EVERGREEN — Evergreen’s girls basketball teams has already accomplished something this season that last year’s Class 4A state championship squad didn’t do.
The Cougars, ranked No. 3 in the final CHSAANow.com 4A girls basketball poll, officially wrapped up the 4A Jeffco League title with Tuesday’s victory over No. 8 Valor Christian. It’s actually the first conference title for the program since the 2002-03 season.
“It feels amazing to win the league championship, especially since we didn’t even win it last year,” Evergreen senior Kristina Schreiber said. “It gives us so much more confidence going into playoffs.”
Despite already having wrapped up the league title, Evergreen (21-2, 13-1 in league) didn’t want to end the regular-season Thursday night on a sour note. The Cougars got a huge test against No. 6 Golden at Evergreen High School and had to work overtime … three overtimes in fact … to come away with a dramatic 69-67 after three extra 4-minute periods.
Evergreen’s Hannah Kennedy (10) gets a shot up over Golden’s Haley Prey. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“Two hours of good, good basketball,” said an exhausted Evergreen senior Baylee Galan-Browne after the game that lasted two hours.
The Cougars looked to be in serious trouble when 6-foot-2 junior Claudia Dillon fouled out with 4:41 left in the fourth quarter. Then another starter in Meriel Hahn fouled out late in the second overtime period. On top of that, sophomore Hayley Dillon became the third Cougar to foul out midway through the second overtime.
Still, Galan-Browne hit a big 3-pointer late in the second overtime to tie things up at 63-63 and send it to a third overtime.
“That was a definition of a team win,” Evergreen coach Amy Bahl said. “We had some girls who normally don’t play a lot of minutes come in at the end and play some big minutes. They did their job and did their role.”
Schreiber stepped into a huge scoring role. She poured in a career-high 29 points in the win. Her final bucket was a key layup and foul with 1:22 left in the third overtime period. The senior guard converted the 3-point play to put the Cougars up for good 68-65.
“Kris (Schreiber) had to take over and she took the job and did it,” Bahl said. “A lot of times when she knows we need her to do that. She performs and did outstanding tonight.”
Golden’s Elli Garnet, front, drive past Evergreen’s Hayley Dillon. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Golden (19-4, 10-4) was led by seniors Abby Garnett and Makena Prey. Both Garnett (29 points and 10 rebounds) and Prey (22 points and 13 rebounds) had double-doubles, but it wasn’t enough.
The loss pushed the Demons into a three-way tie for second in the conference with Valor Christian (17-6, 10-4) and D’Evelyn (17-6, 10-4). Evergreen actually went 6-0 this season against Golden, Valor and D’Evelyn. The Cougars’ lone league loss was against Littleton.
“It feels great,” Bahl said of being conference champs for the first time in 15 years. “It’s a huge momentum going into playoffs knowing we won our league.”
It will be interesting to see where the top four teams in 4A Jeffco fall when it comes to the 48-team state tournament bracket that will be posted Sunday, Feb. 18, on CHSAANow.com. Before Thursday’s league finales Valor, D’Evelyn, Evergreen and Golden were No. 5-8 in the RPI standings. The Cougars were actually behind Valor and D’Evelyn, but the game against Golden could very well move Evergreen up in the final RPI rankings.
“We just want to work hard and keep getting better,” Galan-Browne said about heading to the playoffs. “I’m so proud of my team and all the history we’ve been making throughout our career.”
It’s highly likely defending Class 4A state champion Evergreen and Golden will get top-10 seeds when the state bracket is released Sunday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)