More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
GOLDEN – For the past eight years, the Metro League has owned the Class 3A state girls basketball tournament.
That’s about to change.
When the state title game gets underway at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Lockridge Arena on the Colorado School of Mines campus, two public schools will be dueling to bring home the trophy. Sterling and Pagosa Springs will battle to become the first program outside of the Metro to win it all since Centauri in 2006.
The only two undefeated teams in the field advanced to Saturday’s finale with hard-fought victories. Pagosa Springs upended Lutheran 52-45, and Sterling held off Manitou Springs 36-34.
“I think we’re both two very good programs – obviously Lutheran is too. With Holy Family moving up, they were the commandant for a long time,” Pirates coach Wes Lewis said of the Tigers, who claimed six out of the last seven titles. “But I’m glad to see it’s going to go to a public school, no disrespect to any of the privates. We’re excited, we know we have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow.”
That comes after another big challenge Friday. Pagosa Springs (25-0) trailed Lutheran by four points going into the fourth quarter. Payton Shahan cut it two before Taylor Lee Hammer stole a pass and drove the length of the floor for a bucket and the foul. Her three-point play gave the Pirates the lead and some much-needed momentum.
“Once I saw my chance, I took it,” Hammer said. “I don’t regret it.”
Lutheran briefly regained the lead at 40-39, but Pagosa Springs outscored the Lions 12-5 the rest of the way. Morgan Schaaf and Morgan Lewis knocked down baskets, and the Pirates were 9-of-16 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
Shahan led Pagosa Springs with 16 points. Schaaf added 13 and Hammer had 12.
“I am so stoked and so excited,” Hammer said. “We’ve come a long ways and this is where we want to be right now.”
The Pirates defeated Sterling in the state semifinals a year ago before falling to Holy Family in the championship game.
“A lot of people kind of doubted this group of girls. We lost three really good players last year, and it motivated these kids,” Lewis said. “It fired these kids up. We’re probably better in some ways and maybe not as good in some other ways, but we’re a different team for sure.”
Kristen Vigil led Lutheran (24-2) with 18 points and Chandler Sturms added eight. The Lions won the 2A state title last season but moved up to the 3A classification for 2014-15.
(1) Sterling 36, (4) Manitou Springs 34
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
One night after scoring 26 points, Jenna Knudson made a bigger statement Friday with her defense.
With the game tied at 30-30, the Sterling junior came up with a key steal that led to a basket on the other end by teammate Taylor Knudson. The Tigers (26-0) never relinquished the lead on their way to a berth in the state title game.
“She’s been our rock on our team all year,” Sterling coach Kent Chrisman said. “Trust me, she’d say ‘get me a win and I’ll score no points and I’ll be happy.’ That’s just the mentality that she has.”
Knudson finished with 13 points and Kylie Chavez added 10 for the Tigers, who have the chance to avenge last year’s semifinal loss to Pagosa Springs.
“The bottom line is it’s nice that we get that opportunity,” Chrisman said. “We got here last year and played Pagosa Springs in the Final 4. At that time, they were a better team than we were – we got beat by a better team. The kids have learned from it.”
Sterling led by six points in the third quarter Friday, but Manitou Springs (23-3) fought back to eventually take a one-point lead. After the Tigers got back into it and Knudson put the team back on top, Sterling closed it out at the free-throw line.
The Tigers didn’t get to the line until less than three minutes remained in the game but were a perfect 6-for-6 down the stretch.
“We put pressure on the kids on shooting free throws,” Chrisman said. “We try to put them in as many game situations as we can. Trust me, we turn the P.A. system up and make as much noise as we can to get the kids to focus.”
The Mustangs received a game-high 16 points from sophomore Shelby Megyeri and McKenzi Petrico added 10. Manitou Springs was among the youngest teams in the field without a single senior on the roster.