On Saturday at the Denver Coliseum, two of the best girls basketball players in the country will go head-to-head in the Class 5A championship game.
Grandview 6-foot-7 senior Lauren Betts, the top-rated player nationally in the Class of 2022, takes on Valor Christian 6-foot-3 senior Reagan Beers, who is ranked as 2022’s 10th-best prospect. Betts is signed to Stanford and Beers to Oregon State, and the matchup is believed to be the first showdown between a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans in a Colorado girls title game.
Betts, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, is averaging 17.1 points and 10.8 rebounds. In the Wolves’ semifinal win over Highlands Ranch, Betts posted a game-high 22 points along 18 rebounds. She was virtually unstoppable in the paint, especially when paired with her highly-touted younger sister, 6-foot-3 freshman small forward Sienna Betts.
Beers also stole the show in Thursday’s Final Four, with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds in Valor Christian’s wire-to-wire win over Arapahoe. Beers is averaging 19.8 points and 13.2 rebounds heading into Saturday’s collision course with Betts.
“I’m looking forward to it so much. Lauren Betts has been my biggest competitor since day one and seventh grade when we started,” Beers said. “I’ve loved getting to play against her. Itap made me better, and hopefully, I’ve made her better. I’m just excited to play against her one last time before we head off to college.”
The two faced off earlier this season, with Betts and Grandview beating Beers and the Eagles 59-52 on Jan. 8 in Aurora. Both players somewhat neutralized each other in that game, with Betts posting 10 points and 12 rebounds while Beers had 12 points and six rebounds.
Both highly-acclaimed players have yet to play in, and win, a state championship. After Betts and Grandview were upset by Regis Jesuit in last year’s Final Four, Valor Christian dispatched of the Raiders in the championship in Colorado Springs, 67-52, to earn the program’s first Class 5A crown. But Beers, who was sidelined with a knee injury, didn’t play in that game or all of last season.
Meanwhile, Betts has endured a couple rounds of heartbreak in the title game. As a freshman, Cherry Creek’s Jana Van Gytenbeek — who will be Betts’ teammate in Palo Alto — hit a last-second shot over Betts’ outstretched arm to lift the Bruins to a 51-49 win over Grandview in the title game. The two teams were set up for a championship rematch the next year, but the game was canceled due to the pandemic.
To top off the mojo heading into the matchup, Grandview beat Valor Christian in the playoffs in Betts/Beers’ freshman and sophomore years. Beers outscored Betts 24-5 in their Great 8 matchup in 2019, and Betts outscored Beers the next year in the Final Four, 21-14.
Saturday’s tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
