BROOMFIELD WINS FOR INJURED CHRISTOPHER
Eagles rally to edge Erie in Front Range League play
The mood inside the gymnasium at Broomfield High School flipped from rowdy to taciturn in a split second Tuesday night. An eerie silence washed across the way as the Eagles’ senior captain Sophie Christopher laid on the court with an apparent leg injury with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.
Sophomore Olivia Kim said the Eagles players were initially spooked. Even so, senior Kayla Rich and coach Mike Croell knew the Eagles were going to find a way to prevail for their fallen leader.
Rich hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:37 left to go in regulation and Broomfield held a red-hot Erie program scoreless until the final seconds in a 47-44 victory.
“I knew there was no way they were going to let that one get away from them,” Croell said afterward. “Good, mature teams will rally around their leader.”
Christopher’s injury soured an otherwise entertaining game that featured an Eagles team — No. 19 in the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index — that is continuing to push for a better seed as the Class 6A 32-team postseason starts next week. Erie — No. 36 — had won six straight to put itself on the bubble before the loss.
Kim led the way for the Eagles (16-5, 10-3 6A Front Range League), hitting four 3s en route to 14 points. Rich added 11.
Broomfield trailed by as many as seven in the opening half before finding its groove in a momentum-swinging third.
A bloodied-nose Christopher drew attention with her back to hoop and kicked out to sophomore Kim for wide-open 3 as part of a 13-0 run in the frame. The ball seemed to go as Kim did during it as she hit another from behind the arc with hands draped
across her face, then forced Erie turnovers with a chase-down block and a clean strip to help put the Eagles ahead 38-30.
In the fourth, Christopher made a pair of free throws to make it 40-37. Going back down the court, she went down injured while hustling to make a play on defense.
“It was tough for all of us,” Kim said. “But we knew we had to finish the game out.”
Added Rich: “That was the first thought that crossed my mind, that we have to win this one for Sophie.”
Maddie Hartel led the Tigers (10-11, 7-5) with 15 points. Juliet Slater had 10.
Hartel hit four straight free throws to give Erie a 24-20 lead midway through the second. Izzie Adorno nailed a 3 on the next possession and the Tigers held Broomfield scoreless for 6:41 to build a seven-point lead.
Late, Alex Ridenour’s bucket with 2:55 remaining erased an eight-point deficit but the Tigers wouldn’t score again until her 3 at the end of regulation.
It was their first loss since Jan. 23.
“We’ve grown so much this season,” Hartel said. “We just have to keep fighting. I still think there is a chance to get (to the postseason) and we just have to take care of business.”
Erie closes its season at Prairie View Thursday and home against Monarch Friday.
Broomfield hosts Fairview Thursday and Heritage Saturday.