Fort Collins – The road to Denver Christian’s first title game appearance since 1993 went through a familiar foe.
The Crusaders needed to beat Metropolitan League rival Faith Christian for a third time this season, and they did just that Friday, winning 51-47 at Moby Arena.
Denver Christian (26-1) will play Centauri (23-1) on Saturday at 6 p.m. for the Class 3A title.
“We knew we had to fight, and that’s what we talked about at halftime,” senior Kiley Gill said.
Denver Christian trailed 27-20 at halftime, and the hot shooting gave Faith Christian that lead carried over to the start of the third. The Eagles (23-4) stretched the lead to 33-22 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Nicole Lukens and Brittany Long.
But just when the basket starting looking huge for Faith, the shots stopped falling. The Eagles missed their next seven shots, and Denver Christian took advantage and trimmed the lead to 35-34 to start the fourth quarter.
“I felt like we got the shots we wanted in the second half, but we just couldn’t finish,” Faith coach Brian Wall said. “We had a chance to push the lead a little bit further than we did, and unfortunately we didn’t take advantage of that.”
Chelsea LeFebre provided the bulk of the scoring for the Crusaders in the first half, and Gill carried the load in the fourth. A 12-2 run to start the quarter put the game out of reach for the Eagles. LeFebre finished with a game-high 19 points and Gill had 16.
Long and Courtney Bray each had 11 points to pace Faith Christian.
Denver Christian 10 10 14 17 – 51
Faith Christian 10 17 8 12 – 47
Denver Christian – Gill 5 3-4 16, Van Deren 0 1-2 1, Lai. Baity 0 0-0 0, Lau. Baity 4 2-4 10, LeFebre 7 5-6 19, Landhuis 1 1-2 3, Conner 0 0-0 0, Matthies 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 12-18 51.
Faith Christian – Long 5 0-2 11, Bray 5 1-1 11, Lukens 2 1-2 6, Endes 4 0-0 8, Paulsen 1 0-0 2, Zevenbergen 0 0-2 0, Hoguta 0 0-0 0, Roundtree 3 0-0 9. Totals 20 2-7 47.
3-point goals – Gill 3; Roundtree 3, Long, Lukens. Total fouls – Denver Christian 15; Faith Christian 14. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
CENTAURI 57, EATON 46
It was Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson who introduced us to the “40 Minutes of Hell” style of basketball.
Centauri coach Dave Forster’s abridged 32 minutes is just as nasty. The Falcons’ relentless style eventually wore down Eaton, and Centauri will play for its first title since winning it all against the Crusaders in 1993.
“We don’t run that press necessarily to trap you every time,” said Forster, “but just to wear you out. I told my assistant coach near the end they didn’t have any legs to shoot, because that ball was short a lot.”
The Falcons turned a 34-33 lead to start the fourth quarter in to a 49-40 advantage, causing the Reds to turn the ball over five times and shoot 0-for-5 from the field.
“That’s the thing you have to overcome,” Eaton coach Mason Young said. “We had a lot of those little chippies that didn’t go in, 5-footers, 8-footers, and it’s all about the concentration on the finish. Centauri had us run a step faster than we wanted to run.”
Lucia Muniz and Wynona Miller combined for 10 of the Falcons’ 17 fourth-quarter points, including 6-for-9 from the free-throw line. Muniz and Janette McCarroll each finished with 14 points to lead Centauri.
Katy Young (18), Katie Mackey (14) and Whitney Cunningham (10) led the Reds (23-4).
Eaton 13 16 11 6 – 46
Centauri 15 12 15 15 – 57
Eaton – Young 6 4-6 18, Abeyta 1 0-0 2, Cunningham 4 2-4 10, Mackey 5 4-4 14, Rossman 0 0-0 0, Height 1 0-0 2, Hughes 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0-0 0, Cazer 0 0-0 0, Woods 0 0-2 0, Stults 0 0-0 0, Troudt 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-16 46.
Centauri – J. McCarroll 5 2-5 14, Muniz 5 4-6 14, A. Gylling 2 6-7 10, Miller 3 1-5 7, Cooley 3 4-7 12, Jaramillo 0 0-0 0, Norton 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-30 57.
3-point goals – Young 2; Cooley 2, J. McCarroll 2. Total fouls – Eaton 22; Centauri 16. Fouled out – Height. Technicals – None.
