Colorado Springs – They’ve been waiting for this year for a long time in Kiowa.
Head coach Dave Ehrmann’s Indians are not just paper tigers this year, his team has all the pieces to give the tiny Elbert County town reason to think championship … something it has experienced once, 24 years ago with its volleyball team.
Kiowa, ranked No. 4 in The Denver Post/9News Class 2A poll, stayed undefeated Saturday in the Black Forest League by holding off a young and stingy Colorado Springs School team 53-41 at the Louise Honnen Tutt Fieldhouse.
“(C.S. School) hung around big,” said Ehrmann, whose team beat the Kodiaks by 30 just a season ago.
“When you play basketball, you have to be able to give the pressure and take the pressure, and we couldn’t take the pressure there for a while.”
Kiowa (8-1, 3-0) built its lead to as many as 12 points midway through the third quarter behind the offense of Kayln Sticher and swarming team defense.
But just as quickly as they built the lead, they watched the Kodiaks trim it down to four points (34-30) on the first possession of the fourth quarter. A steal and layup by Class 2A’s leading scorer, Vanessa Leeper, had C.S. School (9-3, 1-2) thinking upset.
“They are just one of those teams that you have to play with,” said Sticher, who drew the ire of her coach when she picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter.
“There are no excuses for the fouls we had or whatever, you just have to stay mentally focused.”
The game remained tight, but a personal foul and technical foul on freshman Hannah Jacobson after a missed 3-pointer resulted in a a four-point play on the other end for the Indians’ Erica Jantz.
“That just kind of broke our backs,” Kodiaks coach Vicki Vaughn said. “I told Hannah she just has to learn from it, and not let it happen again.”
Kiowa’s Amanda Bartlett, who came in averaging 20 points per game, finished with 15 points, Sticher led Kiowa with 16.
Leeper, who went over 1,000 career points Tuesday in a loss to Simla, finished with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Kiowa 13 10 11 19 – 53
Colorado Springs School 7 10 11 13 – 41
Kiowa – Sticher 6 3-5 16, Jantz 2 4-4 8, Diemling 3 4-9 10, Durant 1 0-0 2, Bartlett 5 4-9 15, Smith 0 0-3 0, Gabehart 1 0-0 2, Berends 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 15-30 53.
C.S. School – Lindroth-Yates 5 1-1 14, Cullity 1 2-4 4, Quintero 0 1-2 1, Dawson 0 2-2 2, Leeper 5 8-10 19, Finger 0 0-0 0, Jacobson 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 15-21 41.
3-point goals – Sticher, Bartlett; Lindroth-Yates 3, Leeper. Total fouls – Kiowa 19; C.S. School 24. Fouled out – Sticher, Gabehart; Quintero, Leeper. Technicals – Jacobson.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
