Pueblo – Holyoke wasn’t intimidated by Limon’s legacy in the girls’ Class 2A state championship Saturday night.
The Dragons took brief leads and showed crisp ball movement and defensive tenacity. As coach Arlan Scholl said, they’ve played more intimidating teams this season.
But none as cool under pressure as Limon, which captured its second consecutive state title, 55-46, before 4,100 fans at the Colorado State Fair Events Center.
Limon extended its winning streak to 52 games while claiming its fourth title in the past five years.
“It’s so exciting, you forget how to lose, I guess,” Limon senior Justine Sandersfeld said. “All the wins feel so good.”
Her sentiments were shared by junior guard Amanda Brown.
“It’s always fun, it gets better and better every time,” said Brown, who led all scorers with 24 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Brown, the daughter of Limon coach Mark Brown, was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the last 54 seconds.
“I was worried about making them,” she said.
Limon outscored the Dragons 16-6 in the last six minutes, including 12 free throws, 11 by Brown.
The other key for the Badgers was the perimeter scoring of Sandersfeld, a 6-foot senior who scored eight of her 18 points in the third quarter to keep Limon in front, 37-34.
Sandersfeld usually scores from the paint, but Holyoke’s zone pushed her outside so she spotted up on the baseline and was ready to let it fly when her teammates found her.
“I knew that the only way I could get any points was to shoot when I was open because they were playing tight defense, they were guarding me pretty good,” Sandersfeld said.
Holyoke took its last lead, 40-39, on a 3-pointer by Vanessa Timm in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. It was the last basket from beyond the arc for the Dragons, who did not shoot a free throw in the final quarter while Limon made 17 attempts from the line.
The Dragons started well and ended the first quarter with a 12-9 lead on Vanessa Timm’s 3-pointer.
“They were pretty tough, making their shots,” Sandersfeld said. “We talked and said, ‘They’re making shots so we have to make ours, too.”
Holyoke went ahead 19-15 on Kia Kassman’s 3-pointer, but Limon took a 24-23 lead into halftime on Whitney Liggett’s 3-pointer and built the lead to 28-23 with baskets by Sandersfeld to open the third quarter.
“We played a tough, hard game,” said Scholl, whose teams had improved their finish from fifth in 2004 to third in 2005.
Vanessa Timm led Holyoke with 17 points and her sister, Victoria, scored 13.
2A girls
All tourney
Brittany Brown, Sangre de Cristo, So.
Justine Sandersfeld, Limon, Sr.
Vanessa Timm, Holyoke, So.
Victoria Timm, Holyoke, So.
MVP
Amanda Brown, Limon, Jr.
Holyoke 12 11 11 12 – 46
Limon 9 15 13 18 – 55
Holyoke – Knight 1 0-0 2, Victoria Timm 4 4-6 13, Vanessa Timm 7 1-1 17, Kassman 5 0-0 11, Olofson 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 5-7 46.
Limon – Brown 5 13-14 24, H. Naylor 0 0-2 0, Sandersfeld 7 4-5 18, Liggett 4 0-0 11, Burgess 1 0-2 2. Totals 17 17-23 55.
3-pt. goals – Vanessa Timm 2, Kassman, Olofson, Victoria Timm; Liggett 3, Brown. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
