Boulder – For a great program such as Highlands Ranch, three years without a state title is way too long.
Especially when the school down the street is winning them all.
All the near misses and close calls of the past few seasons are forgotten after coach Caryn Jarocki and the Highlands Ranch Falcons established a running pace Friday night on the way to a 62-50 victory over the Horizon Hawks in the Class 5A girls state championship game at the Coors Events Center.
“It does feel like a long time,” Jarocki said. “Toward the end of the season they really came together as a team. They really saw each other well (in the title game). There were passes I didn’t even see from the bench. They were brilliant passing.”
The Falcons (24-3), The Denver Post/9News preseason No. 1 team, won their fourth state title in seven years after winning three in a row from the 1999-2000 to the 2001-02 seasons (neighboring school ThunderRidge won three from 2002-03 to 2004-05). This was the seventh time in eight seasons Highlands Ranch reached the Final Four, and this time the Falcons did it with three starting sophomores, a talented junior point guard and an undersized senior who plays like she is 7-feet tall.
Guard Jaclyn Thoman, the tournament’s most valuable player, scored most of her 19 points from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter with chants of “Traitor, traitor!” reigning down from the Horizon student section.
“I’m not a traitor. I never went there,” said Thoman, who opted to go to Highlands Ranch despite living in the Horizon (Thornton) area. “We weren’t satisfied beating Doherty (in the semifinals). The point of coming to state is that gold ball.”
Thoman hit 7-of-10 free throws in the final minutes to clinch the victory.
Thorderson, one of three seniors on the Falcons’ roster, scored 11 points despite being outsized in the middle, and the three sophomores contributed almost equally. Melisa Ryba, an all-Colorado softball player, had 13 points and nine rebounds, Jade Davis put up 11 points to go with eight rebounds and Alyssa Fressle added eight points. Highlands Ranch played just six until the final minute of the game.
Horizon (22-5), runners-up for the second year, could not keep pace with the Falcons, but junior Hannah Tuomi, the state’s leading rebounder the past two seasons, finished with a game-high 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Nikki Trujillo scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half, including two 3-pointers, but the Hawks were unable to match the lightning pace of Highlands Ranch.
“They have a lot of speed. The only other team with a fast break like that is us,” Tuomi said.
Horizon 12 10 14 14 – 50
Highlands Ranch 16 13 17 16 – 62
Horizon – Tuomi 10 1-1 21, Trujillo 6 0-0 14, Crosby 1 1-2 3, Lambert 3 0-0 6, Medina 2 0-0 6, Stephenson 0 0-0 0, Herz 0 0-0 0, Shotts 0 0-0 0, Neises 0 0-0 0, Barringer 0 0-0 0, Foster 0 0-0 0, Dillon 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 2-3 50.
Highlands Ranch – Thoman 4 10-16 19, Al. Thorderson 3 3-4 11, Ryba 6 1-2 13, Davis 5 1-2 11, Fressle 3 2-2 8, Ab. Thorderson 0 0-0 0, Glen 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 17-26 62.
3-pt. goals – Trujillo 2, Medina 2; Al. Thorderson 2, Thoman. Total fouls – Horizon 21; Highlands Ranch 9. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
