6A girls basketball semifinals: Monarch, Grandview, set for championship matchup
By Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado
Photo: Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado
After two super-close semifinal contests Friday at the Denver Coliseum, 11th-seeded Grandview and fourth-seeded Monarch advanced to Saturday’s 6A girls basketball state championship game.
(11) Grandview 31, (2) Cherry Creek 28
Centennial League rivals Grandview and Cherry Creek decided the winner of the season series between the teams as well as which program would advance to the state championship game.
The drama built over the course of the first three quarters, which were largely filled with turnovers and defensive play as the Wolves and Bruins demonstrated how well they knew each other after they met twice in the regular season and each took a victory.
But unlike those two contests — both of which were decided by double digits — this meeting came all the way down to the wire as Grandview survived an open 3-point attempt in the closing seconds to hold on for a 31-28 victory.
“I knew it was not going to be given to us and even though we won by quite a bit the last time we played them, we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” said Grandview sophomore Sienna Betts, who finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. “I’m so impressed with our team’s resilience and passion to fight. …We want it more than anyone.”
The 6-foot-4 Betts — the recently crowned Gatorade Player of the Year for Colorado — made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to give the Wolves a three-point cushion and a wide-open look for Cherry Creek’s Addison Beck came up just short before the final horn.
Coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves earned a second straight trip to large school championship game and will play for the title for the sixth time in the past seven seasons overall. Cherry Creek, meanwhile, finished the season 22-5.
In a game that had plenty of offensive struggles, Betts was one of only two players on either team to score in double figures as she finished with 16 points and was credited with 15 rebounds and four blocked shots as well. Two of those rejections came in the fourth quarter with Grandview clinging to a small lead after Cherry Creek surged back into the game late in the third.
With points at a premium, the Wolves had taken a seemingly comfortable 22-14 lead after running off the first 10 points of the second half. But sophomore Tianna Chambers brought the Bruins back with a runner followed by three free throws, including one after a technical foul on Betts.
“It happened the same against Highlands Ranch, so we kindof expect it,” Betts said of opponents’ rallying.
The Wolves came through with little plays that added up in the fourth quarter, from a big loose ball save from senior Sydnie McClain to an offensive rebound and two free throws from Dillehay.
Freshman Lexi Yi also had a big 3-pointer to help Grandview get to the finish line.
And they got some good fortune at the end when Beck’s triple from the corner missed.
“I’m really proud of them and their growth is nothing short of amazing,” Ulitzky said. “They believe in one another, they trust what we’re asking and they give you everything they have. That is the part that makes it so cool.”
(4) Monarch 53, (8) Arapahoe 50
In a high-scoring antithesis to the first game, Monarch outlasted Arapahoe to prevent an all-Centennial League title game.
The fourth-seeded Coyotes and eighth-seeded Warriors — fresh off knocking off No. 1 Valor Christian in the Great 8 — waged a see-saw battle that came all the way down to the final seconds.
Senior Natalie Guanella’s layup with 40 seconds remaining broke a deadlock, senior Caroline Walley and junior Hayley Luther each made free throws and the Coyotes hung on to make the state championship game for the first time since 2012.
“I’m so excited because this has been our goal the entire season and we finally accomplished it,” Luther said. “Now, we have just one more game to win. I’m so excited because I get to play another game with my best friends in the whole, wide world.”
Monarch stretched its winning streak to 19 — since its only loss of the season to Regis Jesuit, a team it defeated in a rematch in the Great 8 — with a team-wide effort to overcome an outstanding Arapahoe team, which saw its season come to an end at 20-7.
The lead switched hands seven times in the final quarter until the game was tied at 47-47 after Arapahoe’s Gianna Smith (who had 19 points) knocked down a pair of free throws.
Guanella also finished with 19 points after her driving layup put her team in front and the Coyotes got a stop.
Walley missed the front end of a 1-on-1 free throw chance, but senior Arezo Safi got a huge offensive rebound and it resulted in two Walley free throws that were true.
Smith made three free throws on the other end to bring Arapahoe to within one, but Luther closed it out with two free throws that she said she treated like running at practice was at stake.
“It’s always all of them,” Monarch coach Mike Blakely said. “That’s the way they play, it’s never one kid. I think they are hard to prepare for because of that. If you want stop one kid, we’ll go to the next one. It actually warms my heart to know that’s how it went down, that a different kid on a different possession got it done for us.”
Monarch remains looking for its first state championship and will need to defeat a program that has won three of them in the last six seasons — Grandview — Saturday afternoon.
The Coyotes are likely to have even more sport than they did from a massive student section for the semifinal.
“It’s really unusual for Monarch to go this far and make a state championship run, so for our community to come back and have our backs means the world,” Luther said.
