PUEBLO — History was slipping away for the Paonia girls basketball team before Jordyn Rienks and Johanna Reed grabbed it by the throat.
Rienks and Reed combined to score seven points in the final 90 seconds, vaulting the Eagles to a 43-39 victory over Akron in the Class 2A state championship game Saturday night at CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
Paonia has its first state hoops title — boys or girls — in school history.
“This was just a special group of girls. When they needed to come through in a close game, they did,” said Paonia coach Scott Rienks, who is Jordyn’s father. “They didn’t let the pressure get to them. This is just a very sweet victory.”
The Eagles, who finished the season with a 25-1 record, lost to Wray 46-35 in last year’s state final. Akron, which had just one senior on its squad, finished 21-5.
“We were ahead by eight with less than four minutes to play and they stepped up their man-to-man defense and just wore us down,” Akron coach Rick Agan said. “They created some turnovers and the ball bounced their way at the end. We wanted to win, but I’m very proud of my girls because no one expected us to even be here.”
When Rochelle Boyce, who had a game-high 19 points, made two free throws at the 3:49 mark of the fourth quarter, Akron went up 36-28. Paonia countered with a frantic run and took a 39-38 lead when Jordyn Rienks converted a three-point play.
“I knew we weren’t going to lose this game,” said Jordyn, who tied Reed for the team high with 15 points. “I had trust in my team and when I made that (inside) it was just an instinct play.”
After Akron’s Sydney Clarkson missed a jumper in the lane with 53 seconds left, Paonia took possession and Reed was fouled by Akron’s Sidney Merrill with 33.3 seconds showing.
With her team up by one, Reed made one of two free throws, giving Paonia a 40-38 edge.
Boyce was fouled on Akron’s next possession, but she made just one of two shots from the charity stripe, cutting the deficit to 40-39 with 30.8 seconds on the clock. Akron immediately forced a turnover, but Reed returned the favor with a steal of her own, and she was fouled at 14.3 seconds. This time Reed made both her free throws, putting Paonia up 42-39.
Akron 7 11 10 11 — 39
Paonia 7 11 10 15 — 43
Akron — R. Boyce 5 7-10 19, Guy 2 0-3 4, Merrill 2 0-0 4, M. Boyce 0 1-2 1, Vasquez 0 2-7 2, Clarkson 1 6-8 9. Totals 10 16-30 39.
Paonia — C. Reed 0 1-4 1, Stewart 1 0-0 2, J. Reed 4 6-7 15, Trujillo 1 0-2 2, Pipher 3 0-2 6, Hinton 0 0-4 0, S. Campbell 1 0-0 2, Rienks 4 6-9 15. Totals 14 13-28 43.
3-point goals — Akron: Boyce 2, Clarkson; Paonia: J. Reed, Rienks. Fouled out: Merrill; Pipher, Trujillo.
2A girls all-tournament team
Sydney Clarkson, Akron, Jr.
Jessika Kienitz, Rocky Ford, Jr.
Brooke McKinley, Sangre de Cristo, Sr.
Johanna Reed, Paonia, Sr.
Jordyn Rienks, Paonia, Sr.
MVP: Jordyn Rienks
