FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Holy Family held off a spirited Estes Park team to recapture the Class 3A girls basketball championship Saturday.
Holy Family won 48-43 despite a late-game comeback drive by the Estes Park Bobcats. The Tigers had a comfortable lead for the first three quarters, but in the final period the lead shrunk to 44-41 with seconds remaining.
“They really started to make a run there, and it was nerve-wracking,” Holy Family senior Dori Gills said. “But we held our own.”
After Gills missed two free throws, the Bobcats had the ball with a chance to tie.
Kyra Stark of Estes Park made a move to the baseline, lost her footing and charged into Holy Family’s Sarah Talamantes. Stark was called for the offensive foul. Talamantes hit the two free throws to stretch the lead to 46-41.
“I thought we played hard, but they are just a tough team to come back against,” said Estes Park coach Dave Kiser, whose team’s free-throw shooting (11-for-22) again proved to be it demise. “It was like middle-school basketball out there for a while, and that’s so frustrating, because we worked so hard to get here.”
Holy Family players said they felt they had a target on their backs all year because they were trying to defend a state title.
“When you’re No. 1, it brings a lot of adversity and everybody brings their ‘A’ game to you,” Rossi said. “It’s even harder to say when you’re No. 1 that you need to keep improving, and that’s what they did.”
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Information from: The Denver Post,
