Horizon girls basketball soar to play-in win over Chatfield

LITTLETON — The future of Horizon girls basketball program showed up in a big way Wednesday night at Chatfield Senior High School.

The No. 33-seeded Hawks pulled off a 58-52 road victory against No. 32 Chatfield in a Class 6A state tournament play-in game. Freshman Bella Alvarado led the way for Horizon pouring in a career-high 20 points.

“My freshman grew up tonight,” Horizon coach Dan Doehler said of Alvarado. “To have a youngster play in her first state playoff game dropping 20 points was a big deal.”

Alvarado came off the bench and had a quiet first half with four points. She came in averaging just over six points per game, but had 16 points after halftime as the Hawks were able to hold off a fourth-quarter rally by Chatfield.

“It has been a bit of a rollercoaster being a freshman and thrown into 6A level,” Doehler said. “She is the future of our program.”

Alvarado scored a dozen points in the fourth quarter, including going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Gabby Newble was also instrumental pouring in 14 points for the Hawks. Horizon’s 6-foot-4 senior Kaitlin Schumann also had double-digits with 11 points.

“I told our team that Chatfield was not a 9-14 (record) team,” Doehler said of the Chargers that had lost three straight games — all against 6A playoff-bound teams — entering the state tournament. “They have been through the gauntlet schedule wise just like we have.” 

Chatfield’s senior Jordyn Reed kept the Chargers within striking distance. In her final game as a Charger, Reed poured in a game-high 21 points. Sophomore Sadie Goodwin found her range from long distance in the second half hitting a trio of 3-pointers while scoring 13 points all in the second half.

Goodwin tied the game at 44-44 with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter with a driving layup, but Horizon went on a quick 5-0 run to regain the lead that included a bucket from Newble and a big 3-pointer from Alvarado. 

Chatfield finished its first season under new head coach Shawn Smith with a 9-15 record. 

Horizon (14-10 record) will face top-seeded Grandview in a second-round game at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 1. The Wolves (20-3) are led by one of the top players in the nation. Senior Sienna Betts — heading to play with her older sister at UCLA next season — is averaging 23.8 points and 17 rebounds per game this season.

“The path doesn’t get any easier,” Doehler said referring to facing No. 1 Grandview on Saturday. “I’m going to go celebrate with my team and we are going to enjoy our trip back to Thornton. Then we’ll prepare for Grandview.”

Grandview is on a 14-game winning streak and the Wolves only in-state loss this season came against defending 6A state champion Valor Christian back on Jan. 4. 

“We are going to throw the kitchen sink at them and see what happens,” Doehler said.