3-pointers, defense help Holy Family ease past Peak to Peak
DENVER >> Don’t tell the Holy Family shooters that it’s tough to make shots in the Denver Coliseum. The Tigers rolled into the old barn next to Interstate 70 and decided that nothing was out of reach as they aim to win a second straight Class 4A girls basketball title.
Long-distance shots and a stellar defensive effort led the Tigers to a 52-25 win over Peak to Peak to officially punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Locking down Pumas forward Alexandra Eschmeyer will be what Holy Family coach Ron Rossi will point to as a major key for the victory, but it was the deep 3-pointers that brought smiles to the players’ faces and got the fans out of their seats.
“It’s all in the motion,” senior guard Essyence Contreraz said. “We were talking about it right before we came here. We couldn’t shoot here with the opening and all the space back there, it’s really difficult. But if we just focused on the rim and shoot high, it doesn’t matter.”
Not even if those shots come from closer to the half-court line than the 3-point line.
Enyiah Contreraz made one from well over 30 feet away at the end of the first quarter. That seemed to get the offense going a little bit as it tied the game at 10. But it also helped her confidence. She hadn’t connected on a 3-point since Feb. 14 in Holy Family’s win over Greeley West.
“We do a thing called 33 (in practice) where two teams shoot and it always ends with a halfcourt shot,” Rossi said. “We’ve always said that someone is going to get one and Enyiah does it. We have like two seconds left, five seconds maybe and we put Enyiah in there and she makes 50% of them.”
Then Essyence took her own shot from outside of 30 feet, although there was still 6:30 left
on the clock when hers cut through the net of the basket. Both she and Rossi claimed that these are situations that the Tigers (242) practice.
But her shot was more about feel than executing something the team has drilled throughout the year.
“When I’m open, just shoot the ball. Let it go,” she said. “If it feels good and it’s in rhythm, let it fly.”
Essyence Contreraz finished with a team-high 12 points while Sawyer Dana had 11 and Enyiah Contreraz scored nine.
The Pumas (21-5) had a solid start to the game, taking a 10-5 lead early in the first. Eschmeyer scored six of her game-high 14 points in that stretch.
But as she slowed down, so did the Pumas. Megan
Wagner added 10 points and Eva Temple Weed had one, but those were the only three players to score for Peak to Peak.
The Tigers head back to the Denver Coliseum on Friday to face Resurrection Christian, who beat Pagosa Springs 53-44 later Saturday afternoon.