PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL FINAL FOUR PREVIEW CAPSULES
The end is drawing near, and both Mead and Holy Family girls basketball have survived this long. With just one weekend left of the high school basketball postseason, they’re both trying to find one last burst of life.
Both have a tough road, as any team in its respective Final Four would be expected to face.
No. 3seed Mead, in Class 5A, will test its mettle against No. 2 Roosevelt on Thursday. Top-seeded Holy Family, in Class 4A, will face off against No. 4Resurrection Christian on Friday. Both will look to seal their places in the state championship games on Saturday.
No. 3 Mead vs. No. 2 Roosevelt: Thursday, 2:15 p.m., at the Denver Coliseum
The Mavericks will enter the contest with a 22-4record, and their lack of size hasn’t seemed to hinder them much at all. Against a squad as tall as 24-2Roosevelt, however, they may have to get creative.
The Mavericks boast a team atmosphere that’s truly a score-by-committee model, as the squad boasts its strength through its numbers rather than by one or two individuals. Still, junior Darby Haley has taken the lead on that end, as she’s averaged 11.4 points per game. The top five — Haley, senior Gianna Wurth, freshman Madi Clark, junior Caroline Kron and sophomore Elena Gomez — are all averaging seven points a game or more.
The Roughriders, by comparison, have enjoyed four ladies averaging double-digits: Kyla Hollier (16.3 ppg), Ryanne Bahnsen-price (13 ppg), Kinsey Trujillo (11 ppg) and Brooklyn Meza (10.1 ppg). They do everything exceptionally well, as they’ve grabbed 34.2 rebounds per game, 18 assists per game and 18.8steals per game.
Mead has averaged 25.1rebounds, 12.1assists and 15.2 steals. Head coach Mike Ward, in just his second season back as head coach of the Mavericks, believes the game will boil down to who can put together the best defense, limit Roosevelt’s buckets in the paint, and force it to hit tough shots from the outside.
“They’re as tough as advertised, and then you put your eyes on them and you see how big they are,” Ward said. “I guess the way I look at it is we’ve been outsized all year. Every team we’ve played has had two, three bigs, whereas, obviously, Roosevelt has four or five bigs. … We’re focusing on us and what we got to do well, you know, staying true to who we are and not deviating from that. The way that we look at it, they still got to come out and defend us.”
No. 1 Holy Family vs. No. 4 Resurrection Christian,
Friday: 2:15 p.m., at the Denver Coliseum
Following its valiant performance at Roosevelt last month, it appears that the 4A tournament is Holy Family’s to lose. As a matter of fact, no 4A squad has been able to beat the Tigers this year. Only two of 5A’s best teams did — those being Mead and Roosevelt.
It seems head coach Ron Rossi’s glory days from 20082014, when the Tigers won six of their seven state titles, may be upon the program again. The Tigers, much like the Mavericks, lack plenty of size through their lineup, but more than make up for it with their speed and grit.
No players have demonstrated a high level of defensive toughness more than seniors Essynce Contreraz, Julia Hodell and Sawyer Dana.
Contreraz, for her part, has taken on the life of former Louisville men’s star Russ Smith, circa 2010-2014, through her style of play, as she relies on a high velocity and large number of “how the heck did she make that?” shots to propel her to averages of 11.6 points, 4.0rebounds, 4.9assists and 3.8steals. Senior Jennifer Altshuler has backed her up with 10points a contest. Much of the Cougars’ offense boils down to Olivia Klein and Mackenzie Flikkema, who net 16.7 and 12 points, respectively, as the team collects 33 rebounds, 12.2 assists and 12.9steals on average. The Tigers outshine Resurrection Christian in every category but one, as they’ve put together 27.5rebounds, 17.7assists and 20.6 steals per outing.
Rossi is hoping that the program’s experience of 12 Final Four appearances, including its state championship berth last year, will give the ladies the wisdom and fortitude to pave a path back to the title game.
“(The Cougars) have four 6-footers on their team, so they’re a very good rebounding club and they play hard, well-coached,” Rossi said. “They won’t let you have anything easy. They’re kind of a team like that, that makes you work hard for everything that you get.”