BOULDER — Shae Kelley is making a habit of taking over late.
The East senior scored on three consecutive trips down the floor in the final 2:17 Wednesday, guiding the Angels to a 53-45 win against Heritage in the Class 5A girls semifinals.
And if that wasn’t sweet enough for Kelley, consider she did it on her future home floor at the CU Events Center.
Two of Kelley’s baskets occurred immediately after Heritage trimmed the Angels’ lead to two points. Kelley, who scored 14 points, had a similarly impressive fourth against Highlands Ranch in the quarterfinals.
Heritage’s loss means the Continental League’s streak of 10 consecutive championships has come to an end. East, meanwhile, became only the second Denver Prep League team to advance to a title game, joining Montbello, which won it all in 1997.
The Angels (22-5) overcame a monster game from Heritage’s Kim Lockridge, who scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. The Eagles (20-7) appeared on the verge of separation late in the first half, but East had an 8-2 run to close the second quarter to trim the deficit to 21-20 at the break.
East will face the winner of Wednesday’s late game between Legacy and Monarch in Friday’s championship.
Legacy 51, Monarch 47
By Neil H. Devlin
The Denver Post
BOULDER — They played two earlier games that resulted in a split and each was decided by two points.
And in both cases, the team that trailed at halftime came back and won.
So what else did you expect in Wednesday night’s rubber match?
Legacy (26-1), which trailed at halftime, got it together down the stretch to outlast Monarch.
The Lightning, which was behind by as many as 10 points, will head to its second title game in four seasons. In 2007, Legacy fell to Highlands Ranch. Big schools are assured of their first champion not from the Continental League since 1999.
Those who stayed for the late game — 4,000 fans saw at least a portion of the four games, slightly down from past seasons — watched the Coyotes (22-5), the past season’s state runners-up, in control early and often.
Monarch, behind Alex Evans (12 points) and sophomore Alexus Johnson (10), shot and passed better, and got to more loose balls. The Coyotes led 28-19 at halftime as Eliza Normen threw in a running 3-pointer at the buzzer.
All the while, the Lightning seemed a step slow, couldn’t buy a basket to stem the flow and needed to regroup.
