LOVELAND – The Flatirons Academy Bison are back-to-back 1A girls basketball champions.
 
With a highly intense 52-43 victory over Briggsdale Saturday night, the Bison won their second consecutive title. The final score was no indication of how the game went, though, as there were scoring flourishes and lead changes all throughout.
 
“This is an incredible feeling, I’m not going to lie,” Flatirons head coach Mike Durrill exclaimed. “Briggsdale is an amazing team and they’re really well coached and they have some incredible players. To be on the same floor as them and come out on top, it’s awesome. Either team could have won.”
 
The title game was a rematch between the two teams from earlier this season, as Briggsdale defeated Flatirons Academy, 60-46, in a non-league battle back on Dec. 17.
 
“(Briggsdale’s) Kylie and Jenna are incredible drivers and finishers, so we took a page out of their book and blocked the paint a little bit to stymie them some,” Durrill said. “We also changed up some looks offensively that they had to figure out a little bit.”
 
Flatirons post Emma Cox controlled the paint all game, on her way to a stellar 20-point output. Right behind her was Kenlee Durrill, who finished in double figures with 13.
 
“To win back-to-back is amazing,” Cox said. “We were blessed with this opportunity to have a great team, great coaches, and great fans. It just all came together and it was just a great season.”
 
For Briggsdale, who finished state runner-up for the third time in program history, this marked their first defeat in an otherwise amazing 24-1 campaign. Emily Johnson led the way offensively with 10 points, but it was a balanced Falcon attack with seven players contributing points.
 
The start of the game was a defensive struggle, as the first points came from Briggsdale at 6:23, followed by Bison first points right after to keep it 2-2 into the five-minute mark. The Falcons got a free throw, steal, and layup to make it 5-2 at the midway point of the quarter.
 
A Nicklas three pointer upped the lead to 8-2, before Flatirons broke their scoring drought to put it at 8-4. Down the stretch of the first, Flatrions outscored Briggsdale by two, making it a tight 11-9 game after one.
 
The second quarter started off as a three-point shooting contest, as both teams hit a pair to make it 17-15, before Flatirons got a layup to tie the game at 17-all. Noelani Book then hit a three for the Bison, giving them a three-point advantage, 20-17, just under three minutes played in the second.
 
Both teams began to trade buckets after that, keeping it a one score game with three lead changes, before Briggsdale took a 30-28 lead into the half.
 
The Falcons scored the first three points of the second half, to take a five-point lead, but Flatirons responded with four of their own to get back to within one, 33-32, at the midway point of the third. They went on to take a 34-33 lead at the 2:30 mark and maintained it at 41-38 into the fourth. It would have been 41-35, if not for a half court buzzer beater by Jenna Krise.
 
Defense remained the name of the game in the fourth, as the first bucket didn’t come until a Briggsdale layup with just under two minutes gone. The Falcons got another bucket at the five-minute mark to re-take a 42-41 lead.
 
Following a timeout, Flatirons answered back with a layup to get the lead back, 43-42. They upped it to 45-42 on the next possession, and that advantage held into the final minute of play. There, Cox got layup to up the lead to 47-42, and following a Briggsdale missed free throw, got another breakaway layup to put the game away.
 
“I was just trying to do whatever it took to win the game, and that bucket pales in comparison to the ones my teammates had before,” Cox added. “I just happened to have it late in the game.”
 
Flatirons shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon as well, as the team has no seniors on the roster.
 
“We’re exciting about next season,” coach Durrill stated. “But we will enjoy this one for now”