1A Girls Basketball: Briggsdale Wins Back-to-Back Championships

GREELEY – The final chapter in the Jenna Krise legacy at Briggsdale was written Saturday night at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, and it couldn’t have ended any better way.

The senior phenom fought through double-teams to hit the game-winning basket and helped No. 4-seed Briggsdale Falcons complete their quest for back-to-back Class 1A state championship with a 41-40 victory over No. 2 Stratton.

“It’s amazing,” Krise said. “I’m excited to take that shot. That’s what I live for. But it couldn’t have happened without my team; they are the ones that got me in that position and deserve all the credit.”

It wasn’t an easy victory for the Falcons, who turned the ball over 25 times and shot just 39 percent from the field. However, it was Briggsdale’s three-point shooting defense that was the game changer. The Falcons only allowed two treys in the contest, earlier in the season when the Eagles beat Briggsdale, 60-40, they nailed nine from behind the arc.

“That (box score) isn’t a winning recipe,” Briggsdale coach Colin Nicklas said. “It is tough mentally…we kept bringing it mentally and it paid off. We wanted to get on their three-point shooting and that was the big difference tonight.”

Krise got going early, scoring five of the Falcons first seven points as Briggsdale jumped out to an early 7-0 advantage. But Stratton wouldn’t go away, Sedonia Isenbart drained a trey and Clare Miltenberger hit a pair of baskets to cut the lead to 14-13 after the first.

Scoring was a struggle in the second quarter as the two squads combined to score nine points and the game was netted at 18-all at halftime.

It was Stratton that started to break away in the third quarter with an 8-point run, with Sophia Isenbart leading the charge. The sophomore scored six points in the quarter – including on a pair of putbacks. But Krise was destined to get the victory, despite being the focus for Eagles defense. She scored back-to-back baskets and then drew a charge, but Stratton held a slight advantage after three quarters – 30-28.

Krise continued her magic in the fourth, this time with her passing. She twice found Kayl Klem on no-look passes and then connected with sophomore Claire Brown to give the Falcons a 1-point advantage with under a minute to go. However, Sedonia Isenbart was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three free throws to set up the late-gamer heroics.

Krise, who will play at Colorado Mesa University next year, scored a game-high 18 points and added 17 rebounds.

“She is an unbelievable kid,” Nicklas said. “I didn’t make her the player she is, she made herself that player. She is a great teammate, that is probably the best thing and the girls wanted to win it for her.”

Klem and Claire Brown added 10 points, while Sophia Isenbart paced Stratton with 14 points.