5A girls basketball Great 8 roundup: Ralston Valley reaches first Final 4

Ralston Valley Broomfield girls basketball generic

(2) Ralston Valley 74, (1) Broomfield 58

DENVER — The defending 5A girls basketball champions will not go for back-to-back crowns.

What started as a close battle turned into a comfortable win as Ralston Valley topped Broomfield 74-58 to secure a first ever Final 4 berth for the Mustangs.

“It’s my 13th year and we’ve been to four Great 8s,” Mustangs coach Jeff Gomer said. “This is the first time we’ve made it to the Final 4.”

Ralston Valley went into halftime nursing a five-point lead and then exploded out of the game in the third quarter. Ashley Van Sickle scored 11 of her team-high 22 points in that quarter as the Mustangs jumped out to a staggering 56-32 lead after three.

“We just kept going with it and kept knocking down shots,” Van Sickle said. “Our confidence kept growing and we just kept it going.”

But the Eagles fought as hard as they could, closing that gap to 11. Brenna Chase put the Eagles on her back in the quarter and scored 15 points in the final eight minutes.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Brenna’s a great player,” Van Sickle said. “We just kept hitting threes and our other girls kept stepping on the court.”

The Mustangs now move on to Boulder where they will face Highlands Ranch in the semifinals. It will be the first meeting between the two teams this high school season. But they did face off in games that took place over the summer.

“We played Highlands Ranch this summer and in the fall,” Gomer said. “We’re going to have to be a little physical because they are really physical.”

The @HS_MUSTANGS celebrate reaching their first ever girls hoops Final 4 after winning in the 5A Great 8 #copreps pic.twitter.com/VxXeTUISri

— CHSAA (@CHSAA) March 5, 2016

(1) Highlands Ranch 65, (2) Horizon 35

Highlands Ranch Horizon girls basketball

At the end of the night, experience may have been the real difference between Highlands Ranch and Horizon.

The Falcons boast three seniors that have all been a part of playoff runs and made it to the Class 5A Final 4 in 2013. Horizon doesn’t have a single senior on its roster, and rosters only three total upperclassmen.

So while Highlands Ranch coming away with a 65-35 win Friday at the Denver Coliseum may not have been a surprise, it certainly wasn’t a guarantee.

The Falcons (25-1 overall) got off to a quick start and look a 13-point lead into the half. But something happened as both teams came out in the second half, the Hawks (20-6) stopped playing scared and just started playing.

Horizon cut what seemed like an insurmountable lead to five points late in the third quarter. A big chunk of that comeback was thanks to Kylie Jimenez, who shot lights out from beyond the 3-point line.

But there is a reason why the Falcons held on to the top spot in the CHSAANow.com rankings for most of the season. Senior Bri Stiers helped the Falcons go on a 29-5 run to help them pull away in the fourth quarter. Stiers finished with a game-high 20 points on the night.

“It was a little bit of a shock and we knew we couldn’t let them make that run and let them take that game from us,” Stiers said. “I know we deserved this game.”

She got help from sophomore Leilah Vigil who added 16 to the effort.

But it was the work on the offensive glass Highlands Ranch coach Caryn Jarocki was most proud of. The Falcons pulled down 34 offensive boards against the Hawks.

“The rebounding was outstanding,” she said.

But she wasn’t happy with the way her team shot the ball from long range.

“We might want to move in a little closer,” she said. “Going 8-24 from the 3-point line is bad.”

(2) ThunderRidge 56, (1) Lakewood 37

A season after finishing as the Class 5A runner-up in girls basketball, the ThunderRidge Grizzlies (23-3) punched their ticket to another Final 4 with a 56-37 victory over Lakewood (21-5).

ThunderRidge led 14-13 after the first quarter, but a 30-14 advantage in the second and third frames allowed the Grizzlies to pull away for good. Initially though, the Continental League powerhouse had to adjust to the unorthodox shooting background and big-game atmosphere.

“It’s hard to play at the Coliseum,” senior wing Taylor Rusk said. “You’re kind of starstruck. I think we just needed to take a deep breath and realize it’s just a game and to start playing together.”

Rusk (21 points) and senior forward Jaz’myne Snipes (12 points, 10 rebounds), the team’s top scorers on the season, did much of their work operating in the paint, creating second chance opportunities and good looks. The Grizzlies had advantages over the Tigers in points off turnovers (18-4), second chance opportunities (15-3), and total rebounds (34-23).

ThunderRidge advances to play the winner of Grandview-Cherry Creek, the last quarterfinal contest of the evening at 8:30 p.m. The Grizzlies have won three state championships in girls basketball, but haven’t claimed the Gold Ball since the last of a trio of titles in 2005.

“We expect to be there, but we know how hard it is,” ThunderRidge coach Matt Asik said. “It’s just about the hard work and that it pays off.”

“Right now we’re just playing really well together and we’re peaking at the right time,” Rusk added.

Lakewood, a co-champion of the Jeffco with Ralston Valley, was led by Mackenzie Forrest’s 13 points.

(1) Grandview 58, (3) Cherry Creek 47

Grandview used superior team speed to press, trap, and push the pace in transition, running over Centennial League rival Cherry Creek 58-47 and sealing a spot in next week’s Final 4.

Performing, in stretches, like the 26-0 team they are, Grandview’s Michaela Onyenwere and Alisha Davis combined for 39 points and led a defensive smothering of the Bruins, a team they defeated three times this season.

They continued the blowout theme of the day as no losing teams got closer than 11.

At one point in the third, Cherry Creek only led Onyenwere by a margin of 24-21, and the 6-foot junior finished with a game-high 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. The Wolves also shot 44 percent from the field, compared to just under 29 percent for the Bruins.

Grandview, the Centennial League champion, moves on to face ThunderRidge (23-3) in the 5A semifinals on Thursday at the Coors Events Center in Boulder. They defeated the Grizzlies 59-51 in January. They also knocked out Douglas County 77-29 and Fairview 81-31 earlier in the playoffs.

Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky walked away proud of the fact his girls are in the semifinals, but also knowing they can play better.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Ulitzky admitted. “Congratulations to Cherry Creek. They did a great job. It’s a great accomplishment, but I feel like we can play better.

“I think we need to execute better on offense, rebound better, and take care of the ball. We have a lot to continue to improve on, but it’s great to have that opportunity.”