During Pueblo South’s 4-7 start to the season, the Colts didn’t necessarily look like the championship-caliber team that Steel City locals have come to expect out of coach Shannan Lane’s program.
But as Lane even joked then, she simply had to keep the faith that a veteran core from last season’s state runner-up team was going to find its identity — “it’s like George Costanza’s dad in that Seinfeld episode — I’m repeating ‘serenity now, serenity now’,” she said in December.
And while Lane may not have achieved serenity in Thursday’s chaotic Class 4A Final Four battle against gritty Mesa Ridge, the Colts (18-9) did will themselves back into the title game with a 74-62 overtime victory over the Grizzlies (23-4, Colorado Springs Metro League champions) at the Denver Coliseum.
Mesa Ridge looked like it had the No. 12 Colts beat late in the fourth after senior point guard Chloe Welch, who finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds, hit a layup to put the Grizzlies up one with under thirty seconds to play.
The Colts then missed a runner in the lane with less than ten ticks left on the following possession that would’ve put them ahead.
But after a foul, and then an askew second free throw, Pueblo South guard Maya Austin took the rebound and sprinted up the floor to put home a running layup as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime tied at 59.
From there, the Colts dominated the extra frame to set up the championship rematch on Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 6 Evergreen. Austin had a game-high 34 points in a contest that featured nine lead changes.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 8-0 lead to open the first, prompting Pueblo South coach Shannan Lane to call timeout to reset her team. Whatever she said worked, as the Colts had cut the deficit to two, 20-18, by the end of the quarter.
The second was just as evenly played, with each team pouring in a dozen points as the Grizzlies took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
Mesa Ridge took a slight advantage towards the end of the third and it looked like the Grizzlies might finally have some breathing room before Austin hit back-to-back buckets to cut the score to 42-41 entering the fourth.
Inside, the battle between the centers became more and more crucial as the game wore on, with the Colts’ Gabi Lucero (22 points) pitted against the rotation of Mesa Ridge’s Kylie Lenberg and Ashley Bowen, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Additionally, it became increasingly clear the Grizzlies were pinning their title hopes upon Welch down the stretch, and that faith was not misplaced as the Davidson commit netted nearly every crucial basket in a painful ending to another successful campaign for coach Jeff Beatty, who finished with his eighth 20-win season in the last decade.
The game was a rematch from the season opener on Nov. 30, a 67-48 victory by Mesa Ridge.
