(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Having been on the doorstep of the Class 5A state championship game so many times in recent years, Grandview’s girls basketball team truly believed its time had come last March.
The Wolves were undefeated coming into the state tournament and were the top overall seed. But the team couldn’t quite overcome a slow start against ThunderRidge in the semifinals, and it was the Grizzlies who went on to celebrate a state championship.
Grandview senior Michaela Onyenwere remembers the outcome didn’t truly hit her until she reached the locker room.
“All the emotions started filling the room. We worked so hard and the results showed. They were an amazing team, but we had beaten them before,” she said. “It felt like a lot of things were in our favor.
“It was hard in the locker room. I felt terrible and didn’t want to talk to anyone the next day. It was just an awful, awful feeling.”
So it goes without saying that the Wolves are willing to do what it takes to avoid that sentiment again. After graduating only two seniors, Grandview is eager to get the 2016-17 season underway and prove it can finally break through. The Wolves are ranked No. 1 in the preseason.
For a team that has 114 victories in its past five seasons but no title-game appearances to show for it, close won’t cut it anymore.
“I think everyone realizes how far we can go again this year,” said senior point guard Kennede Brown, who played varsity as a freshman with Onyenwere. “Practices I think are a lot more competitive this year and people are taking it more seriously.
“We realize we don’t have that much time left and this is the last season. We have to go get it this season.”
Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky understands the talent that lines his roster, starting with the reigning 5A Player of the Year. Onyenwere, who recently committed to playing for UCLA, has been a first-team all-state selection in each of her first three seasons. The 6-foot forward averaged 24.5 points a game as a junior to go along with 10.6 rebounds and four steals.
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
“It’s just been a real privilege to get to work with her and see her mentality. She’s being more of a leader, and she’s about as selfless of a player as I’ve seen,” Ulitzky said. “Under the amount of notoriety she’s gained, she’s incredibly humble. She cares about her teammates.”
Brown, junior Jaiden Galloway and sophomore Alisha Davis each averaged a little more than seven points a game last season. Ulitzky pointed out that while Onyenwere receives a lot of the accolades, she doesn’t do it by herself on the court.
“I think it takes every single one of us. Not one player, not two, not three – every single player has to contribute,” Onyenwere said. “Everyone has to have that winning mindset. Everyone has to know we want it more than every other than in the state. We have to realize this is what we want; we want to do something that’s never been done in Grandview history.”
Brown said it doesn’t matter how talented and how skilled the players might be, because if the team doesn’t work together it won’t go very far in the end. But the team’s past postseason history – three semifinal losses over the previous four seasons – won’t be a primary focus.
“We always talk about what we can control. We’ve talked about that for five years,” Ulitzky said. “We control how we execute and the effort with which we play. The focus honestly I don’t think is going to change that much.”
But in the back of their minds, the players still remember the bitter feeling from last March 10 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder. The calendar may have turned a handful of pages, but that doesn’t mean the memory fades.
“Just losing that game propels us to want to win. You can tell even now these girls want it,” Onyenwere said. “I want it more than anything just because of last year. I want it for the girls, I want it for the team, I want it for my coach and I want it for the school.
“That one loss is going to be the driving force for this season.”
Girls basketball preview
Class 5A
- Defending Champion: ThunderRidge
- Preseason No. 1: Grandview
- Season Begins: Nov. 30
- Playoffs Begin: Feb. 21
- Championship: March 9-11, Denver Coliseum
- Returning all-state players: Michaela Onyenwere, Sr., Grandview (1st team); Tatum Rembao, Sr., Loveland (2nd team); Ashley Van Sickle, Sr., Ralston Valley (2nd team); Leilah Vigil, Jr., Highlands Ranch (2nd team).
Class 4A
- Defending Champion: Valor Christian
- Preseason No. 1: Valor Christian
- Season Begins: Nov. 30
- Playoffs Begin: Feb. 21
- Championship: March 9-11, Denver Coliseum
- Returning all-state players: Chloe Welch, Jr., Mesa Ridge (2nd team).
Class 3A
- Defending Champion: Lutheran
- Preseason No. 1: Manitou Springs
- Season Begins: Nov. 30
- Playoffs Begin: Feb. 24
- Championship: March 9-11, University of Denver
- Returning all-state players: Shelby Megyeri, Jr., Manitou Springs (1st team).
Class 2A
- Defending Champion: Yuma
- Preseason No. 1: Paonia
- Season Begins: Nov. 30
- Playoffs Begin: Feb. 23
- Championship: March 9-11, Budweiser Events Center, Loveland
- Returning all-state players: Sophia Anderson, Sr., Paonia (2nd team).
Class 1A
- Defending Champion: Idalia
- Preseason No. 1: Kit Carson
- Season Begins: Nov. 30
- Playoffs Begin: Feb. 23
- Championship: March 9-11, UNC, Greeley (title game at BEC in Loveland)
- Returning all-state players: Bree-ann Carwin, Sr., South Baca; Tess Hornung, Soph., Kit Carson; Micayla Isenbart, Jr., Kit Carson (1st team); Sarah McGinley, Sr., Heritage Christian.