AURORA | A budding local rivalry added another chapter Friday night, as the Cherokee Trail and Regis Jesuit girls basketball teams clashed for the third time in less than a calendar year.
In front of near-full stands at Regis Jesuit, the Cougars ratcheted things up on the defensive end, held the Raiders to single digits in the first two quarters and never let up after a fast start on their way to a 61-43 victory in a high-powered matchup.
Junior Talia Strode and sophomore Alliyah Broadus had 14 points apiece and senior Damara Allen added 11 for Cherokee Trail, which moved to 2-1 in the series between the Aurora programs since the start of last season. Regis Jesuit, which won a Class 5A Sweet 16 playoff matchup between the two, got 13 points from senior Coryn Watts.
“That was great, they beat us in the Sweet 16, so we just wanted our get back,” Allen said. “That helped get us to our goal.”
Both teams had very similar lineups to the playoff meeting (a 54-51 win over coach Jordan Kasemodel’s Raiders), but the Cougars’ defense helped them build a big lead early. Regis Jesuit (7-4) averaged 67 points per game in its first 10, but were held to just 14 through the first two quarters. It scored nine in the second quarter and that came with five points in the final minute of the quarter.
Meanwhile, Cherokee Trail came out firing from the perimeter, as it knocked down a combined five 3-pointers (two from Broadus and one each from Allen, Strode, junior Madeline Gibbs and sophomore Ryen Galloway) to go up by as many as 21 points.
The Raiders came out stronger in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 12, but Strode knocked down a 3-pointer that started a streak for the Cougars, who scored 12 of the final 15 points of the quarter to go up 47-26.
Back-to-back inside hoops from Broadus — who scored a season-high in points and also had a big blocked shot on the defensive end in the second half — pushed the lead to 25 points in the first minute of the final quarter, while Regis Jesuit closed slightly before the final buzzer.
It was a different type of game for both teams, as Cherokee Trail’s duo of junior Delainey Miller and sophomore Karson Chaney (who came into the game averaging 13.4 and 9.7 points per game, respectively) finished with a total of seven points, while senior Hana Belibi, Regis Jesuit’s leading scorer for the season at better than 18 points per game, matched a season-low with eight points.
“We came into this game and we all had assignments and knew what all of them could do,” Broadus said. “Our chemistry came together and we helped when we needed so we could stop them.”
Strode finished a point off her season high of 15 points that she notched during the Cougars’ appearance at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix.
Next up for Cherokee Trail is another test as it plays host to 11-0 Legend — the only team above the Cougars in the Class 6A Seeding Index — at 7 p.m. Monday. Regis Jesuit has another quality matchup as well, as it plays host to Cherry Creek (7-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 61, REGIS JESUIT 43
Score by quarters:
Cher. Trail 12 18 17 14 — 61
Regis Jesuit 5 9 12 17 — 43
CHEROKEE TRAIL (61)
Karson Chaney 0 0-0 0, Madeline Gibbs 3 0-0 7, Aaliyah Broadus 6 2-2 14, Talia Strode 4 4-4 14, Damara Allen 5 0-0 11, Delainey Miller 3 1-2 7, Kynli Hart 1 0-0 3, Ryen Galloway 1 0-0 3, Ava Pelaez 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-6 61.
REGIS JESUIT (43)
Jane Rumpf 1 1-2 3, Coryn Watts 3 7-7 13, Hana Belibi 3 1-2 8, Jada Hodges 4 0-2 8, Iliana Greene 3 1-2 9, Izzy Davies 1 0-0 2, Mallory Neff 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-15 43.
3-point field goals — Cherokee Trail (8): Aaliyah Broadus 2, Talia Strode 2, Damara Allen, Ryen Galloway, Madeline Gibbs, Kynli Hart. Regis Jesuit (3): Iliana Greene 2, Hana Belibi. Total fouls — Cherokee Trail 20, Regis Jesuit 20. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
