Grandview title favorite, but three can challenge

Midway through the Class 5A girls basketball season, the path to the title runs through mighty Grandview.

The Wolves, ranked No. 1 in the CHSAANow poll and No. 14 nationally by espnW, are headlined by 6-foot-7 junior center Lauren Betts, the top-ranked player in the nation for the Class of 2022 who’s averaging 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. Surrounding her are double-digit scorers in 6-foot-4 senior Addison O’Grady (Iowa commit) and dynamic junior Marya Hudgins.

But despite the existence of a top team in a top-heavy classification, the inevitability of a clear favorite winning the crown in Colorado high school hoops always comes with a but, asahandfulof teams have the potential to put the Wolves’ supremacy to the test.

“Grandview is the heavy favorite, but Valor, Regis, us, and possibly Ralston could challenge them,” Highlands Ranch coach Caryn Jarocki said. “(To stop Grandview) you would really havetoDthemup,andgetonthe boards, keep Betts off the boards, and really force them to run the floor and do some things they’re not comfortable doing. But hard to defend a 6-7 player.”

Valor Christian, Regis Jesuit and Highlands Ranch are best equipped to match Grandview’s firepower, and those teams are rankedNo.2,No.3andNo.4,respectively, in the most recent CHSAANow poll. Here’s a look at their chances in what’s shaping up to be a Grandview-against-thefield tournament. All stats are as of Thursday.

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The Eagles, who won consecutive Class 4A championships in 2015 and 2016 and have been a perennial title contender under seventh-year coach Jessika Caldwell, are in their third season in Class 5A. The prior two ended at the hands of Grandview, in the Great 8in2019andtheFinal4lastyear.

But if anyone has the pure talent to match up with Grandview, it’s Valor Christian. Even though the Eagles are playing the season without junior power forward and Oregon State pledge Raegan Beers, who is rehabbing from an ACL injury, Caldwell’s crew has depth and a star point guard in Kindyll Wetta.

Wetta, who earned all-state honors last year after missing her freshman and sophomore seasons to successive ACL tears, ranks first in the classification with 8.7 assists per game and also paces the Eagles in rebounding at 6.4. The CU commit could be scoring a lot more, but understands her team is at its best when she’s dispensing to the weapons around her.

“She’s done a great job of understanding we have a lot of scoring options on our team and of getting other people involved,” Caldwell said. “She’s obviously a great scorer but she has a really strong knack for finding the little crevices and finding that next pass.”

Jenna Siebert, a Mines commit, complements Wetta as the Eagles’ other primary ballhandler. She’s shooting 45% from 3-point land this year. Valor Christian’s starting five is rounded out by senior guard Haley Huard (Montana commit), senior shooting guard Skyler Boylan (William Jewell College) and senior forward Karissa Lukasiewicz (Grace College). Haley leads the team at 13.8 points per game, while younger sisters Macey Huard (9.8 points) and Ali Wetta(7.6)havealsobeenkey.

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Raiders coach Carl Mattei admits his team can’t match the height or depth Grandview and Valor Christian have. Despite that, Regis Jesuit should seriously contend in the state tournament once again.

“We don’t have the strength or power that the other several top (5A) programs have, but we’re competing,” Mattei said.

Regis Jesuit has also been without star point guard Avery VanSickle for much of the season. The University of Washington commit had knee surgery in December to remove a bone spur, and has been reacclimating since her return to game action Feb. 2.

Beyond four-year starter Samantha Jones and VanSickle, junior guard Madden Mchugh is the only other returner from the 2020 team that lost in the Great 8 to Highlands Ranch. But the Raiders have plenty of promising underclassmen, as epitomized by freshmen Coryn Watts and Hana Belibi.

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Highlands Ranch — whose two losses have come to Valor Christian and Regis Jesuit — can never be counted out under the helm of Jarocki, Colorado’s all-time winningest hoops coach.

Senior point guard Payton Muma is the team’s centerpiece. The four-year starter and Gonzaga

pledge is averaging 17 points and 5.1 assists, and while she’s a flashy offensive player, Jarocki said she’s made gains on the other end of the floor as well.

“She’s definitely required to score more than (a typical) point guard, and her defense has improved a lot,” said Jarocki. “That’s been the greatest area she needed to improve, so that’s been a huge positive for our team. And she also has a lot of leadership responsibilities as well, and she’s really stepped up there over the past couple years.”

Surrounding Muma in the Falcons’ starting five are senior forward Tia Slade (Colorado Mesa commit), junior forward Alex Pirog (6-3, team’s tallest), senior guard Gianna Principatto and junior guard Kara Lyons.

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No. 6 Ralston Valley (led by Santa Clara commit Sydney Bevington and three other doubledigit scorers), No. 7 Arapahoe (coach Jerry Knafelc will have his team playoff-ready from the bruising Centennial League slate), No. 8 Chaparral (7-1, lone loss was to Highlands Ranch), No. 9 Rangeview (junior point guard Nyera West has the Raiders undefeated).