D’evelyn flies to Final 4 behind Marvel
Brihanna Crittendon might be Colorado’s newest basketball superhero, but D’evelyn is headed to the Class 4A Final 4 thanks to its very own Captain Marvel.
As in, junior Peyton Marvel, who dropped a game-high 36 points and 14 rebounds on seventhseeded Riverdale Ridge to help the No. 2 seed advance out of the Great 8, 54- 47, Friday morning at the Denver Coliseum
“I think sometimes, when you hear about — I mean, (Crittendon) is a great player, no doubt,” said Jaguars coach Chris Olson, whose squad improved to 26- 0. “But when you hear about it all the time … that’s why I’m so proud of our whole team fighting and fronting and doubling and making it just tough.”
D’evelyn threw the kitchen sink at Crittendon, the 6-foot-2 freshman who’s one of ESPN and Hoopgurlz’ top 25 national prospects for the Class of 2026. The Jaguars bracketed Crittendon in the post — early in the second half with senior forward Gina Gersabeck fronting her — and sagged off at times whenever she set up outside, daring other Ravens players to beat them from outside.
It worked like a charm. Riverdale Ridge connected on just four of its 24 3-point attempts, while Crittendon was just 1 for 5 from outside during a 28-point performance.
“I mean, she drives, (so) we just gave her space, didn’t let her shoot a lot outside,” D’evelyn wing Macy Sheer explained. “So, fronting and double-teaming, yeah. I mean, we don’t really want to talk about her, either. But we knew if we just shut her down — that was our main focus.”
Marvel, meanwhile, collected three steals and helped to turn 13 Ravens turnovers into easy buckets or quick fouls.
D’evelyn went to the free- throw line 24 times to Riverdale Ridge’s nine trips, and converted on 16. Marvel was 15 for 19 from the line, 9 for 11 in the second half, keying a 9- 0 scoring run in the game’s final three minutes.
NO. 4 LUTHERAN 54, NO. 12 BERTHOUD 36>> Raelyn Kelty wasn’t going to be denied.
Not in the paint. Not from the arc. Not from the charity stripe. And not from the Final 4.
Lutheran’s do-it- all senior pretty much did it all for the Lions, posting a stat line of 21 points, 11 rebounds, seven free-throw makes and a pair of second- half treys to lift the
Lions over upset-minded Berthoud.
The 5-11 forward drained two 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the third period, powering a 6- 0 run for the Lions and opening up what had been a 1-point game. Berkley Schneider chipped in 12 points for the Lions (23- 3), who will No. 1 Holy Family next Thursday.
Katie Vierra netted nine
points and Anna Flaherty and Reece Kraljic added eight points each for the Spartans, who took a 2423 lead into the halftime break.
Until Kelty caught fire, the tilt was a see- saw battle, a sloppy contest that saw more combined turnovers (19) than buckets (16) at the half.
NO. 1 HOLY FAMILY 55, NO. 8 DELTA 3>> After a slow start
to the first half, the Holy Family girls basketball team showed why they’re the No. 1 seed in 4A.
The Tigers (23-3) forced over 30 turnovers in their quarterfinal against Delta in a win.
Delta (19- 6) got off to a promising start and took a 9- 8 lead at the end of the first quarter and kept it close heading into the locker room at 21-15. However, the third quarter was all Tigers. They forced 13 turnovers against the Panthers, which led to plenty of easy layups. If the Tigers’ boys team was all about beyond the arc, the girls were all about defense.
Essyence Contreraz led the way with 11 points, Julia Hodell had eight, while three players had six.
NO. 3 UNIVERSITY 54, NO. 6 EATON 43>> The Bulldogs played shut- down defense in the third quarter and had a balanced scoring attack to get past Eaton in the Class 4A girls quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs (23-2) were led by senior shooting guard Taryn Kravig with 13 points.
Add i s on Ha r d i n g chipped in 11 points on 5- of- 8 shooting from the floor while Miranda Wiedeman had 10 points and eight rebounds.
University had already played Eaton (19-7) twice before in league play, but were still motivated to reach a third consecutive Final 4 appearance.
“Defense definitely fuels us into our offense and we definitely work on it a lot at practice,” Wiedeman said. “You can always control your effort and the boards and I know it can really push us into our offense as well.”
The Bulldogs will face No. 2 D’evelyn in the Final 4 next Thursday.