Aurora’s prowess in boys basketball this season is bordering on legendary, but girls play on the hardwood in town shouldn’t be undervalued.
While the city has the only two undefeated boys teams in Class 5A —Eaglecrest and Rangeview — it also still home to 5A’s only unbeaten outfit in Grandview, which has risen to a tie for the No. 2 spot in the most recent Associated Press Class 5A media poll.
Coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves made a statement Jan. 26 with a 59-51 victory over ThunderRidge, a perennial Continental League power that shared the No. 2 rnaking with them. It was the highest-ranked opponent Grandview has beaten in program history and it did so convincingly, winning comfortably despite missing 17 free throws and committing a variety of turnovers.
“I think that’s a huge, huge win for us and it helps give them the confidence that we are in that discussion,” said Ulitzky, whose team knocked off a team it lost to by six points last season that was off to a 13-2 start.
Indeed Grandview — now 15-0 after a win against Overland on Jan. 27 — is in the discussion with unanimous No. 1 Highlands Ranch (16-1), ThunderRidge and Broomfield (13-2).
For a team like Grandview to be as good as it can be, it needs its top player to raise her level when the going gets tough.
Junior Michaela Onyenwere has never failed to rise when needed, as she poured in 43 points in a legendary performance in last season’s playoffs against Lakewood and was at it again with a 34-point effort in the win over ThunderRidge.
“I feel like my team looks to me to be a scorer and leader on the court, so when we are in games like this against the top teams in the state, I do take a burden; If I can even do extra, I’m all for it,” said Onyenwere, who scored 16 points in the key second quarter.
Onyenwere exited for a few minutes after landing hard on her hip, but the Wolves in fact built on their lead with senior Kayla Vallin, junior Kennede Brown and frosh Alisha Davis among others — stepping up.
“Michaela’s a huge part of our team and she she got hurt, we wanted to step up for her and show what we can do,” Vallin said.
Through Jan. 27, Aurora had three other double-digit win teams in Colorado 7 leader Vista PEAK (12-4), Regis Jesuit (10-5) and Cherokee Trail (10-5), plus two others on the cusp in Overland (8-7) and Rangeview (8-7).
Coach Carl Mattei’s eighth-ranked Regis Jesuit team is adjusting to life without team captain and leading scorer TaeKenya Cleveland.
The senior forward — who averaged 10.7 points and 4.9 rebounds through the Raiders’ first 12 games — is out indefinitely after she was involved in a car accident last week.
“Somebody has to step up with TK (Cleveland) out and hopefully they use that as motivation,” said Mattei, whose team learned plenty of lessons in an 0-2 showing at the Great Rivers Shootout in St. Louis against Incarnate Word Academy and Memphis Central.
Regis Jesuit has gone 3-1 in Cleveland’s absence and enters a key stretch at No. 1 Highlands Ranch (Feb. 5), home Feb. 9 vs. ThunderRidge — which was tied with Grandview for No. 2 in the AP 5A media poll — and at the Wolves (Feb. 13) that will be telling.
Cherokee Trail finished the first round of Centennial League play on a four-game winning streak, including a victory against Arapahoe on Jan. 27. The Cougars lost both times to the Warriors last season.
New coach Jerry Austin has a veteran crew, including three key seniors Jaleesa Avery, Anastacia Johnson and Kenzie McLelland. All three are headed to play in college, with McLelland bound for Regis University and Avery and Johnson going to Western Nebraska Junior College.
“I inherited some really good seniors and we’re still getting to know each other,” Austin said. “If we can be healthy when it counts, we can have a good end to the year.”
The Cougars challenged Grandview in an 11-point loss and are eager for the rematch Feb. 5.
Coach Jim Bartok’s Vista PEAK team has been especially good on the defensive end, as the Bison have yielded just 34.4 points per game, a big reason why they are 12-4.
Vista PEAK has already matched the program record for wins in a season with seven games remaining and definitely have an eye on a berth in the Class 4A postseason.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
