Apparently you cannot pencil in the Class 5A girls final four ahead of time.
Monarch threw the circuit for a curve Friday, upending ThunderRidge 44-33 in the quarterfinals in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.
“We had tried in the past to be a running team against teams like that,” said Monarch senior Emily Wood, who paced the Coyotes with 12 points. “But we realized we had to slow it down.”
The second-seeded Coyotes (20-6) outscored the Grizzlies 15-3 in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset. ThunderRidge (22-4), the top seed in the Carol Callan Region and a perennial semifinalist, shot only 4-for-26 in the second half and 23.9 percent overall.
“They came out and played with more energy and intensity than we did,” ThunderRidge junior Brooke Jelniker said. “Of course we wanted it, but we didn’t play like we did.”
Point guard Carlie Needles led ThunderRidge with 14 points, and Jelniker added 12 but shot only 4-for-20.
Paul Willis, Special to The Post
Highlands Ranch 91, Heritage 65
Highlands Ranch and Heritage seemed to be scoring at light speed, particularly when considering the preceding Monarch-ThunderRidge game.
But with Jenessa Burke and Meagan Fulps in the mix, Highlands Ranch’s rate of production was even more accelerated in a win that kept intact the Falcons’ ambitions of a fourth straight state crown.
Burke scored 26, while the Santa Clara-bound Fulps added 24.
“Jenessa played phenomenal, and it’s awesome seeing her going so strong,” Fulps said. “I wished she’d play college ball.”
Sophomore Katelyn McDaniel chipped in 18 points for the Falcons in a perfect outing — 7-for-7 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line.
Heritage (19-7), led by 27 points from Kim Lockridge, ran well with the Falcons and entered the half in striking distance, 48-39. But the Falcons’ blistering 51.5 percent shooting was too much to overcome.
“We gave them too many easy shots,” Heritage coach Ron McClurg said. “We were OK with the running part. We’ve been running with teams all year.”
Highlands Ranch (24-2) will face Monarch in the semifinals Wednesday at the Coors Events Center in Boulder. Highlands Ranch defeated the Coyotes 93-66 in the regular season. Paul Willis, Special to The Post
Regis 52, Chaparral 28
Color the Regis Raiders on track — they qualified for their fifth consecutive final four by whipping fellow Continental League member Chaparral.
“Once you get here, it’s almost like a mini-tournament, where you play the best teams and handle the pressure,” coach Carl Mattei said after the Raiders (22-4) turned up their defense to force 20 first-half turnovers and were never seriously challenged by the Wolverines (20-6).
Meghan Winters (14 points) and T’Keyah Shealy and Mariah Williams (11 each) handled most of the scoring, but every Raider seemed to rebound, pick off passes or get loose balls in recording Regis’ 97th victory over four seasons. Defense was huge — no Wolverine reached double figures.
“I’m on one of four teams that will be practicing (today), and that’s pretty cool,” Regis’ Diana Rolniak said.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
Horizon 50, Central (G.J.) 42
The Hawks (24-1) ran to a 26-6 lead, then were taxed by the Warriors the rest of the way in advancing to their 12th final four.
“We’re back where we belong,” coach Greg Hahn said. “Nobody’s given us a lot of credit through it, but we use it as a bit of a rallying point, and we feel we can be in any ballgame.”
Key free throws by Cherae Medina, including 8-of-8 in the final two minutes, kept Horizon in front. Despite turnovers, impatience and cold shooting after a setting a blistering pace, the Hawks held on behind Medina (15 points) and the Malcolm-Peck twins, Meagan (13) and Brenna (11).
The Warriors (18-8) eventually got it together but dug themselves too big of an early hole. Junior Amy Kame led the way with 20 points and came back from a nasty spill under the basket.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
