GREELEY — Both of the 1A girls basketball semifinal games came down to the wire on Friday at the University of Northern Colorado’s Bank of Colorado Arena.
In the opening matchup, No. 3 seed Briggsdale beat No. 2 Flatirons Academy, 45-44, and No. 1 McClave followed with a 43-39 defeat of No. 4 Dove Creek.
Briggsdale and McClave are now set to battle for the state championship at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The third-place game between Flatirons Academy and Dove Creek will be played at UNC on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
(3) Briggsdale 45, (2) Flatirons Academy 44
With about four seconds left in regulation and down one point to Flatirons Academy, Briggsdale junior Jenna Krise hit a go-ahead layup that she likely won’t soon forget.
Krise’s clutch shot gave her Falcons a 45-44 lead and following an unsuccessful last-chance Flatirons Academy heave, a trip to their second consecutive state title game. Some revenge was earned in the process, too, as the back-to-back defending champion Bison were responsible for Briggsdale’s defeat in last year’s 1A finals showdown.
Early on, it was a game of runs between the two 1A behemoths. Briggsdale worked a nine-point first-quarter lead but watched it quickly disappear; Flatirons Academy tied things at 20 on an Emily Dehaan three and then continued its solid play to go up 25-21 at halftime.
Briggsdale senior Brianna Blickem, who was held scoreless in the first half, was ready with an answer and scored all eight of her total points in the third quarter to help her Falcons regain a five-point advantage entering the final quarter.
Flatirons Academy fought back again, however, and led by three with under two minutes remaining before Briggsdale’s late heroics.
Krise powered the Falcons with 16 points and senior Macie Klem followed with nine.
The Bison hit seven 3s on the day and were led by Dehaan’s 15 and Emma Cox’s 14. They’ll now face Dove Creek in the same building on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in the third-place game.
(1) McClave 43, (4) Dove Creek 39
The McClave Cardinals played a near-flawless second half to take down Dove Creek, 43-39.
McClave trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before freshman Abrielle Gomez and junior McKayla Kiniston went off for 22 combined points in the second half. The rookie Gomez finished with a team-high 21 while Kiniston had 15.
Tied at 38, Gomez hit the go-ahead layup with about 15 seconds remaining. She also came up clutch on the defensive end by intercepting a Dove Creek inbound on the final play of the game.
On the boards, Gomez, Kiniston and Ashlynn Steinbrunn each had at least 10 rebounds — no easy feat with Dove Creek boasting considerable size in the paint.
Dove Creek’s fast start was fueled by seniors Lexi Gray and Rylee Hickman, who together put up 13 first-quarter points. Hickman added four in the second half to finish with a team-high 10.
The Cardinals’ perfect season remains intact and they’ll look for their 27th victory against Briggsdale in Saturday’s championship game. A McClave win would mark the program’s first state title since the Cardinals won four from 2004-09.