Quarterfinal results from the Colorado state high school basketball tournament:
CLASS 3A
At Moby Arena, Fort Collins
Holy Family 68, Brush 47
Things never really seemed comfortable for Holy Family coach Ron Rossi and his two-time defending champion Tigers.
Brush stayed within shouting distance much of the night, but Holy Family smooth shooting and pesky defense just proved too much in the end as the Tigers continued their quest for a three-peat with a 68-47 victory.
Holy Family (24-1), seeded No. 2, spread the wealth offensively with their depth that is unmatched at the midrange level. Alex Wilson led the way with 20 points and juniors Taylor Helbig and Sarah Talamantes chipped in with 12.
Brush (22-3) was paced by all-state guard Alicia Nichols 12 points and Rebecca Walker 11.
Pagosa Springs 54, Estes Park 49
The most evenly matched game of the day lived up to the billing.
Fourth-seeded Pagosa Springs saw a 41-31 lead to start the shrink o 45-43 with two minutes to play, but the Pirates were able to put the ball in the capable hands of junior Mary Brinton and Breezy Bryant to hang on against the defending state runners-up from Estes Park.
Brinton led Pagosa with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Both Bryant (12 points) and senior Victoria Espinosa (5-for-6 from the line) hit their free-throws down the stretch to keep the Bobcats at bay.
Estes Park (21-4) got 20 points from all-state gurad Kimmy Hansen and 12 from Kyra Stark.
C.S. Christian 47, St. Marys 27
The top-seeded Colorado Springs Christian Lions wasted little time flexing their muscles against cross town rival St. Marys.
C.S. Christian (25-0) rolled to a 26-7 halftime lead and never let the Pirates get within single digits in the second half in cruising to a 47-27 victory.
The Lions got a game-high 18 from Brianne Vande Griend and 12 from Becca Bultje.
Reigning Class 3A Ms. Basketball Christina Whitelaw of St. Marys scored just three points for the Pirates, who drop to 22-3.
Olathe 40, Coal Ridge 25
It took three quarters, but the undefeated Class 3A Western Slope League champions from Olathe finally found their groove against familiar Coal Ridge.
The No. 3-seeded Pirates (25-0), who had already beaten the Titans three times this season, pulled away down the stretch for a 40-25 victory.
Olathe junior Morgan Stansberry finished with a game high 14 points and sophomore Kylie Tait added 12.
Coal Ridge (13-12), which made the Great 8 as the No. 27 seed in the 32 team field, got 12 points from Rachel Centeno.
— Jon E. Yunt, The Denver Post
CLASS 2A
At CSU-Pueblo
Kiowa 54, Stanford 50
Kiowa’s Taylor Castillo, a 6-foot-2 force in the middle was too much for Sanford to handle.
The powerful post was scoring inside buckets late in the game and Kiowa stuffed Sanford defensively to claim a 54-50 win in a Class 2A first round game at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
Kiowa (23-2) clashes with Akron (20-4) at 4 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Kiowa is clinging to a 42-38 lead after two free throws by Taylor Castillo with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter. There is 6:52 left in the game and the score is unchanged. Castillo put in a follow shot giving Kiowa a 44-38 lead with 6:15 left. Kiowa kept Sanford from making a comeback in the final 6-plus minutes.
Akron 53, Rocky Ford 45
The Akron girls played a gutsy fourth quarter and held on to beat Rock Ford 53-45 in a first round Class 2A game at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
Akron (20-4) advances to play the winner of the Kiowa-Sanford game, which takesplace later Thursday, in the semis at 4 p.m. Friday.
SidneyMerrill made a free throw, giving Akron a 42-38 lead. Amber Lowther bucket at 3:56 gets Rocky with 42-40. Merrill follow at 2:30 gives Akron 46-43 lead. Ella Saunders makes one free throw at 1:36 and then hit a clinching driving bucket with 50 seconds left.
Sangre de Cristo 41, Sedgwick County 33
Jessica New made two free throws with 1:16 left giving Sangre a 37-31 lead. Makenzie Ault made two free throws with 65 seconds left to get the Cougars within 37-33.
