(Brian Bonn/Valor Christian)
BROOMFIELD — Coming off two straight wins in which they put up a combined 164 points, No. 2-seeded Valor Christian knew it was in for a tougher matchup against No. 1 Holy Family on Friday.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they had some players with prior playoff experience to lean on.
Powered by the performance of senior Kendall Bradbury, the Eagles pulled away in the second half to defeat Holy Family 53-37 and earn their second straight trip to the Class 4A girls basketball Final 4 at the Coors Event Center in Boulder.
“Second trip for me,” Bradbury was quick to correct when asked after the game how it felt to make it to the Final 4 for the first time. “First for my coach.”
If Bradbury plays the way she did Friday, it could spell trouble for the other squads in Boulder, because the third-team all-state player from a year ago dominated wire-to-wire Friday.
Bradbury led all scorers with 29 points and gobbled up plenty of rebounds to earn the Eagles second-chance shots, as well as providing a much-needed defensive anchor down low.
Both squads started slow out of the gate, with Holy Family struggling to break through Valor’s press defense, and the Eagles, despite getting loads of decent looks, failing to get shots to fall. At the end of one quarter the score was 12-12, and it looked like a defense was going to take over the rest of the evening.
Then both teams really got rolling. Things starting opening up for the Eagles, as Kendall, who had 8 points in the first quarter, started drawing most Tigers attention.
“Our girls really understood how to attack their zone and were very patient,” said first-year Valor head coach Jessika Caldwell. “We had a slow stretch for a bit but we continued to stay true to what we do, which was getting the ball to the high post and getting inside-outside, allowing our threes to work but not making that our whole focus.”
Meanwhile, Holy Family was starting to have some success busting through Valor’s press, but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The Tigers missed four open layups at the basket in the first half – and down 27-21 at halftime, those freebies would have made all the difference.
The easy looks dried up in the third quarter, especially with senior Caroline Bryan, the Eagles’ other returning third-team all-state member, roaming the paint. She and Bradbury proved a tough tandem for the Tigers to find room against down low, and at the end of three, Valor led 38-32.
“Defense has kind of been our mantra. We know that we can score, so it’s been so important that we communicate on defense,” said Caldwell. “When we go through spurts where we’re not scoring, we have to defend, and they understood that tonight.”
From there, the Eagles slowed things down on the offensive end, holding the ball for a full minute and a half at one point in the fourth without shooting. That didn’t stop Bradbury, however, from racking up seven more points in the game’s final frame.
In the end, despite an impressive effort from Holy Family senior Maggie Spitzer, who finished with 11 points, the Tigers simply lacked the firepower to catch up with the surging Eagles.
For Caldwell, a trip to the Final 4 in her first year as coach is a feather in her cap, one she said she is definitely going to remember.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” said Caldwell. “This is my first experience, so I’m going to relish it and celebrate with the girls.”
Luckily, she has a few seniors who have been there before – and act like it.
“Whatever team we play next, we’re going to treat it just like any game we’ve had all season,” said Bradbury. “Just like we did today.”
Valor will take on Pueblo West at the Coors Event Center in Boulder on Thursday, with the winner advancing to a championship matchup against either Longmont or Sand Creek. Find a complete roundup of all Great 8 games here.