The goggles that have become such an integral part of Holy Family senior Enyiah Contreraz’s basketball identity were nowhere to be found for the first three quarters of the Class 4A championship game on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
The Tigers went on to win their eighth state title in girls basketball — beating Kent Denver 52-46 — and they did so without the usual contributions from the player they call the “glue” of the program.
Contreraz, still recovering from the broken ankle she suffered on senior night just weeks ago, was again relegated to her prescription black-rimmed glasses and a spot on the bench this postseason. Until the very end, that is.
With 19 seconds remaining, Contreraz checked into the game, donning her hallmark white goggles. She limped onto the court as her fans and teammates rose to their feet in applause.
Gracie Ward even attempted to give Contreraz the game’s final shot, heaving an inbounds pass three-quarters of the court to her as she was standing on the 3-point line. Contreraz caught it but couldn’t get the shot off in time.
“Nothing is taken for granted when you’re with a group of girls you love,” Contreraz said in the midst of a purple and gold celebration. “Just having their support and knowing they’re in my corner for everything, itap just the biggest thing. With all of us together, we’re the best team in 4A.”
It wasn’t the ending Contreraz had envisioned, but she embraced it anyway.
Four seasons ago, Contreraz was the freshman who wouldn’t blink under the bright lights in the 4A championship game, keying a game-altering run that led the Tigers to their seventh title under former coach Ron Rossi.
Though her role had changed for championship No. 8, her team leaned on her all the same.
“She’s the glue to this program,” Tigers coach Mike Quintana said. “We never lost her. Her presence was always felt, and she was a big part of the reason we won today.”
On the court, fellow senior Alexcia Oaxaca fueled the fourth-ranked Tigers’ offense in the finals with an unconscious performance from 3-point range, hitting five 3s on just seven attempts and helping her team build a double-digit lead through three quarters.
With a putback bucket late in the third, Oaxaca extended Holy Family’s lead to 43-28 and immediately pointed to Contreraz.
“We were really playing for her,” Oaxaca said. “She was yelling from the sideline, like, ‘Hey, stay in front of her. Stay on your feet. Hey, you have a mismatch here. Go drive it. Hey, this girl’s open right over here.’”
Oaxaca’s senior season had also been in peril after she tore her meniscus in September. Choosing to remove rather than repair it shortened her recovery time, allowing her to return in January. She suffered a setback after her return but was at her best in the finals.
Oaxaca finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in the win. Priya Lucas added 18 points and seven boards, while Ward, the team’s leading scorer who also missed time with injury this season, had seven points and five assists.
Austin Duncan scored 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting for No. 3 Kent Denver in the loss. Coached by former Highlands Ranch and UConn star Ann Abromaitis — formerly Ann Strother — the Sun Devils reached their first title game in program history.
Duncan gave her team its final lead of the game — 24-23 out of the halftime break — on an acrobatic layup right around a defender. The Tigers, however, countered with a 17-2 run to seize control.
“A lot of people counted us out this year, especially with all the losing streaks and stuff,” Ward said. “But we stuck together through all of it and just grew more and more as a team. You could see it out on the court today — we were playing for each other.”
The Tigers’ eighth state title ties them for second all-time with Mullen in Colorado girls basketball. Eads leads the state with nine but last won it all in 2008.
