LITTLETON — A second-half defensive adjustment by Columbine gave Ralston Valley a bit of an issue in the Class 5A Jeffco League game Saturday.
Ralston Valley senior Delaynie Byrne — signed to play at the University of Minnesota next school year — scored 18 points in the first half on the Rebels’ home court. Columbine coach Greg Bolding Jr. was determined to not allow Byrne to have the field day she had in the opening 16 minutes.
“She (Byrne) proved to us that if she gets the ball she can score on anybody,” Bolding said. “We put a little more pressure on her and would double or triple her every time she got the ball. We wanted to make her uncomfortable.”
Ralston Valley’s Sydney Bevington (33) attempts to get off a shot before Columbine’s Maura Singer closes in. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Byrne was held to just two points on a pair of free throws in the second half.
“I just try to mix it up. I was feeling really good in the first half,” Byrne said of her shot selection after starting the game 3-for-3 from 3-point range. “Nothing was really going well in the second half. I just have to find the open man and the person with the hot hand.”
In the end, Ralston Valley’s lead was just too much for the Rebels (11-4, 2-3 in 5A Jeffco) to overcome. The Mustangs, No. 2 in the latest 5A girls basketball CHSAANow.com rankings, eventually won 55-36 to extend their winning streak to a dozen games.
“We were out of sync,” Ralston Valley coach Jeff Gomer admitted about the second half where Columbine outscored Ralston Valley 22-20. “That was the first time a team has done that to us. It’s nice how we reacted in the fourth quarter.”
The Mustangs (12-1, 5-0) went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final six minutes after the Rebels cut Ralston Valley’s lead down to as few as 12 points. Ralston Valley led 35-14 at halftime with a layup at the buzzer by junior Shelby Nichols.
Nichols had a dozen points in the first half and finished with 16 points. Byrne finished with 20 points, but it was junior Maddie DeHerrera who stepped up with a trio of much-needed 3-pointers.
Columbine’s Annika Schooler, left, and Ralston Valley’s Maddie DeHerrera collide. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“She (DeHerrera) was huge coming off the bench,” Gomer said. “She really kept us in it the second half.”
DeHerrera scored 11 points off the bench.
Singer, a junior who missed most of her sophomore season due to injury, finished with a team-high 12 points for the Rebels. Sophomore Quincey Baum (nine points), senior Jenna Lohrenz (seven points) and freshman Adrienne Harnum (seven points) had strong games facing the conference-leading Mustangs.
“Very happy,” Bolding said of the second half. “It’s good for us to know that if we can play four quarters like that we can go play with some of the best in the state.”
Ralston Valley has won every 5A Jeffco game by double-digit points. The Mustangs have a non-league road game against Westminster on Monday before playing its final conference game of the first go-around in the league at Arvada West on Wednesday.
“We just need to build on what we’ve done. We’ve been in a bit of a slump,” Nichols said. “Hopefully we can build on what we did well today.”
The Mustangs host No. 9 Lakewood at 5:30 p.m. Friday. If Ralston Valley can sweep the season series against the Tigers it would clear the path to a second straight conference title for Ralston Valley.
“Once we get all the pieces involved we are going to be very tough to beat,” Byrne said.
Columbine sits behind Ralston Valley, Lakewood and Dakota Ridge in the conference standings, but Bolding said he likes the direction the Rebels are trending.
“The growth we’ve had in those three (league) losses is going to help us in the long run,” said Bolding, who guided Golden’s girls basketball program to a 4A Jeffco League title last year before leaving for Columbine. “Those losses might be a blessing in disguise. The girls have to believe and our girls are starting to believe.”
Ralston Valley junior Shelby Nichols (15) puts up a layup during the first half Saturday against Columbine. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)