AURORA — Regis senior Diana Rolniak remembers her first big game as a high schooler, three years ago against ThunderRidge.
The Utah-bound Rolniak said it was then that the schoolgirl basketball experience clicked for her, just as it did Saturday night in the final of the Regis Jesuit Holiday Hoop Classic.
Normally, her defense and rebounding are vital to the Raiders, but she added an offensive presence as they downed Continental League rival ThunderRidge 52-40.
An inspired Rolniak put on a couple of inside moves and hit some short-range jump shots in rolling to 12 points, a welcomed sight for the Raiders, 9-3 and ranked No. 4 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll.
“I got the ball in some good positions and I was open,” the 6-foot-3 post player said. “Some nights you’ve got it, some nights I play a different role.”
Said Regis coach Carl Mattei: “It’s the best I’ve seen her all year. She was attacking the basket, she was shooting well . . . it was nice.”
The Raiders had only a few rough spots against the No. 2 Grizzlies (11-1) and used defense to seize command. Their 16-0 run in the second quarter came from defensive pressure that made ThunderRidge appear tentative.
But it wasn’t until the third quarter that the Raiders ran away — seven points by tournament MVP Meghan Winters provided separation from the Grizzlies, who were guilty of 22 turnovers and made just two of their first 17 shots in the second half.
“We got going and that’s the biggest thing that propels our team, the defensive end,” Mattei said.
Regis’ T’Keyah Shealy did her usual dirty work inside, getting to the rim on offense and rebounding; the Regis defense forced numerous loose balls that it retrieved; and the Raiders got the younger, banged-up Grizzlies into foul trouble amid a series of unforced errors.
ThunderRidge led 11-8 after a quarter, bumped it to 16-8, then gradually went south for coach Bill Bradley.
“As a team, you make your own breaks and we didn’t make any,” Bradley said.
In all, he added, “we’re normally pretty good at executing and we’ve done well, but we didn’t do that tonight.”
Shealy matched Rolniak with a dozen points and Winters added 11. ThunderRidge’s Carlie Needles had 16 points and Rachel Messer scored 11.
Interestingly, Regis will open league play Friday at top-ranked and three-time defending champion Highlands Ranch.
ThunderRidge 11 12 6 11 — 40
Regis 8 18 15 11 — 52
ThunderRidge — McBain 1 0-0 2, Jelniker 4 0-2 9, Messer 3 2-2 11, Needles 4 5-6 16, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Ludwig 0 0-1 0, Langas 1 0-0 2, Rusk 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-11 40.
Regis — Williams 3 2-4 8, Bokenkamp 3 0-0 7, Winters 5 0-0 11, Shealy 3 6-8 12, Rolniak 6 0-0 12, Zuraskyte 1 0-2 2, Koslosky 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-14 52.
3-point goals — Needles 3, Messer 3, Jelniker; Bokenkamp, Winters. Total fouls — ThunderRidge 17, Regis 15. Fouled out — McBain; Williams. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