With the game still in limbo, Ault missed a 10-feet jumper from the right side with 40 ticks remaining. That led to New being fouled again and she made two more free throws with 32.9 ticks left, putting the Thunderbirds up 39-33.
Sedgwick failed to score the remainder of the game and Sangre’s Kaily Yarbrough and New added one free throw each for the final margin. made one free throw with 23 seconds left. New was fouled and made one more free throw, giving Sangre the 41-33 victory.
Sangre improved to 18-6 overall and Sedgwick dropped to 21-4.
Paonia 49, Holyoke 30
A year ago, Paonia High School’s girls basketball team just missed winning a gold ball when it lost to Wray in the Class 2A state finals. This season, Paonia made a statement in its opening game, beating Holyoke 49-30 this morning at Massari Arena on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus.
Paonia took control of the game early in the third quarter.
Leslie Trujillo, Jordyn Rienks and Grayson Pipher made consecutive buckets, powering the Eagles to a 27-12 lead with 6:11 left in the third. Holyoke would never threaten again.
Paonia (23-1) advances to play Sangre de Cristo (18-6) at 7 p.m. Friday in a semifinal game. Holyoke dropped to 14-11 and into the loser’s bracket.
— Tracy Renck, Special to The Denver Post
CLASS 1A
At Pueblo State Fair Events Center
Briggsdale 45, McClave 43
Senior Bobby Pfeiff added the exclamation point to Briggsdale’s strong third quarter as she hit a three pointer at the buzzer. Briggsdale would hang on to win 45-43 to knock off the No. 2 seed.
After trailing by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, the defending champions showed they’re experience cutting the lead to four. Kaitlyn Hill made a driving layup to get the lead back up to six points, missing the and-one opportunity.
Melissa Navarrette hit a three with 52 seconds left to cut the lead to 44-40. A free throw made it a five-point game before a meaningless three-pointer made the final 45-43.
Wiley 44, Fleming 43
The Fleming Wildcats had plenty of opportunities late to pull out the win, but missed free throws and turnovers on breakaways kept them from moving into the semifinals.
The Wiley Panthers held on to beat the Wildcats 44-43, and will play the winner of the McClave-Briggsdale game.
Fleming committed five turnovers in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter. Morgan Wilkening missed the second of her two free throws with 1:10 to play that would’ve tied the game.
After a Wiley turnover, Fleming was running on a fast break, but committed a turnover of its own. Wiley missed three straight free throws, giving Fleming yet another chance to take the lead, but the Wildcats missed two shots inside of 10-second mark to fall 44-43.
Pawnee 53, Dove Creek 42
The Dove Creek Bulldogs were held without points for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as the Pawnee Coyotes were able to pull away for a 53-42 victory in the opening game of the Class 1A girls’ state basketball tournament at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo.
Pawnee was led by sophomore Adele Cass who scored a game-high 24 points.
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Sonja Strong (16 points) and Kyli Banks (12). Kayla Pribble had six steals.
Pawnee, with only seven players on its roster, advances to the semifinals tomorrow at 7 p.m.,where it will face No. 1 Kim. Dove Creek will play Idalia in the loser’s bracket at 11:45 a.m. Friday.
Kim 72, Idalia 43
There was never any doubt which team was the No. 1 seed Thursday at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo. The Kim Mustangs towered over the Idalia Wolves, dominating from start to finish in its 72-43 victory.
With a definitive height advantage, the Mustangs outshot and outhustled their opponent. Kim has four players that stand at least 6-feet tall while the Idalia’s tallest player is just 5-feet-9.
Kim (24-0) was led by Danielle Lewis, who scored 19 points. Bailey McFerren chipped in 13.
Samantha Cure had a game-high 22 points for the Wolves (13-12).
Kim, the clear favorite in the tournament, will play Pawnee at 7 p.m. in Friday’s semifinals. The Mustangs beat the Coyotes last year in the semifinals.
— Brandon Hopper, Special to The Denver Post
