COLORADO SPRINGS — The need for redemption was felt just as much by Kaitlyn Mileto the individual as the Mesa Ridge team as a whole.
Mileto, Class 4A’s premier scorer in girls basketball, was held to 10 points Friday when the Grizzlies’ 19-game winning streak vanished in a lopsided loss to Air Academy.
On the road Tuesday against another formidable squad in No. 8 Harrison, Mileto and the No. 3 Grizzlies got back on track with a hard-fought 44-39 victory in the Colorado Springs Metro League.
“I just felt that if the ball was in my hands, good things were going to happen,” said Mileto, who scored 18 points despite being draped all game by Harrison’s Charron Johnson. “They were double-teaming me, so that meant one of my teammates was always going to be open.”
Mileto fell short of her 10th 30-point performance of the season and didn’t match her remarkable season high of nine 3-pointers, but her output was incredibly efficient. She took only eight shots from the field and also contributed 11 rebounds.
Center LaShai Powells added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Morgan Slayton contributed a clinching late 3-pointer for the Grizzlies (20-2, 13-1), who rekindled their spirits.
“We were a little tentative and had lost our swagger a little bit,” Grizzlies coach Eric Hulen said. “But now that we were able to pull out a close game, I think we’ll start to build it back up.”
Harrison (19-3, 11-3), which absorbed its second straight loss, had a chance to tie but Nicole Herrera’s long 3-pointer fell short with 18 seconds remaining.
“The play we drew up didn’t get ran correctly,” Panthers coach Tamie Price said. “It was for her to shoot it, but it should have been a lot closer. . . . But it wasn’t a shot I would tell her not to take.”
Mesa Ridge likely will finish second to Air Academy in league play, but this one was enormous for seeding purposes.
“We’re working hard to achieve our goals and coming out with this one made it one step closer,” Powells said.
Mesa Ridge 12 11 11 10 — 44
Harrison 14 7 12 6 — 39
Mesa Ridge — Slayton 3 1-3 9, Rivera 0 0-0 0, Hodgin 2 0-2 5, Mileto 4 7-8 18, Powells 6 0-3 12, Purnell 0 0-0 0, Rudd 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-16 44.
Harrison — Cleveland 0 0-0 0, Lester 2 0-0 4, Herrera 5 0-0 12, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Boone 4 1-4 9, Armijo 1 1-2 4, Epperson 0 0-0 0, Humphries 2 0-0 4, Tefft 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 2-6 39.
3-point goals — Mileto 3, Slayton 2, Hodgin; Herrera 2, Armijo. Total fouls — Mesa Ridge 11, Harrison 13. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
