Sand Creek’s Liah Davis. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Oliana Squires and Liah Davis have rare chemistry on the basketball court. The senior tandem, now Division I recruits — Squires will soon be off to Montana State, Davis to Colorado State — have played on the same team since sixth grade.
As freshmen three years ago at Sand Creek in Colorado Springs, a recent girls hoops power in Class 4A, Squires and Davis were the team’s leading scorers, the only two to average double figures, for a team that reached the Great 8. As sophomores, they made the Great 8 again.
Then, during their junior year, Squires, a 5-foot-8 electric guard, averaged 17.8 points, 4.5, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 steals while earning first team all-state honors in 4A. Davis, a 6-foot-2 powerhouse in the paint, racked up 15.6 point and 11.5 rebound averages while garnering second team all-state honors.
The Scorpions accomplished something no other girls basketball team in school history had ever attained — they reached the state championship game. Valor Christian ended a magical season for Sand Creek, who finished with a 23-4 record, with an emphatic 73-47 state finals victory. Nonetheless, history was made for the Scorpions.
Now the duo, arguably the best in 4A as both are Player of the Year candidates, have started to write the final chapter of their high school careers. With a career record of 71-14 thus far, 42-0 in the Pikes Peak League, the tandem has been everything any program could ask for. The only thing missing on their resume is a state championship.
“It brings a lot of motivation,” Davis said. “This is how we want to leave the program. To have that memory and to keep that memory for years and years from now would be really cool.”
The No. 1-ranked team in 4A every week so far, this group of Sand Creek Scorpions has always had high expectations, but perhaps never higher than during the 2015-16 season.
They know what’s at stake. They also know the competition in 4A means nothing is a given.
Kylee Shook, a 6-foot-4 University of Louisville recruit, hopes to lead her Mesa Ridge Grizzlies to their second state crown in three years. The No. 18-ranked recruit in her class by ESPN, Shook is off to a historically strong start with averages of 29.3 points, 15.5 rebounds, 5.1 blocks and 3.4 steals for a 7-1 team.
Valor Christian is rolling at 6-1, and Longmont — featuring 6-foot-1 Sydney Wetterstrom, one of the state’s elite athletes in volleyball (Michigan recruit), basketball and track — also has a 6-1 record.
Oliana Squires. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
New head coach BJ Johnson, an assistant for Sand Creek a couple of seasons ago, is the third head coach in the past four years for the Scorpions. Squires doesn’t think the coaching changes has led to adversity. The team has been able to hum along.
“Having different coaches hasn’t really affected anything, because we’ve had the same girls,” she said. “We’ve just had to adjust to the different coaching styles. Our coach this year, BJ Johnson, he was the assistant coach my freshman year so that wasn’t too much of a difference there.”
Squires did say Johnson has extra high standards, expectations for the young ladies that have pushed them to work even harder. And yes, there still has been a bit of a transition period with a new person at the helm. The Scorpions dropped their first game of the season to Poudre, a 5A team with a 7-1 record, before finishing December with five straight wins.
They’ve had some injury setbacks and a period of time when the expectations for this group needed to be set. Johnson is excited for games to resume, because he’s already seeing progress being made.
“We’re settling into roles,” he said. “We’ve really only played about one half with our standard starting lineup, which was last game. I think the girls are working really hard. They like each other. I think they like me. We’re in a good place.”
With a likely starting lineup of Deja Derrell, Shayla Armstrong and Moriah Ceballes, to go along with the obvious ones (Squires and Davis), the rest of the way, the Scorpions appear every bit as tough and talented as their No. 1 ranking would indicate.
The usual standbys, one game at a time with a focus on their own team were mentioned by Johnson and his two top seniors, but Johnson also has an ultimate goal. Sure, he wants to win a state championship as much as anyone. After all, Sand Creek has yet to claim a team championship in any sport since the school opened their doors in 1997.
But, he’s more focused on what his team can control.
“The biggest thing is that I want to see all the girls in our program reach their full potential,” he said. “I feel like if that happens, I’m OK with whatever happens at the end of the season.”
Sand Creek is taking aim at a state title. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)