Palmer Ridge girls basketball getting itself battle-tested

MONUMENT – Getting a chance to compete against a team like Mullen is a risky proposition. But the Palmer Ridge girls basketball team had its reasons.

After all, the team believes it’s good. As in top 10 good. But they’re not going to talk the talk if they’re not willing to walk the walk. So when the chance to get Mullen on the schedule presented itself, the Bears jumped at the chance.

The Class 4A No. 10 Mustangs won the game 66-38 but the value of playing against Mullen will pay out its dividends come playoff time.

“The point of taking that game was that we felt like we had a pretty strong team and we wanted to see if we really did,” coach Jason Boyer said. “If we fared well, we knew we were on the right track and if we didn’t fare well, we’d know what we had to fix.”

Since then, the Bears (11-5 overall, 4-2 5A/4A Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) have done everything they can to fix the shortcomings they found in that game. They have a standout scorer in Mia Womack who averages 18 points per game, but it’s the team effort overall that has the team firing on all cylinders.

“We’re a really dynamic team,” junior guard Natali Volk said. “(Womack) is a really great shooter from the outside. Having that and being able to rely on girls inside for rebounding and stuff like that is good.”

Womack has taken on the task of helping the Bears keep pace with some tough opponents. She scored 26 points in a one-point win over The Classical Academy, a season-high 31 in a win over Fountain-Fort Carson and 24 points in a three-point loss to 5A No. 10 Doherty.
 

Her scoring ability is just one small piece of her skillset. She’s not afraid to take shots early, but it’s her intensity on the defensive side of the ball that really sets the tone for Palmer Ridge.

“I think defense is more important to set the tone early,” Womack said. “The offense will obviously come because of that defense. I think the defense is more important to winning games and championships.”

Championships are obviously the goal. Taking on games such as Mullen helps in that quest, even if the Bears didn’t come out on the winning of end of that game. Getting to the playoffs is the first step of that mission and now battling through the gauntlet of the PPAC, this is a team that feels like it will be battle-tested when the 4A state tournament begins next month.

“(Playing in the PPAC) is one of those double-edged swords,” Boyer said. “We welcome it because we know it will prepare us for late February and hopefully March.”

What it boils down to is that every night will be a test for the Bears between now and when the regular season ends. They’ve suffered losses to Doherty and Pine Creek and still have Liberty and Air Academy on the schedule next week.

Those are games that in their minds are winnable, but only if they work. And win or lose, those games will also help prepare them for the postseason.

“It makes us play better and more aggressively,” Womack said. “We’ll know what our strengths are and where we’re not the best so we can get back to practice and work on getting better.”