Just a thought: Has girls basketball reached the point that it can sustain itself? In other words, is it time to let the girls stand on their own across the board when it comes time for the state basketball tournament?
It’s obviously working in Class 5A and Class 4A. They alternate days with their boys counterparts at the University of Colorado in Boulder, there’s a flow to the play and followers have been loyal.
I would take it a step further — instead of squeezing in four games, as in two sets of semifinals for 5A and 4A on the same day beginning at 4 p.m., which can be difficult for adults to attend, I’d spread it out over another day.
Today’s high-schoolers already receive an amazing amount of time off from school — remember the laughable two days the past month when schools were closed because the temperature was deemed too cold? So what’s another day?
Plus, the 3A-1A fields begin quarterfinals at 8:45 a.m., alternating boys and girls games that always overshoot the 12-hour projection (1 1/2 hours allotted per game). Great 8 games tip off before 9 a.m.? Please. This shouldn’t be treated like pickup games on the weekend.
Fact is, girls sports didn’t receive sanctioning until the mid-1970s and competitors have been asked to develop at a highly accelerated rate. And they have.
In watching them play for 31 years, it’s my opinion that they’re more than ready to do their own thing and have some respect thrown their way. They have earned it.
Come on down.
Lisa Cunningham- Austin, the Colorado High School Activities Association assistant heavily involved behind the scenes in making the state tournament go, was on “Price is Right.”
In 1989, when Cunningham-Austin was in the show’s audience with a group, her name was called.
“It was exciting,” she said.
And it got better. Cunningham- Austin ended up winning a bid on fireplace gear and earned a couple of hundred dollars in her game on the big stage standing next to Bob Barker and among his beauties. As a result, she spun the big wheel to advance to the show-ending showcase. The thing was, she didn’t manage to spin the heavy wheel all the way around, which is required, and had to try again.
“It was embarrassing,” Cunningham-Austin said of an audience that always lets offenders hear about it.
She never made one of the two showcase spots, but she has video of her appearance “and it’s something I can look back on and smile.”
Footnotes.
On one side of the Class 3A girls basketball bracket are Holy Family, The Pinnacle, Bishop Machebeuf and Jefferson Academy. The other side has Pagosa Springs, Estes Park, Rifle and Eaton. For those of you keeping track, and I know you are, it’s private (or charter, in the case of The Pinnacle and Jefferson Academy) schools on one side and traditional public schools on the other. . . .
It’s not all about the same teams in Class 5A boys. Two of the final four programs haven’t won a title. Arapahoe and Highlands Ranch are looking for their first championship. This hadn’t occurred since 2006, when Mullen outlasted an all-Centennial League group (including Grandview and Smoky Hill, which have yet to win a title). . . .
Most improved player? It may be Regis Jesuit’s Ryan Winters, a 6-foot-7 forward who won’t win any 3-point contests — he has made none — but has fortified his ball handling, driving to the basket and finishing around the rim. He’s reliable at the free-throw line, defends and rebounds. The son of former NBA star Brian Winters will play at Elon (N.C.) University.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
