Chatfield girls use balance to down rival Dakota Ridge

LITTLETON — Chatfield girls basketball coach Jordan Laczkowski knows how important the rivalry is with Dakota Ridge.

“It’s my first varsity (coaching) against Dakota Ridge, so it was huge,” Laczkowski said after the Chargers’ 54-35 victory.

The Chatfield graduate who took over the head coaching duties for the Chargers this season got her first coaching victory over the rival Eagles on Friday night at Dakota Ridge High School.

The Chargers (2-1 record) trailed early with Dakota Ridge senior Grace Murtagh getting the first basket. However, Chatfield used a 7-0 run that was spearheaded by pressure defense that led to some transition layups to give the Chargers the lead that they would surrender.

“It is super rewarding when we are working so hard on defense and then get those easy offensive looks,” Chatfield sophomore Jaden Lodice said.

Chatfield led 20-11 at halftime. The Chargers extended the lead to 32-19 through three quarters and had nine different players score in the victory.

Junior Audrey Hubbell led the way with 11 points. Lodice finished with 10 points.

“I’ve got 11 kids that I trust on the floor 100 percent,” Laczkowski said of her team’s depth. “We’ve got a strong young group.”

Strong defense against Dakota Ridge’s floor general — junior Maryn Talyat — was a big reason how the Chargers were able to hold Dakota Ridge to under 40 points for the second time this season.

“We didn’t want to find out if she (Talyat) was a 20-point scorer,” Laczkowski said of Chatfield focusing on Talyat. “We heavily denied her and it worked in our favor.”

Talyat finished with a team-high 9 points, all in the second half. Junior Hannah Galbreath and senior Mia Boser both pitched in 7 points each for the Eagles (2-3)

Chatfield sophomores Sophia Lachenmayer and Josie Lynch both sank a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Chargers.

The varsity girls game got a bit of a late start due to the junior varsity boys game going long. Dakota Ridge and Chatfield ended up going double-overtime with the Chargers sending the game into overtime with nearly a half-court shot at the buzzer.

“It definitely got us pumped up. We were all into the JV (boys) game,” Lodice said of watching Dakota Ridge eventually taking a 70-67 victory in double-overtime. “That helped us get pumped up for our game and get ready to beat them.”

Chatfield returns home to face Rock Canyon next Tuesday.

Dakota Ridge hosts it other area rival in Columbine next week. The Eagles face off against the Rebels in the first game of another girls/boys varsity doubleheader that begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13.