3A girls basketball semifinals: Platte Valley, University advance to title game

The Class 3A state basketball tournament continued Friday evening at the University of Denver. The Final Four tipped off in the evening, starting with the University Bulldogs and The Vanguard School Coursers. Later in the evening saw the Platte Valley Broncos and the Grand Valley Cardinals face off.

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(1) Platte Valley 52, (4) Grand Valley 33

The Platte Valley Broncos came into this season as the team to beat, trying to capture a second consecutive state title. Their season will see another chance to win the title this weekend after Friday’s 52-33 win in the Final Four.

“It feels amazing,” Platte Valley’s Bree Bunting said. “We’ve put in so much hard work and preparation during practices and games. It feels amazing to be here.”

Bunting hit a few shots inside early to help her get nine points in the first quarter. Behind her scoring and the team’s stifling defense that forced multiple turnovers, they were able to jump out to a 9-0 run and even saw an 11-point lead in the first quarter.

What looked like a convincing win suddenly changed in the second quarter. Grand Valley responded to the challenge, doing its part to take care of the ball and run the offense. When they did, they saw AbbeyRose Parker and Jaycee Pittman hit some shots and free throws to cut into the lead. The Broncos suddenly saw themselves only up by one point until Bunting drained a 3-point shot at the buzzer going into halftime.

It was more than enough motivation to get back on track.

Platte Valley went on another scoring run to start the second half, this time scoring the first 11 points to push the lead to 38-22. The defense also got back on track, holding Grand Valley to just four points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth to sustain their double-digit margin the rest of the night.

“We needed to focus up on our defense and to try and shut them down, and then always transitioning up the court,” Bunting said.

Bunting led the Broncos with 23 points in the win while Andi Schissler had 12 and Brooke Bunting scored 10. Grand Valley saw Parker score 16 to lead the team.

The win was Platte Valley’s 39^th straight win dating back to last season and has been something this group has seen playing together from an early start in their careers.

“Since we were little, we’ve played on a club team together,” Bunting said. “It’s so fun to see our growth throughout few years and still be able to play with the same people and have as much fun.”

The Broncos were able to beat University in the regular season and the Patriot League Tournament back in February. Now, they will try to do it one more time to repeat as state champions.

“We have to play hard and outwork them every single play,” Bunting said. “If we shut them down defensively, our offense will flow as well.”

(2) University 52, (3) The Vanguard School 37

University reached the Final Four in 2020 before bowing out in last year’s tournament. This time, the team was able to take the next step, winning 52-37 over the Vanguard School to advance to the title game.

“This group of girls has worked extremely hard for several years, and they have kind of been on the cusp,” University coach Matt Baumgartner said. “Getting over that hump is great for this group.”

Post player Addison Harding got into early foul trouble, so University relied on guard Taryn Kravig to pick up the offensive load. She hit three shots from behind the arc in the first half and led the team with 16 points as the Bulldogs took a slim 26-22 lead. She would go on to lead all scorers with 26 while fellow guard Emry Trujillo added 10.

Harding saw more time on the floor in the second half, and the team worked to get her the ball in the post to produce six of her eight points.

“We’re very blessed with having some post players that can do some damage inside, and we also have some girls that can shoot the ball really well,” Baumgartner said. “When we can get both rolling, it’s a lot of fun. Sometimes we have to feed off one to get the other going, but it’s definitely something we like to do.”

The lead grew in the second half with a pair of small runs to get the lead out to double figures early. The Vanguard School were also forced to play without guard Juliana Garcia in the second half after going down with an injury in the second quarter.

Hailey Blanchard worked as the primary scoring option for The Vanguard School and led the team with 17 points. Her efforts helped the team cut the deficit to single digits a couple of times before University pulled away.

The Bulldogs hope to grind out one more win on Saturday versus a familiar league foe.

“We just have to play together,” Baumgartner said. “We need to play aggressive. If we do those two things, we should be able to be competitive.”