Greenwood Village – Cherry Creek wasn’t exactly ripping the nets off the rim with its shooting Wednesday night.
So the Bruins relied on some of the necessary fundamentals that basketball coaches always preach: defense and boxing out for rebounds.
Cherry Creek made well short of half its shots from the floor – 20-of-50 – but the Bruins didn’t give the even colder- shooting Boulder Panthers (10-for-52) many first looks or second chances on the way to a 52-33 victory in a Class 5A Centennial League girls game.
“We really did work hard on the boards,” Cherry Creek junior post Rachel Roberson. “Rebounding is all heart.”
The Bruins (10-1, 3-1 league), ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, had extra motivation – to put an end to Boulder’s four-game winning streak against them.
“It was kind of personal because Boulder beat us by 30 last year,” Cherry Creek’s Kelley Andersen said. “This was awesome.”
Roberson led the Bruins with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Andersen added 11 points. Allison Scholbe scored eight points and Taylor Brown came off the bench for eight rebounds.
Boulder’s Mariah Metoyer led all scorers with 17 points, 11 of those on free throws. Nobody else scored more than four points for the Panthers (7-5, 3-2).
Boulder led 8-6 before Cherry Creek’s 14-0 run that stretched into the second quarter.
Relying on Metoyer’s work at the free-throw line, Boulder cut Cherry Creek’s lead to five points (25-20) before halftime.
But a 9-0 run gave Cherry Creek its biggest lead of the game at 15 points. And when Keri Rattiner banked in a 3-pointer from the wing, it was apparent things were working in Cherry Creek’s favor.
Still, Boulder refused to fade. The Panthers cut their deficit to eight points heading into the fourth quarter. Those final eight minutes, however, belonged to the Bruins. Andersen turned a steal into an easy layup to give the Bruins a 46-31 advantage with 4:43 remaining.
“I think we saw a lot of individual performances,” Boulder coach Dynelle Tadlock said. “We do better when we play a complete team game. And the boxing out killed us.”
Boulder 8 12 10 3 – 33
Cherry Creek 13 13 12 14 – 52
Boulder – Salance 2 0-2 4, Metoyer 3 11-14 17, Pagratis 1 0-0 2, Hartman 0 2-2 2, White 0 0-2 0, Haney 2 0-1 4, Regan-Smith 0 0-0 0, Hooson 1 0-0 2, Soell 1 0-0 2, Garza 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 13-21 33.
Cherry Creek – Miller 3 1-1 7, Andersen 4 3-3 11, Scholbe 3 2-2 8, Lozow 0 0-0 0, Roberson 6 3-6 15, Brown 2 0-0 4, Morton 0 0-0 0, Hooten 0 0-0 0, Haddock 1 0-2 2, Rattiner 1 2-2 5. Totals 20 11-16 52.
3-point goal – Rattiner. Total fouls – Boulder 13, Cherry Creek 19. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
