Fort Collins – The gold ball is going to La Jara.
With their stifling defensive pressure, grittiness and fiery coach, the Centauri Falcons rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Denver Christian 62-57 at Moby Arena and claim their first state championship since beating the Crusaders in 1993.
“We’re basketball crazy,” said Falcons coach Dave Forster, whose contingent traveled some six hours by bus from the San Luis Valley to Fort Collins. “This is big.”
Forster, who also had a coaching stint at Sierra Grande, employed his relentless full-court press to perfection again Saturday. A press that had forced more than 40 turnovers in the first two games set the tone in the first quarter, forcing 11 Denver Christian turnovers.
When the Crusaders did break the press, they were able to get some good looks. Kiley Gill was on fire from beyond the arc, hitting all four of her 3-pointers in the first half to help Denver Christian to a 31-23 halftime lead.
The Crusaders (26-2) still carried a 46-41 lead into the fourth quarter and seemed to have the Falcons right where they wanted them. Centauri got into foul trouble, with shooters Janette McCarroll and Marcie Cooley each playing with four fouls for most of the third quarter. The Falcons looked confused on the offensive end.
Centauri’s Amanda Gylling carried the offensive load on her shoulders in the fourth quarter. The senior scored eight straight points and gave the Falcons the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter.
“Amanda played huge,” Forster said. “But this was a team effort.”
The run started when Gylling went behind her back on a dribble drive into the lane and banked home the jumper.
“We talked in the locker room about how we needed to come out and have a big second half, and that’s what we did,” said Gylling, who finished with a team-high 17 points and was named The Denver Post’s tournament most valuable player. “We needed to stop Gill and that’s what we did.”
The turnover bug started to bite the Crusaders again and Gill’s shots, which were dropping early on, began to rim out.
“We were kind of afraid of that all year, that at some point we were going to see some tough guard play. We did today and it hurt us,” Denver Christian coach Becky Mudd said. “We never found a good way to get the ball inbound or up the court.
“They just kept pressuring us and pressuring us. We tried some different things and just weren’t able to execute them.”
Gill led all scorers with 19 points. Chelsea LeFebre had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Centauri (24-1) did get 15 points and 11 steals from McCarroll. Lucia Muniz finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
3A girls
All tourney
Kiley Gill, Denver Christian, Sr.
Chelsea LeFebre, Denver Chr., Jr.
Brittany Long, Faith Christian, So.
Janette McCarroll, Centauri, Sr.
MVP
Amanda Gylling, Centauri, Sr.
Centauri 15 8 18 21 – 62
Denver Christian 12 19 15 11 – 57
Centauri – J. McCarroll 5 4-10 15, Muniz 3 5-7 12, A. Gylling 6 5-5 17, Miller 3 1-1 7, Cooley 2 5-8 11, Jaramillo 0 0-0 0, Norton 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 20-31 62.
Denver Christian – Gill 6 3-3 19, Van Deren 1 0-0 2, Laine Baity 0 1-2 1, Lauren Baity 7 3-3 17, LeFebre 8 1-2 17, Landhuis 0 1-1 1, Conner 0 0-0 0, McManus 0 0-0 0, Matthies 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-12 57.
3-point goals – Cooley 2, J. McCarroll, Muniz; Gill 4.Total fouls – Centauri 14; Denver Christian 22. Fouled out – Van Deren, Laine Baity. Technicals – None.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
