1A girls basketball: Briggsdale defeats McClave for program’s first title

LOVELAND – The Briggsdale Falcons are bringing home their first Class 1A state championship banner.

Led by junior phenom Jenna Krise, the No. 3-seed Briggsdale defeated No. 1 McClave 53-37 Saturday night at the Budweiser Events Center in the Class 1A state championship game.

Krise found her spot on the court early and often as the Cardinals had no answer for her dynamic play.

“It just feels amazing,” said the junior, who scored a game-best 24 points. “My team and I have been working towards this since we were kids.”

A year ago, the Falcons fell short of their first title bid – losing 52-43 to Flatiron Academy in the state championship game. The day after the loss, Krise told Briggsdale coach Colin Nicklas that they were going to beat Flatiron the next year. The junior stayed true to her words and hit the game-winning basket to help the Falcons beat Flatiron 45-44 in the semifinals and get their revenge on the defending state champions.

“She played for that all year,” Briggsdale coach Colin Nicklas said. “I’m just so happy for the girls. We lost last season in a heartbreaker. We have a group that came together and play for each other. They just wanted it for this community.”

Nicklas had his concerns going into the Saturday’s game, especially after the emotional victory the night before. But those concerns went away early as Krise and the Falcons got going early.

The first quarter was the Krise show. The Briggsdale star found ways to score in a variety of ways and found holes in McClave’s stout defense. She hit a pull-up jumper and then scored an and-1 to give Briggsdale an early 7-2 advantage. Abrielle Gomez hit a trey for McClave to cut the lead to two. But the Falcons ended the quarter on a 7-point run that was capped by a buzzer-beater basket by Krise to push Briggsdale advantage to 14-5.

“(Jenna) is a gamer,” Nicklas said. “Unbelievable athlete and unbelievable kid. She is the best player in the state at our level. Jena got confident early and when she gets going early, she is unstoppable.”

The Cardinals hit from deep to stay in the game. Ashlynn Steinbrunn and Kennedy Vallejos hit a pair of three-pointers to cut the lead to seven. However, Briggsdale closed the half on a 10-2 run with Kayl Klem scoring back-to-back baskets to advance the Falcons lead to 33-18 at halftime.

McClave struggled to cut into the lead in the second half, turning the ball over on five of its first seven possessions of the half. The turnovers lead to early baskets for Briggsdale. Krise hit a trey off of a turnover and Macie Klem scored to push the lead to 23. Chloe Weber hit a pullup jumper for McClave, but the Cardinals still faced a 46-25 deficit after three quarters.

With a sizeable lead the Falcons began to take the air out of the ball in the fourth. McClave did go on a 7-point run in the fourth with Gomez drilling another three-pointer and Steinbrunn scoring a fast-break basket. But the run was too late for the Cardinals.

The loss ended an impressive run for McClave, that went into Saturday’s title game with a perfect 25-0 record. Briggsdale finished the season 24-2 overall.
“We knew (McClave) wanted to play fast and play aggressive,” Nicklas said. “(Briggsdale) was locked in and they were ready and executed.”