BOULDER, Colo.—Jade Davis scored a game-high 21 points and Highlands Ranch dominated ThunderRidge Wednesday night with a 68-46 victory in the Class 5A state semifinals at the University of Colorado.
Highlands Ranch (24-3), a No. 1 seed, will play for its second three-peat this decade on Friday night.
The Falcons won three titles from 2000 to ’02 before claiming the last two.
Second-seeded ThunderRidge (19-8), which won three Class 5A crowns from 2003 to ’05, lost to Continental League foe Highlands Ranch for the second time this season.
Davis keyed three runs in the first half that helped Highlands Ranch run away with the game.
Leading 15-9 early in the second quarter, Davis hit a 3-pointer to cap a 5-0 spurt.
She then started an 8-0 run with a basket with 6:23 to play in the half, giving the Falcons a 20-11 lead. Jenessa Burke ended the stint with a jumper that extended the Highlands Ranch lead to 26-11 with 3:54 left.
Davis started a 7-0 run with her second 3-point basket of the half and gave the Falcons a 29-14 advantage with 1:15 remaining.
Alyssa Fressle, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, hit a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left to end the run at 34-14.
Meagan Fulps had 11 points for Highlands Ranch, and Brooke Jelniker led ThunderRidge with 17.
Highlands Ranch led 35-17 at halftime, and ThunderRidge, which had not allowed an opponent to score more than 42 points in the playoffs while averaging 65, could come no closer than 20 points—49-29 early in the fourth quarter.
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