1A girls Final 4 roundup: Sangre de Cristo plays basketball with style
LOVELAND — The Sangre de Cristo girls basketball team has a trademark style. The Thunderbirds boast lavish black and royal blue uniforms. Nearly the whole team wears headbands. They love fist pumps. Oh, and they embrace winning. So much so that they are in the 1A state finals after a 60-48 Final 4 victory over previously undefeated Kit Carson (23-1) at the Budweiser Events Center.
In a back-and-forth tussle from tip-off, the Thunderbirds spread their wings in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 25-14 and sealing their first championship appearance since 1986. Sangre coach Brady Stagner, whose team lost in the 2A consolation finals two seasons ago, enjoyed the experience of the semifinals, but obviously enjoyed the victory even more.
“I’m just relieved to be out of that, because that was a pressure game,” Stagner said. “From tip-off to buzzer, it was just full of pressure. I just loved the whole atmosphere. I thought it was a great high school basketball game.”
While Kit Carson had their talented sister tandem of Micayla (16 points) and Aurelia Isenbart (13) on full display, the Thunderbirds were the superior team with every player making contributions.
“We wore them down,” Stagner said. “We knew we had to wear them down. Those two big girls are as good as it gets. We worked hard to keep the pressure on them all night. Then, we hit free throws.”
The coach’s daughter, Abbey, a 5-foot-11 forward, gave Sangre juice when they needed it with several and one opportunities, 15 big points in the paint, and a number of life giving fist pumps.
“We had a team that came through big,” Stagner said. “Did she play big? Yeah, she played big, but so did Allie, so did Heather, so did Jenna, every one of them out there. We aren’t the most talented team, but we work hard as a team. That’s what’s gotten us here.”
Allie Beiriger (16 points), Karleigh Cooley (13), and Jessica Berlinger (9) all provided balance to a Thunderbird offensive attack with five girls averaging at least 8.2 points this season.
Sangre de Cristo (24-1) will be making their fourth appearance in the state finals. They won back-to-back crowns in 1984 (A-1 division) and 1985 (A-II) before losing 48-46 to Deer Trail (A-II) in 1986. The Thunderbirds face off against No. 4 seed Idalia (20-2) at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in the title game.
“We have a lot of mental toughness built up from the season,” Abbey Stagner said. “We’ve been looking forward to this since we were third graders.”
(4) Idalia 58 (8) Flagler 26
The Wolves ended Flagler’s state championship dreams with a smothering at the defensive end of the floor as the Panthers’ leading scorer, Hailey Allison, only had 7 points. Flagler upset No. 1 seed Norwood on a wild buzzer beating three-pointer by Alexis Schults in overtime on Thursday, but Schults sat out with an injury against Idalia.
The Wolves took advantage by blowing the Panthers out from the opening tip and sealing their first state championship appearance in program history. Susana Herrera led Idalia with 15 points and Denise Cano chipped in 10 in the Final 4 win.
