2A girls basketball: Here’s what happened in the Great 8

LOVELAND – A year after losing in the semifinals of the Class 2A girls state basketball tournament, top-seeded Sanford is back in the Final 4 after a convincing quarterfinal victory. 

Sanford defeated No. 8 Wiggins 49-30 Thursday night at the Budweiser Events Center, capping off a busy day of action to set up today’s semifinals. The Indians will meet undefeated No. 4 seed Rye for a berth in the championship game. 

“I expected Wiggins to put up a good fight and they did,” Sanford head coach Keith Caldon said. “They are a good team. We talk about chopping wood and carrying water, doing the little things every possession, evey time and we can come away with a good win. That is what happened tonight.”

Wiggins (15-10) kept the game close for the first few minutes, but leading 7-6, the Indians closed the first quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

The second quarter was more of the same as the Indians tacked on to their lead by outsourcing Wiggins 13-8 to lead 27-14 at halftime. 

Sanford (24-1) scored more points from the free-throw line (8) than it did from the field (5) in the second period. 

“We were just coming in focusing on our defense and ready just to play as hard as we could and put all the hard work we put into fruition,” senior Cheyenne Caldon said. “We didn’t really look ahead one way or another. Obviously, we thought we were going to win.”

Defense proved to be a big part of the Indians’ game play – as it has been all year. Twice this season, they held an opponent to five points or fewer. 

Thursday night, they didn’t allow Wiggins to score more than 10 in any quarter. Sanford outscored Wiggins 14-6 in the third quarter to take a 41-20 lead and then only allowed 10 points in the fourth period. 

“We put a lot of effort on defense,” coach Caldon said. “We try to play off our defense and we have been able to do that. Defense leads to our offense, but we have players that can hit from all around. That’s the formula, I guess.”

Cheyenne Caldon led the Indians with 14 points. Asia Caldon added 12 and Haley Faucette 11. 

Now Sanford, with only one loss this season will look to hand Rye its first defeat and move on to the championship game in the process.”

“We have confidence,” Cheyenne Caldon said. “We respect everyone, but we obviously know the hard work that we’ve put in and we are excited for that.”

Wiggins was led in scoring by Kennedy Kerr with nine points. 

No. 4 Rye 50, No. 5 Cedaredge 33

Rye kept its undefeated season alive by taking control early, cruising to a 17-point victory over Cedaredge. 

With the win, Rye improved to 25-0 while Cedaredge finished its season at 20-4. 

The Thunderbolts jumped out to a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 26-14 at halftime. That lead was extended to 39-22 after three periods. Each team scored 11 points in the final quarter. 

Rye was led by senior Sydney Adamson, who had a game-high 19 points and sophomore Jordan Holgerson-Rahl, who had 17. Rye is in the final four for the second straight year. 

Megan Jenkins had 10 points for Cedaredge. 

No. 2 Holyoke 33, No. 7 Dayspring Christian 30

In danger of becoming the first upset casualty of the weekend, Holyoke outscored Dayspring Christian 8-2 in the fourth quarter to stay alive. 

Dayspring Christian led 12-2 after the first quarter and 16-10 at halftime. Holyoke began to cut into that lead with a 15-12 advantage in the third quarter before taking the lead in the final minutes. 

Holyoke improved to 23-1 while Dayspring Christian ended its season at 18-7. 

Kristin Vieselmeyer had a game-high 17 points for Holyoke, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free-throw line. 

Aliyah McClanaton led Dayspring Christian with 14. 

No. 3 Limon 45, No. 6 Peyton 27

Defending state champion Limon kept its repeat aspirations alive with an 18-point victory over Peyton. 

Limon improved to 23-2 and will face Holyoke in the semifinals. Peyton finished its season at 18-6. 

Peyton kept the game close for the first two quarters, tailing 9-5 after one quarter and 14-11 after two. But Limon began to pull away in the third. 

Limon outscored Peyton 16-10 in the third and 15-6 in the fourth. 

Trista Marx led Limon with 16 points, all in the second half. Eight different Limon players scored in the contest. 

AJ Mannering scored 12 and Abbie Nickell 11 for Peyton, which only had three players score points.