3A Girls Basketball: Resurrection Christian Claims First State Title

DENVER – History doesn’t have to wait any more for Resurrection Christian’s girls basketball program.

The Cougars made lifelong memories by winning the school’s first girls basketball state championship Saturday.

Resurrection Christian accomplished the feat by zooming past Denver Christian 54-32 to capture the Class 3A girls state title at Denver University’s Hamilton Gymnasium.

“Any words I give you will not sum up the feeling we have right now,” Resurrection Christian coach Jason Conrad said. “To make school history with these five seniors and the things they have gone through and to do it with them, there has never been a more deserving group of five seniors, ever. And for them to accomplish what their goal was since freshman year and even before that and be part of this journey as a coach is a dream come true.”

The five seniors for the Cougars are Olivia Klein, Caz McGraw, Milana Rowe, Lysette Battz and Callie Gillespie.

Resurrection Christian was going full speed in the opening seconds of the game and in seemingly in the blink of an eye were up 17-2, following Klein’s trey at the 2:20 mark of the first quarter.

“The game plan was to start fast,” Klein said. “Both of us were playing for the third day in a row and we knew we had to start fast and just keep up that energy and that’s what we did.”

Conrad was thrilled how things unfolded – especially early.

“We always want to start fast, but again five seniors that have been there and done that and have seen everything imaginable, they came out and nerves weren’t a thing. They came out from the start and knew what they wanted to accomplish, and they went out and they did it. They didn’t mess around. You have some mature young ladies who handled the nerves like champions and today they are champions.”

Klein (19), Battz (13) and Gillespie (12) also scored in double-figures for the victorious Cougars. Anna Everett had 10 points in the Denver Christian loss.

“I love my teammates more than anybody in the world,” Gillespie said. “We have been through a lot together and it was a matter of making plays together and for the team. This was such a big win. We have never won state before and we have never ever even been in this (state championship) game. So, it feels great to make history.”

Resurrection Christian capped its memorable season with a 26-2 record, and it included wins over Strasburg (54-28), Colorado Springs Christian (39-31) and then Denver Christian in the Great 8. Denver Christian, which also was trying to capture their inaugural girls hoops state title, ended the season with a 26-2 record.

The second half was more of the same for Resurrection Christian. In the third quarter, Klein sank two free throws at the 4:32 mark to put the Cougars up 31-18. A Battz layup increased the lead to 33-18 less than a minute later.

Klein made two more free throws at 2:43 of the third, pushing RC up 37-19. Rowe’s free throw with 15 seconds left in the quarter gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 41-21.

Battz’s traditional three-point play gave the Cougars a commanding 50-27 edge with 5:05 to play.

“This is amazing,” Klein said. “We put the goal out there at the beginning of the season and hoped and prayed we would be here and just to be here (winning state) is just the most incredible feeling ever.”

Conrad had simple instructions for the second half.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” he said. “I didn’t think they could do too many things different from what they had threw our way. We needed to keep handling their ball pressure and execute on the offense end at a high level and then the thing that won this whole tournament for us was defend your butt off.”