CENTENNIAL — Arapahoe coach Ron Burgin might want to tape his halftime talks and start playing them before the Warriors begin their next game.
“Usually we start out slow in the very beginning, and third quarter we get pumped up at halftime,” Warriors senior Diana Hentschel said.
After the intermission and a lengthy injury timeout, the second-seeded Warriors found their tempo and rolled to a 66-53 victory over seventh-seeded Chatfield in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament.
Hentschel scored 18 of her game-best 21 points in the second half and fellow senior Amy Barczuk scored 11 of her 19 after halftime to break open a tight game and propel the Warriors (20-3) into the Sweet 16.
The Warriors advance in the Kaye Garms Region and will play No. 3 Central of Grand Junction (17-7) next week.
The Chargers (13-12), who lost key rebounder Chrissy Armstrong to an injured neck that required assistance from Littleton Fire Rescue 33 seconds into the second half, had used 3-pointers and a deliberate tempo to stay close. But the Warriors upped the ball pressure to ignite their transition game, hammered the boards and shot 18-of-24 from the free-throw line after going 0-for-6 in the first half.
The Warriors were up by nine a minute after play resumed in the third on a long 3-pointer by Hentschel and extended their lead to 42-27 on a layup by senior Becky Bowman. A steal and layup by Barczuk put the Warriors up by 16 early in the fourth quarter, and the Chargers were never able to pull closer than nine points.
“We definitely hit the boards well,” Barczuk said. “We really did a good job. It was really unfortunate that their big rebounder got knocked out.”
Chargers coach Mike Deutsch said he thought Armstrong would be OK and was hoping she just strained her neck after falling to the floor for a loose ball.
“They put a lot of pressure on us, and I think they got panicked,” Deutsch said. “I think that’s what really changed it.”
Chatfield 10 10 23 10 — 53
Arapahoe 11 13 20 22 — 66
Chatfield — Kurtenbach 4 0-0 10, Sutliff 6 0-0 16, O’Brien 4 0-2 8, Morton 2 2-2 7, Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Hanna 0 0-0 0, Smart 1 0-2 2, Kotulak 2 0-0 4, Kules 1 0-0 3, Howard 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 2-6 53.Arapahoe — Wojahn 4 1-3 9, Hentschel 4 11-12 21, Barczuk 7 5-8 19, Bowman 4 0-0 9, Hoopingarner 1 0-2 3, Avery 1 0-2 2, Saurber 0 0-1 0, Adkins 1 0-0 2, McDougald 0 1-2 1, Foss 0 0-0 0, Olsen 0 0-0 0, Lukasiewicz 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 18-30 66.3-point goals — Sutliff 4, Kurtenbach 2, Morton, Kules, Howard; Hentschel 2, Bowman, Hoopingarner.
Total fouls — Chatfield 23, Arapahoe 13.
Fouled out — Morton.
Technicals — None.
