Defense leads Arvada West girls hoops to win over Broomfield

ARVADA — The single-digit temperatures outside carried into Arvada West High School’s gym Tuesday night.

The No. 24-seeded Arvada West Wildcats held No. 41 Broomfield to single-digit points in every quarter of the first-round Class 5A girls basketball state tournament game. A-West grabbed its first home playoff victory in more than a decade.

“I think our team is very skilled defensively and that is where it always starts,” A-West senior Amanda Neff said after the 46-22 win over Broomfield. “Once you get that juice going on the defense then everything will come on offense.”

The Wildcats held a 15-10 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter after Broomfield junior Mary Kreiger scored on the first possession of the quarter. It would be the last Eagle point for nearly 13 minutes of play as Broomfield’s shooting went ice cold.

A-West (16-7 record) went on a 19-0 run to eventually grab a comfortable 34-10 lead until Broomfield junior Nina Lucas finally ended the scoring drought for the Eagles with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

“For me I wasn’t as nervous this year because I know the roster we have this year is full of a bunch of talent,” A-West senior Jasmyn Williams said about the playoff opener. “We had a lot of confidence this year.”

A-West entered the postseason on a 3-game losing streak. The Wildcats dropped 5A Jeffco League games to Columbine, Valor Christian and Chatfield over the span of eight days. The string of defeats dropped A-West to fifth in the conference standings.

“With the three losses we still brought it hard in practice,” Williams said of the skid to end the regular season. “No matter the outcome I know this group is going to fight back. All of us have the want that I feel hasn’t always been there in past years. With all of us wanting it, it came out to this outcome.”

Neff was huge on both ends of the court in her final game at home. The senior forward finished with a game-high 15 points.

“I kind of had the idea in my head playing my last game (at home) I wanted to come out strong,” Neff said of her scoring six points early in the opening minutes of the game. “I wanted to be a leader for the team. I’ve had a few games this season where I’ve been on and off. This game I wanted to be a strong scorer and leader.”

Broomfield (8-16) finally started hitting some shots cutting A-West’s lead to 18 points, but Neff slammed the door with a long jumper and 3-pointer a minute apart early in the fourth quarter to push the Wildcats’ lead back up to 43-22.

“Amanda hit a couple of really big shots when we were cold,” Meeks said.

Williams had a strong game with 11 points. The A-West point guard was able to help spread the ball around with eight different players scoring. Junior Ellie Pugliese added 10 points for the Wildcats.

“We have four great seniors, but those two are our leaders and captains for a reason,” Meeks said of Neff and Williams. “We are going to miss them. To get them a home playoff game and a home playoff win is a far cry from where we were when they first got here. I’m happy for them.”

A-West moves onto the second round to face Regis Jesuit at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25. The Raiders received a first-round bye being a top-16 seed.

“I think its a good opportunity to go in as the underdog,” Neff said of facing No. 9-seeded Regis. “We’ll try to prove people wrong and show people what we can do. I’m excited. We’ll go in there with nothing to lose.”

Meeks knows it will be a tall order for the Wildcats, but not impossible. Regis (14-8) actually had a pair of 3-game losing streaks this season and did lose to 5A Jeffco’s Ralston Valley early in the season.

“I’ve got to go in and basically play a perfect game,” Meeks said going up against Regis. “We know that, but the girls should go out and play with complete freedom. Go out there and have fun.”