BOULDER — A new year netted a different result for the Valor Christian girls basketball team.
In the Eagles’ second consecutive 4A state semifinal appearance, seniors Kendall Bradbury and Caroline Bryan combined for 53 points to lead Valor to an 87-64 win over Pueblo West on Thursday at the Coors Events Center.
Bradbury scored 28 points and Bryan added 25 and grabbed nine rebounds in a game in which the Eagles led from start to finish.
“They work so well off of one another,” Valor coach Jessika Caldwell said. “We really had them play the two post positions for us in our offense and that means that on every reversal, one’s up and one’s down, so pick your poison.”
The victory gives Valor a ticket to its first-ever girls basketball final.
“We’ve been here before,” Bradbury said. “I think it takes a year to get used to what it’s like playing here. I think we all came out and played hard and played how coach asked us to play.”
Pueblo West was unable to find an answer to stop the two seniors, who combined on 19-of-29 shooting from the field and 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.
“We played together since freshman year,” Bryan said. “We’ve gone through four years together, we’ve gone through the ups and downs together, so I think we have great chemistry on and off the court.”
University of Denver-bound Haley Simental had 23 points in a losing effort for Pueblo West. Shannon Sanchez added 19.
“We wanted to know everything about that girl (Simental), we wanted to know what toothpaste she used and what she had for dinner this evening,” Bryan said. “We wanted to stay so tight up on her, we wanted to contain her because she’s an awesome player.”
Joe Nguyen: jnguyen@denverpost.com or
(2) Valor Christian: 27 17 23 20 — 87
(1) Pueblo West: 13 22 8 21 — 64
Valor Christian — McCoy 2-3 2-2 7, Gibson 3-6 5-6 11, Roth 2-8 0-0 4, Bryan 10-16 4-4 25, Bradbury 9-13 9-10 28, Hammond 3-5 2-2 10, Rose 1-1 0-0 2, Altman 0-0 0-0 0, Newland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-52 22-24 87.
Pueblo West — Simental 7-15 5-5 23, Moore 0-3 0-0 0, DeVille 1-5 0-0 2, Sanchez 7-10 2-2 19, Peterson 1-5 0-0 2, Gridley 0-0 0-0 0, Loutine 0-0 0-0 0, Leyva 0-1 0-1 0, Lough 2-8 0-0 4, Geier 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 23-53 10-12 64.
3-pt. goals — V: Hammond 2, Bradbury, Bryan, McCoy; PW: Simental 4, Sanchez 3, DeVille. Fouled out — None.
