Meagan Malcolm-Peck may or may not have a mouse and a nice shiner next to her right eye this morning.
“I don’t know. I don’t bruise,” the senior laughed Tuesday night after her Horizon Hawks outlasted George Washington 77-70 and she took a shot to the face in the closing moments.
But all is well.
“We made some mistakes and didn’t make our free throws, but we’re having a ton of fun,” she said.
Happy times continued for the Hawks (12-0), ranked No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, with the nonleague road victory. The Front Range League awaits, and the game Patriots (9-4), a popular choice to contend for the Denver Prep League crown, gave Horizon all it wanted.
“We had a really good first half, but we missed our free throws and there was a lot of contact out there,” veteran Horizon coach Greg Hahn said.
The Hawks made just 27-of-40 free throws and only one basket in the fourth quarter, and struggled to a degree with their delay game late, but their defense woke up and their firepower was there when needed.
Despite some defensive lapses early, Horizon rolled behind Malcolm-Peck (20 points), sister Brenna Malcolm-Peck (23) and point guard Cherae Medina (16).
The Hawks turned in a 29-point second quarter to take a 42-27 halftime lead, settled for exchanging baskets in the third, then weathered a late move by the Patriots.
As usual, Horizon seemed to involve all of its players on the floor as substitute Rachel Bollinger contributed seven of her nine points in the second quarter, and only passing woes and getting trapped by GW pressure kept the Hawks from running away. They also arose to convert 9-of-11 free throws down the stretch.
“We’ve been working hard and everyone is contributing,” said Meagan Malcolm-Peck, who, like her sister, has signed with Colorado’s Buffaloes.
The Patriots, who climbed within six points and had a couple of shots roll out, matched the Hawks in terms of intensity and energy.
“If you want to be the best, you have to play the best,” an upbeat GW coach Stacy Tracey said. “We played hard.”
Maria Wagner paced the Pats with 16 points. Jaynelle Johnson scored 11 and Keosha Blue had 10.
Horizon 13 29 23 12 — 77
George Washington 15 12 21 22 — 70
Horizon — M. Malcolm-Peck 7 6-11 20, Medina 5 4-7 16, B. Malcolm-Peck 5 10-14 23, Ra. Bollinger 3 2-2 9, Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, Clements 2 0-0 4, Foster 0 5-6 5, Dyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 27-40 77.
George Washington — Rodriguez 0 1-2 1, Maes 4 0-0 8, Johnson 4 1-2 11, Jones 0 0-0 0, Wagner 5 4-4 16, Slay 1 2-2 4, Wilder 3 1-2 7, Blue 4 0-2 10, Adams 2 0-0 4, Smalls 3 0-1 9. Totals 26 9-15 70.
3-point goals — B. Malcolm-Peck 3, Medina 2, Bollinger; Smalls 3, Blue 2, Johnson 2, Wagner 2. Total fouls — Horizon 13, George Washington 22. Fouled out — Rasmussen. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
