GREELEY — Playing in the shadow of Broomfield High School teammate Anna Prins for so many years, Chaundra Sewell hasn’t had too many opportunities to shine solely in the spotlight.
But Saturday at the Colorado High School Coaches Association girls basketball All-Star Game at the University of Northern Colorado’s Recreation Center, she shined like a beaming star.
The 6-foot-1 forward scored 16 of her game-high 35 points in the third quarter as the Black squad rolled to a 99-63 victory over the Blue in the championship game of the four-team event. Sewell added 22 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Even though Sewell finally had the spotlight, she had little time to bask in it. Immediately after the final buzzer, Sewell left for Denver to play in another tournament, but her teammates had more than enough good things to say about her.
“She’s awesome. She’s a really good player, but she’s one of those nice girls. She doesn’t think she’s all that,” Wray’s Stacy Post said. “It’s fun to play with somebody like her. She brings up the whole team.”
Sewell wasn’t just all that, she also was the catalyst to her team’s third-quarter onslaught. With the Black leading 39-32 at halftime, Sewell scored eight straight points — the last four to start a 14-0 run that took a one-point lead to 60-45 late in the quarter. The lead grew to 19 after the Black outscored the Blue 31-19.
When Sewell wasn’t doing the damage, she had plenty of help from her teammates, in particular Wray teammates Post and Christa Loyd. They combined for 36 points.
The continuity that Post and Loyd showed carried over to their all-star teammates, especially in the second half when the Black outscored their Blue counterparts 60-31.
“That’s how we were in the first game, too,” said Dove Creek’s Kellie Deremo, the only other player in double figures for the Black with 10 points. “We all clicked pretty good for actually never playing with each other until yesterday. We all fed off each other pretty well. We’re all unselfish, so it worked out good.”
Deer Trail’s Tae’lor Purdy kept the Blue squad in the game in the first half with 16 points, but the 5-foot-10 guard scored just seven points in the second half — two in the fourth quarter. Kennedy’s Jamee Leichtle added 14 points, and Lindsey Shaw of Bayfield scored 12.
But this day belonged to Sewell and her teammates, who after being together for just a few days exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses as if they’d known each other for some time. This much is sure, they’ll be staying in touch.
“It was weird. We felt like we knew our team forever,” Post said.
BLACK 99, BLUE 63
Black 17 22 31 29 — 99
Blue 18 14 19 12 — 63
Black: Tessa Ellis 2 2-2 6; Christa Loyd 7 0-0 17; Stacy Post 6 7-9 19; Brianna Johnson 3 3-4 9; Katie Stephens 1 1-6 3; Kellie Deremo 3 2-2 10; Chaundra Sewell 16 3-7 35. Totals: 38 18-30 99.
Blue: Marki Cook 0 0-0 0; Jamee Leichtle 4 4-6 14; Meagan Sullivan 0 1-2 1; Kaitie Vader 0 2-2 2; Lindsey Shaw 5 0-0 12; Whitney Ann Canty 2 1-2 5; Holli Salazar 3 0-2 6; Tae’lor Purdy 6 8-10 23. Totals: 20 16-24 63.
3-Pt. goals: Black 5 — Loyd 3, Deremo 2. Blue 7 — Leichtle 2, Shaw 2, Purdy 3. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
