BOULDER — All it took was a brief, ultra-dominating sequence from Shae Kelley for two long-standing streaks to be extinguished.
The East senior, who is carving a reputation as an unstoppable force when things go down to the wire, was at it again Wednesday night in the Angels’ 53-45 win over Heritage in the Class 5A semifinals.
The result vanquished a Denver Prep League drought — no DPL team had advanced to the state championship game since Montbello in 1997 — and put to rest an extended string of Continental League dominance. The powerhouse league had accounted for every title since 2000.
“It feels great because we’ve won our city league the last four or five years, but we finally got over that hump and beat a Continental League team,” Kelley said.
Kelley scored on three consecutive trips down the floor in the final 2:17, including twice after Heritage had trimmed the Angels’ lead to two points. Kelley, who scored 14 points, had a similarly impressive fourth against Highlands Ranch in the quarterfinals.
“It comes down to the wire, and you have to make big plays,” Kelley said. “You’re tired. You’re fatigued. At that point, it’s all from the heart.”
If a trip to the finals wasn’t sweet enough for Kelley, it added to the accomplishment that it occurred on her future home floor at the CU Events Center.
East (22-5) coach Dwight Berry labeled the future Colorado Buffalo “fearless” and “an unbelievable athlete” while also lauding the performance of Chelsea Small (13 points, nine rebounds). He also was left shaking his head a little bit.
“We didn’t play well,” Berry said. “We got away with one tonight.”
Heritage, the lone Continental League squad in the final four, received 17 points and 18 rebounds from Northern Colorado-bound forward Kim Lockridge but couldn’t overcome shooting 30 percent (18-for-60).
The Eagles remained within striking distance throughout but ultimately were undone by Kelley’s trifecta of heroics.
“Shae played her heart out and had back-to-back-to-back great plays,” Lockridge said. “We just went cold for a little bit in the third and fourth quarters, and it was a struggle to fight back from that.”
The Eagles (20-7) lost to East 67-63 in January but were without perimeter threat Lauren Huggins, who was nursing an injured ankle in that game. They hoped they could reverse the result with the sophomore in the fold, but Huggins was limited to eight points, including 2-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.
Kelley, meanwhile, got off to an impressive start at her soon-to-be digs.
“It is motivation because this is going to be my home court next year,” said Kelley. “This is actually the first time I’ve played on this court, so it’s exciting.”
Heritage 6 15 12 12 — 45
Denver East 8 12 18 15 — 53
Heritage — Rogan 2 2-2 6, Lockridge 7 3-5 17, Vukovich 0 0-0 0, Huggins 3 0-0 8, Castleton 1 1-2 3, Ikard 0 0-0 0, Mathis 0 0-0 0, Gutierrez 1 1-2 3, Ziegler 4 0-0 8. Totals 18 7-11 45.
Denver East — Taylor 0 4-4 4, Sanders 2 4-5 10, Patterson 0 0-0 0, Kelley 5 4-5 14, Small 2 0-0 4, Smith 3 2-5 8, Small 5 1-1 13. Totals 17 15-20 53.
3-pt. goals: Huggins 2; Sanders 2, Small 2.
