Brihanna Crittendon might be Colorado’s newest basketball superhero, but D’Evelyn is headed to the Class 4A Final 4 thanks to its very own Captain Marvel.
As in, junior Peyton Marvel, who dropped a game-high 36 points and 14 rebounds on seventh-seeded Riverdale Ridge to help the No. 2 seed advance out of the Great 8, 54-47, Friday morning at the Denver Coliseum
“I think sometimes, when you hear about — I mean, (Crittendon) is a great player, no doubt,” said Jaguars coach Chris Olson, whose squad improved to 26-0. “But when you hear about it all the time … thatap why I’m so proud of our whole team fighting and fronting and doubling and making it just tough.”
D’Evelyn threw the kitchen sink at Crittendon, the 6-foot-2 freshman who’s one of ESPN and HoopGurlz’ top 25 national prospects for the Class of 2026. The Jaguars bracketed Crittendon in the post — early in the second half with senior forward Gina Gersabeck fronting her — and sagged off at times whenever she set up outside, daring other Ravens players to beat them from outside.
It worked like a charm.
Riverdale Ridge connected on just four of its 24 3-point attempts, while Crittendon was just 1 for 5 from outside during a 28-point performance.
“I mean, she drives, (so) we just gave her space, didn’t let her shoot a lot outside,” D’Evelyn wing Macy Sheer explained. “So, fronting and double-teaming, yeah. I mean, we don’t really want to talk about her, either. But we knew if we just shut her down — that was our main focus.”
Marvel, meanwhile, collected three steals and helped to turn 13 Ravens turnovers into easy buckets or quick fouls.
D’Evelyn went to the free-throw line 24 times to Riverdale Ridge’s nine trips, and converted on 16. Marvel was 15 for 19 from the line, 9 for 11 in the second half, keying a 9-0 scoring run in the game’s final three minutes.
