After falling in the title to Valor Christian last season, Evergreen took the disappointment from that loss and turned it into fuel used to post a wire-to-wire 45-35 victory over Pueblo South on Saturday in the Class 4A girls basketball championship at the Denver Coliseum.
The victory gave the Cougars the program’s first state title, making the pain from last season feel like a distant memory.
“Last year I remember how it felt to lose, especially with how close we got,” Evergreen senior Keigan Drysdale said. “This year, we were all on the same page — we didn’t want that to happen again and we were going to win the state title.”
Sophomore Claudia Dillon’s 11 points paced Evergreen, which denied Pueblo South its sixth state championship. The Colts were in contention the whole game but couldn’t ever gain a lead over Evergreen, which dug in down the stretch.
“From our experience in the title last year to being in this position this year, we felt really confident coming in,” Evergreen coach Amy Bahl said. “They played hard, they wanted it and they executed all game long.”
The first eight minutes were back and forth, with two 3-pointers from Pueblo South junior Maya Nelson enabling the Colts to cut down an early Evergreen lead and the Cougars held an 11-10 advantage after one. Then Evergreen (25-3) began to pull away in the second, with Dillon and senior Keigan Drysdale combining for 15 first-half points to give the Cougars momentum heading into the locker room.
Evergreen continued to play disciplined basketball in the second half, crashing the boards on both ends of the floor and employing an effective zone defense in order to fend off the Colts’ comeback attempt.
“We buckled down on defense and made a commitment each time down the floor to get a stop, and I think that’s what won the game for us,” Bahl said. “We also held them from getting easy points and we played hard, because our players knew what was at stake.”
Beyond Dillon and Drysdale, Evergreen’s depth proved to be the difference in a 4A season defined by parity and a number of teams — the Cougars and the Colts included — with ample star power. Junior guard Baylee Galan-Browne also had 11 points, while junior guard Hannah Kennedy and junior guard Meriel Hahn filled in the cracks as needed as for Evergreen, which only graduates one senior.
Evergreen’s zone defense was also effective in containing the Colts (25-3), who had four players averaging double figures coming into the title. Sophomore forward Gabi Lucero (10 points) led Pueblo South.
Following Valor Christian’s two-peat, Evergreen’s title marks the third consecutive year a Jeffco League team won the 4A championship. The Cougars sent Valor Christian home in the Great 8, while fellow Jeffco foe Golden — which twice beat Evergreen this season — lost by three points to Pueblo South in the same round.
GIRLS CLASS 4A ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Claudia Dillon, So., Evergreen (MVP)
Gabi Lucero, So., Pueblo South
Michaela Moran, Jr., Windsor
Abby Garnett, Jr., Golden
Olivia Lough, Jr., Pueblo West
BOX
Evergreen 11 14 8 12 — 45
Pueblo South 10 9 7 9 — 35
Evergreen — Drysdale 3 2-6 8, Schreiber 0 2-4 2, Kennedy 1 1-3 4, Galan-Browne 5 1-2 11, Dillon 4 3-3 11, Hahn 4 1-1 9. Totals 17 10-19 45
Pueblo South — Kochen 0 0-2 0, Nelson, 1 1-2 3, Guarienti 2 0-0 6, Gierhart 1 0-0 3, Austin 3 0-0 9, Leigh 1 2-2 4, Lucero 5 0-0 10. Totals 13 3-6 35
3-pt. goals: Kennedy; Austin 3, Guarienti 2, Gierhart
