AURORA – Well aware that Kalie and Kylie Gatlin of Dove Creek had just helped ignite the Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Sports All-State Basketball Games by contributing to the 1A Blue’s runaway romp over 1A Red, Quincy Montoya knew the bar had been set high for all selected San Juan Basin Leaguers.
Especially for one – herself, in this case – who wasn’t quite counting on being chosen.
“The night we got back – that Sunday night – from State, (CCGS) called and was like, ‘Do you want to come?’ I was like, ‘Yes!’” Mancos’ senior point guard recalled while seated up in Grandview High School Gymnasium’s bleachers. “A lot of times players from down in our area don’t get recognized as much as up here. So it’s really good to see that. We’re all here to have fun.”
And while it took an explosive 45-18 second-half effort March 17, for Dove Creek’s twins and their limited-time-only mates to separate and ultimately prevail 69-43 in the 9 a.m. clash, Montoya and 2A Blue wasted no time in declaring their dominance in the 10:30 duel.
Having sprinted out to a 12-0 lead with 4:43 still left in the opening eight-minute quarter, the Blues – with Montoya in the starting lineup for head coach Bart O’Dwyer and assistant Erin Mellott of Limon – raced into the second stanza up 18-2 and accelerated into halftime ahead 32-9 en route to ah 69-40 victory after a scorekeeping gaffe gave the Blues a 70-39 win.
“I thought that State game was going to be my last,” said Montoya, alluding to Mancos’ defeat of Denver Christian in the 2A State Championships’ fifth-place contest March 9 inside Blue Arena in Loveland. “So getting a good win like this and playing with some amazing girls – against amazing girls – was awesome. It means a lot.”
Montoya scored four points and tallied a media-counted six assists in the blowout, while Greeley Dayspring Christian Academy’s Eboselulu Omofoma – erroneously credited with two made free throws in the second quarter instead of just one – led offensively with a game-high 16 points. Teammates Karsyn Huss of Iliff Caliche and Kinsey Grauer of Akron each booked 14.
Playing against DCA teammate Omofoma, Dayspring’s Faith Hayward scored 13 points for 2A-Red in defeat, and Center’s Alicia Rios tallied 10. The pair combined for 14 of the Reds’ valiant 21 fourth-quarter points, making the final margin appear closer than perhaps it truly was.
In the preceding contest, Kylie Gatlin registered eight points and Kalie Gatlin two, while Walden North Park’s Dezirae Gonzales cashed four three-pointers and racked up 19 of her game-high 24 points after intermission. Springfield’s Lainee Leathers (11 points) also reached double figures for Dove Creek’s Julie Kibel, tapped to skipper a Games side.
Stratton’s Sedonia Isenbart sank four threes and finished with 16 points for 1A Red, which led 25-24 at halftime.
In the Games’ Class 3A attraction, Montezuma-Cortez seniors Savannah Haselroth and Markylla Jones played with the 3A Blues – directed by Buena Vista’s Robert Crowder and Kyle Johnson – and each scored five points in a tight 51-45 loss.
Jones’ free throw with 2:51 left in the first quarter brought trailing Blue back to 10-8, but 3A Red concluded the quarter on a 7-0 run and Blue got no closer the rest of the way than 23-19 before Red put together a game-breaking 11-0 spree – helping them to a 34-21 halftime lead.
Still down 45-37 through three quarters, despite two treys and eight points from Bennett’s Lily Venneberg, 3A Blue closed to 49-43 thanks to Jones’ two FTs with 1:47 left in regulation. After Red answered with a basket, Haselroth – part of Blue’s starting lineup – struck from inside with 0:43.8 remaining for what ended up being the exciting battle’s last two points.
“All these players came, like, from nothing and now they’re something with all the hard work they put in. They were really amazing with what they can do,” said Jones (3-4 FT), who initially entered the fray as a reserve.
“We got to meet a lot of cool people – I think it was a great way to end the season,” Haselroth (1-3 FT) said. “We put in a lot of work together, offseason and in-season, and I think we both earned this. It was really awesome.”
Venneberg paced Blue in defeat with her 14 points. Bailey Fritzke of Colorado Springs-based The Vanguard School hit two threes and finished with eight points, and Olathe’s Tyra Gray made three trey and totaled seven.
“We were able to get some steals and we had some really nice-looking shots … that just didn’t go. I thought they were going to be there but, you know, that’s part of basketball,” Crowder said. “The big thing is the girls got this chance. What an honor for them to be a part of this, come together …. I’d love to have this team, be able to compete with these girls.”
Ault Highland sharpshooter Taylor Berkheimer, who drained two key three-pointers for Red during the second quarter and four during the first half, totaled five bombs and ended up with a game-high 15 points. Peyton’s Abbie Nickell knocked down two triples and totaled 11 points, PHS teammate Emme Ratliff contributed eight points, while Strasburg’s Graecy Graf and Yuma’s Caddis Robinson each chipped in six.
