More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
DENVER — On Jan. 3, Sand Creek’s girls basketball team ran away from Valor Christian in a 67-34 rout.
Saturday, in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum, Valor decided not to let that happen again.
The Eagles turned in a dominant late game performance that saw them outscore the Scorpions 39-23 to reach their first Final Four in school history.
Valor Christian attacked the rim aggressively and shot an incredible 36 second half free-throws, making 28 of them. Caroline Bryan, Kendall Bradbury and Madison McCoy impressed offensively for the Eagles.
More photos. (Kelly Thornburg/MVPSportsPics.com)
“We talked a lot at halftime about staying aggressive and playing our game, which is pass and cut, and just ball movement, not trying to score too early in our offense,” Valor Christian coach Sherryl Klosterman said afterward. “When we start jacking up perimeter shots, we don’t play well, so we just talked about attacking and trying to get to the line and it worked out real well for us.”
Valor Christian played tough half-court defense against Sand Creek’s talented core of Oliana Squires, Liah Davis and Mikayla Reese as each of them got points, but had to work for every basket. Davis, a 6-foot-2 big, grabbed an incredible 19 rebounds and scored 11 points, but only shot 4-of-12 from the field. Squires scored 18 and had a great third quarter, but was mostly held in check the other quarters. Reese chipped in 13 points and impacted the game with her quick slashing.
It was not enough for the Scorpions as Valor’s Caroline Bryan had a big 22 points and a solid-all around game.
“Caroline’s a kid that loves the game,” Klosterman said. “She’s passionate, she’ll shoot, she’ll drive, she’ll do whatever you need her to do. She’s a bit of a perfectionist and a gym rat. She wants to get better and better and better every day. She’s been a great leader for the team in that way, just in her work ethic.”
Sand Creek finished its season 22-4. Valor Christian turned its year back around after the tough blowout loss to Sand Creek in January and will face the winner of Broomfield vs. Palmer Ridge in the final four.