Evergreen booked a return trip to the Class 4A title game to begin girls basketball Final Four action at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, as the Cougars rode sophomore Claudia Dillon’s 19 points to a 45-29 victory over Pueblo West.
The No. 3-seeded Cougars (24-3), who fell to Valor Christian in the championship last season, takes on No. 1 Pueblo South at 1 p.m. Saturday. Senior Keigan Drysdale also contributed 11 points in a game where Evergreen used a decisive fourth quarter to pull away.
“They key for us was to keep doing what we’ve been doing well all year, which is executing defensively and being patient on offense,” Evergreen coach Amy Bahl said.
And beyond Dillon — who as a freshman showed her potential early and often during last season — Bahl is confident players such as junior Baylee Galan-Browne, sophomore Maclaine Drysdale and junior Kristina Schreiber can step up and complement Dillon on Saturday.
“They’re the reason we’ve done so well. They played a lot of minutes and they were on the bench last year when we made our run, so now it’s their turn to play a lot and to take over in those big moments,” Bahl said.
The No. 2 Cyclones (23-4) were led by 12 points from junior Olivia Lough.
