Monarch’s Madison Payne (13) inbounds the ball during a between No. 2 Broomfield and No. 4 Monarch. More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
LAFAYETTE — Brenna Chase, an all-around weapon at point guard for the Broomfield Eagles, has struggled with one area of her game this winter, free throw shooting. The junior was 13 of 25 on freebies entering Thursday’s road clash at Monarch.
Chase found herself at her old familiar place, the charity stripe with a small, but somewhat uneasy lead in the Coyotes’ gym.
But she may have put her free throw woes to bed as she proceeded to bury eight of eight in the final two minutes to secure a 65-52 win for No. 2 ranked Broomfield over No. 4 Monarch in a game closer than the score indicates.
“I knew I needed to make them for my team,” Chase said of her clutch performance. “I worked hard on free throws this week at practice, because lately I’ve been a little off.”
Broomfield’s Brenna Chase (22) puts in an open layup. More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
The point guard’s teammates, Callie Kaiser (3-4) and Brenna Fankell (2-2), chipped in late freebie makes of their own to secure first place in the rigorous Front Range conference. Legacy is 5-0 and Monarch is 5-1. Everyone else has two or more losses.
Free throw shooting was key as both teams struggled to score in stretches against stout defenses. Neither squad shot 40% from the field as each only made two three-pointers, but Broomfield (14-2 overall, 6-0 Front Range League) did get timely baskets from Kaiser and Chase.
“She means everything,” Broomfield coach Mike Croell said of Chase. “It starts and stops with her. She’s our point guard. She’s not very imposing.
“There’s not much to the little squirt,” Croell added with a laugh, “but boy there’s no one tougher. I wouldn’t trade her for anything. When the ball is in her hands, good things are going to happen. She gets us into our offense and on top of that, she plays great defense too.”
Feeding off their raucous crowd, Monarch (15-2, 5-1) drained five shots in a row to start the game as they held a 14-9 lead after one quarter. The Coyotes also led 25-18 in the second, but Broomfield wrestled their way back with a 7-0 run to tie it up at the break.
In the third the Eagles started to impose their will slowly but surely.
“I think after halftime we just weathered the storm and got a bunch of steals and had a couple open layups and went up,” Chase said.
“They are very well coached,” Croell added of Monarch. “We rely a lot on our defense getting turnovers and getting in transition. Every press we threw at them, they seemed to have an answer for early. In the second half, we just had to hunker down into a zone and play some good hard man and do our thing.”
Defense led to offense as Broomfield’s experienced backcourt forced several second half turnovers and limited their own.
“We had six turnovers,” Croell said excitedly. “That’s all we had and we hit 79 percent from the free throw line. If we keep doing that, we’re going to be fine.”
Chase and Kaiser, the team’s leading scorers this season, finished with 20 points apiece for Broomfield.
The Eagles are now 14-2 in their first season removed from 4A. Both losses were to No. 1 ThunderRidge by a combined 11 points back in December.
Monarch, who got within 45-42 midway through the fourth quarter, was led by Raegan Rohn’s 15 points. 6-foot-4 sophomore Jasmine Jeffcoat, the daughter of former Buffalo Bill and Dallas Cowboy star Jim Jeffcoat, had 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Monarch coach Gail Hook was proud of the way her team competed.
Asked if she would like to see Broomfield again in the state tournament, Hook responded, “I have an eerie feeling that could happen. Hopefully we’ll be better prepared and be a little bit more physical and a little stronger at that point.”
Monarch’s Raegen Rohn (15) battles Broomfield’s Callie Kaiser (4) and Broomfield’s Delaynie Byrne (33) for a rebound. More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)