the Marauders 23-7 in the third quarter, thanks in part to a 12-0 run triggered by Erin Kame and Alaina Brennan.
“We got here at 2 (p.m.) so it’s been an odd day,” Central’s Hillary Holtz said.
Holtz scored a team-high 13 points, Brennan had 11 and Jennifer Quimby came off the bench for 10.
For Mitchell, Ali Brickley finished with 13 points, Heaven Johnson had three 3-pointers for 11, and Skylar Johnson and Brianna Johnson scored 10.
PONDEROSA 45, LAKEWOOD 39
Ponderosa 13 8 13 11 – 45
Lakewood 7 12 8 12 – 39
Ponderosa – Elliott 5 0-0 12, Alletto 2 1-2 5, Specht 5 2-3 14, Hartman 1 0-0 2, Wyatt 1 2-4 4, Guetz 1 0-0 2, Jorgenson 3 0-0 6, Graves 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-9 45.
Lakewood – Clark 0 0-0 0, Goodall 6 4-5 16, Amidei 2 0-1 5, Cator 3 1-2 7, Hicks 2 1-4 5, Welton 1 0-0 3, Cooper 1 0-0 3, Lunsford 0 0-0 0, Tricarico 0 0-0 0, Fabrizio 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 6-12 39.
3-pt. goals – Elliott 2, Specht 2; Amidei, Welton, Cooper. Total fouls – Ponderosa 12; Lakewood 12. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
CENTRAL (G.J.) 60, MITCHELL 58
Mitchell 13 20 7 18 – 58
Central (G.J.) 11 14 23 12 – 60
Mitchell – S. Johnson 2 5-9 10, H. Johnson 3 2-2 11, Miller 3 1-2 8, B. Johnson 4 0-0 10, A. Brickley 4 5-8 13, Booze 1 0-0 2, Mazion 0 0-0 0, Guillory 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0, M. Brickley 2 0-0 4, Franks 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-21 58.
Central (G.J.) – Kame 3 1-2 7, Brennan 4 3-4 11, Fowlds 0 2-6 2, Holtz 5 3-4 13, Peppel 2 3-3 7, Girodo 2 0-0 6, Essman 1 0-2 2, Seibert 1 0-0 2, Quimby 2 6-7 10, Nieslanik 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 18-28 60.
3-pt. goals – H. Johnson 3, B. Johnson 2, S. Johnson, Miller; Girodo 2. Total fouls – Mitchell 20; Central (G.J.) 19. Fouled out – Seibert. Technicals – None.
