FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Jessica Giltner had 11 points and six rebounds to lead Holy Family to its first 3A girls state basketball championship with a 38-33 victory over Faith Christian Saturday night.
Dori Gills and Sarah Talamantes added nine points each for Holy Family (25-2). The team’s only two losses came in regular season meetings with Faith Christian.
Holly Hoguta and Britany Long had nine points apiece for Faith Christian (24-3), which had its 22-game winning streak snapped. The Metro League champion hurt itself with 18 turnovers and 30 percent shooting from the field.
Holy Family led 14-11 after one quarter. Giltner and Talamantes contributed four points each.
A 3-pointer by Gills extended the Tigers’ lead to 17-11 early in the second quarter before Bre McBeth’s basket got Faith Christian as close as 19-17. Baskets by Taylor Helbig and Gills in the last 1:32 of the quarter sent Holy Family into halftime with a 23-17 lead.
Holy Family had only four points in the third quarter and that allowed Faith Christian to get back into the game. Hoguta scored five points in the last 2:14 to get Faith Christian to within 27-25 at the end of the quarter.
Momentum swung back to Holy Family as Talamantes had two layups in a 6-0 run to get her team’s lead to 33-23 with 5:59 remaining. Athena Lopez’s two free throws got Faith Christian back to 36-33, but Helbig and Giltner hit a free throw each in the final 20 seconds to seal the win for Holy Family.
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