BROOMFIELD — Colissa Bakovich nearly pulled off the one-girl comeback.
Unfortunately for Loveland, the 5-foot-3 sophomore’s seven points in the final 24 seconds Friday night weren’t enough to overthrow No. 2 Legacy. The Lightning sweated out the flurry and held on for a nail-biting 64-61 Class 5A Front Range League home win.
Bakovich’s 3-pointer and traditional three-point play cut the Legacy lead to 62-60 with nine seconds left and had the No. 7 Indians thinking upset. After Kailey Edwards missed two free throws, Bakovich attacked the hoop and was fouled with 3.6 seconds left. She missed the first free throw but made the second.
Edwards was fouled again and this time drilled both to seal it.
“I was just frustrated, because we knew what we were supposed to do and what our coach told us to do,” said Edwards, who scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and added nine rebounds. “We just couldn’t get it. We weren’t all there, but we found a way to pull it together.”
Lightning center Sade Akindele scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four blocks, but was saddled with foul trouble in the second half. That allowed Loveland (10-3, 4-2) to roar back from a 13-point deficit to tie it 46-46 in the fourth on Stephanie Hutsell’s fourth 3-pointer.
The crazy final sequence soon ensued, after it appeared Legacy had iced things with a 3-pointer by Taylor Archuleta.
“Colissa had just attacked the basket and got an ‘and-one,’ so we just ran the same play again,” Loveland coach Chris Michael said. “We got the call. But it’s a sophomore right there. and it’s pressure free throws.”
Bakovich finished with a game-high 19 points, including 11 in the fourth.
Legacy (12-2, 6-1) started the week by knocking off nationally ranked Monarch, and the Lightning was eager not to take an immediate step backwards.
“We’re trying to keep going off of that win,” Edwards said. “Trying to keep playing as confident as we did that game. We’re going to be fine.”
Loveland, meanwhile, was coming off a 22-point loss to Fairview on Thursday, but had a much better showing.
“I’m really happy with our fight,” Michael said.
Loveland 9 12 21 19 — 61
Legacy 17 13 16 18 — 64
Loveland — Bakovich 4 8-11 19, King 5 2-2 13, Smith 4 0-1 8, Hutsell 4 0-0 12, Coldiron 0 0-2 0, Vaughan 0 2-2 2, Nyenhuis 0 3-4 3, Petrie 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 15-22 61.
Legacy — Glen 3 5-6 13, Archuleta 2 2-2 7, Edwards 5 7-10 17, Dunahay 3 1-2 7, Akindele 4 4-8 12, Eisler 1 0-0 3, Smith 2 1-2 5, Torrez 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 20-30 64.
3-pt. goals — Hutsell 4, Bakovich 3, King; Glen 2, Archuleta, Eisler. Total fouls — Loveland 20, Legacy 15. Fouled out — Hutsell. Technical fouls — None.
