McKayla Gorman scored a game-high 23 points, including 14-of-15 from the foul line, as the Wolverines finally pulled away.
Overland had already claimed upsets of Fort Collins and Cherry Creek, but top-seeded Chaparral proved to be too steep of a challenge.
“Overland girls are really an athletic bunch of kids. They did a nice job on the boards. There are some balls we didn’t get to,” Chaparral coach Tony Speights said.
Despite leading by eight early in the third quarter, the Wolverines (22-4) couldn’t put feisty Overland away. An 8-0 run near the end of the quarter — capped by two Deidra Smith baskets — turned a seven-point deficit into a 32-31 lead for the Trailblazers.
But Gorman’s only 3-pointer of the night, with 26 seconds left in the third, put Chaparral ahead again.
“That was a good team to lose to,” Overland coach Regina Pollard said.
After Overland tied the game at 34 to start the fourth, Chaparral scored 12 of the next 15 points to go ahead 46-37. A rebound basket by Gorman 44 seconds into the fourth quarter put Chaparral ahead to stay. Gorman made sure the Trailblazers wouldn’t make one more rally by hitting eight consecutive free throws.
“She’s that kid. I’ve been working with her, coaching her for five years now. I’m going to miss her when she leaves me,” Speights said of Gorman.
Overland 10 6 16 17 — 49
Chaparral 13 10 11 24 — 58
Overland — Henegan 4 3-4 12, Everett 5 5-6 15, Khan 1 0-0 2, Lekahal 2 0-0 6, Butler 0 0-0 0, Pier 0 0-0 0, DeMichelis 1 0-0 2, Smith 5 2-2 12. Totals 18 10-12 49.
Chaparral — Gorman 4 14-15 23, Sheppard 0 0-0 0, Baker 0 0-0 0, Martin 8 0-0 16, Gallo 1 0-0 3, Rommel 4 0-2 8, Smith 2 0-0 4, McGuinnis 1 2-4 4. Totals 20 16-21 58.
3-pointers — Lekahal 2, Henegan 1; Gorman 1, Gallo 1.
Michael Hicks, Special to The Denver Post
Regis 48, Dakota Ridge 37
Who cares how it looked? Regis has returned to at least the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year of its program.
“It was an ugly win,” Raiders coach Carl Mattei said. “But we did what we came here to do.”
With junior point guard Mariah Williams still battling an ankle sprain, and top forward Meghan Winters dealing with foul trouble, Regis (24-2) was guilty of making poor decisions and not finishing inside scoring opportunities throughout the game. But Regis kept at it on defense and forced enough transition and isolation on offense.
T’Keyah Shealy (10 points), Winters and Mary Bokenkamp (eight), Williams (seven) and Kamile Nacickaite (five) provided balanced scoring.
“It’s just nice to move on,” Winters said.
Dakota Ridge (22-4) had issues after trailing 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles kept at it on defense and outrebounded the Raiders, but their shooting touch left the building early. Only 5-of-20 from the floor in the first half, they finished 11-of-53.
To make matters worse, they had zero baskets in the second quarter and scored only two points. Not surprisingly, it also was when Regis took control.
The Eagles kept the Raiders from turning it into a track meet, but their lack of offense and Regis’ patience were too much to handle.
Dakota Ridge 14 2 9 12 — 37
Regis 15 10 12 11 — 48
Dakota Ridge — Baal 0 0-0 0, Santistevan 0 2-2 2, Branting 1 3-4 5, Shepler 0 0-1 0, Callaway 2 2-4 7, Pendergraft 4 2-4 13, Holm 2 0-1 6, Schauer 0 0-0 0, Malik 2 0-0 4. Totals 11 9-16 37.
Regis — Williams 1 5-6 7, Rolniak 2 0-1 4, O’Dorisio 0 2-2 2, Rooney 0 0-0 0, Roben 1 0-0 2, Bokenkamp 3 0-0 8, O’Neil 1 0-0 2, Shealy 3 4-8 10, Winters 3 0-0 8, Nacickaite 2 1-2 5, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-19 48.
3-pt. goals — Pendergraft 3, Holm 2, Callaway; Bokenkamp 2, Winters 2.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
ThunderRidge 67, Lakewood 38
The solemn look on the faces of the Lakewood players as they returned to the court at halftime said it all. It was as if they knew it was over.
For all intents and purposes, it was.
A year ago, Lakewood had its season ended by ThunderRidge in the regional semifinals. This year, the teams again met, but it hardly mattered.
Different year, same result.
“A game like this, you have to have your players make plays,” ThunderRidge coach Bill Bradley said.
For their part, the Grizzlies did it.
“We play pretty good defense. We felt like they hadn’t seen that kind of defense in a while, if at all, this season,” Bradley said. “We knew we had good defensive matchups.”
Lakewood’s Carly Cator tied the game at 2 with a layup 24 seconds in, but it would be another 10 minutes and 52 seconds before the Tigers hit another field goal. By then, ThunderRidge had outscored top-seeded Lakewood 25-6 to open up a 19-point lead.
And that was just the beginning.
The lead was 28 at halftime following a 9-0 ThunderRidge run and 30, at 45-15, after a Rachel Messer 3-pointer 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the third quarter. A 16-2 run by Lakewood (21-5) cut its deficit to 16 four minutes later, but the Tigers wouldn’t get any closer.
Messer scored a game-high 22 points with six 3-pointers, five in the first half.
Lakewood 4 8 20 6 — 38
ThunderRidge 20 20 10 17 — 67
ThunderRidge — McBain 3 3-4 9, Jelniker 3 6-8 12, Riley 1 0-0 2, Messer 7 2-2 22, Needles 4 1-2 10, Evans 4 2-2 10, Ludwig 0 0-1 0, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Powell-Ortega 0 0-0 0, Potthoff 0 0-0 0, Dederick 1 0-0 2, Langas 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 14-18 67.
Lakewood — Calderon 0 0-0 0, Mefford 0 0-0 0, Rosa 2 2-4 6, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Cator 1 3-4 5, Clark 0 0-0 0, Hicks 7 5-6 21, Kern 0 0-0 0, Martinez 0 0-0 0, Goodall 2 2-4 6. Totals 12 12-18 38.
3-point goals — Hicks 2; Messer 6, Evans 1.
Michael Hicks, Special to The Denver Post
