Cherokee Trail senior Jaleesa Avery, center, pulls down a rebound between Brighton's Sidney Potestio, left, and Alejandra Dominguez during the second half of the Cougars' 58-20 non-league girls basketball win over the Bulldogs on Feb. 1, 2016, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Cherokee Trail held Brighton to single digits of points in all four quarters on its way to a fifth win in six games. (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Cherokee Trail senior Jaleesa Avery, center, pulls down a rebound between Brighton’s Sidney Potestio, left, and Alejandra Dominguez during the second half of the Cougars’ 58-20 non-league girls basketball win over the Bulldogs on Feb. 1, 2016, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Cherokee Trail held Brighton to single digits of points in all four quarters on its way to a fifth win in six games. (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Cherokee Trail senior Jaleesa Avery, center, pulls down a rebound between Brighton’s Sidney Potestio, left, and Alejandra Dominguez during the second half of the Cougars’ 58-20 non-league girls basketball win over the Bulldogs on Feb. 1, 2016, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Cherokee Trail held Brighton to single digits of points in all four quarters on its way to a fifth win in six games. (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

DENVER | In a Monday, mid-afternoon game played at a professional venue, the Cherokee Trail vs. Brighton matchup was bound to produce some oddities and it delivered on a lot of counts.

A non-league game at the Pepsi Center that pitted two teams with identical 10-6 records against each other couldn’t have been more of a runaway, as the Cougars led by 12 points after one quarter and ran away with a 58-20 victory on the Denver Nuggets’ home floor.

With a much different shooting backdrop than at a usual school gym, neither team managed to make a 3-pointer and combined to sink less than half of their foul shots (12-for-27). In the end, coach Jerry Austin’s Cherokee Trail team got a nice bounce back from a Centennial League loss to Cherry Creek and earned its fifth victory in the past six games.

Junior Taryn Foxen led the Cougars with 11 points — and was honored as the game’s Most Valuable Player during the Nuggets’ game against the Toronto Raptors later in the night — while senior Jaleesa Avery added 10 and senior Anastacia Johnson nine.

Cherokee Trail held Brighton to 10 points fewer than its previous season-low as the Bulldogs managed just four points in each of the first three quarters. The Cougars almost exactly replicated a 60-21 win on the same Pepsi Center floor a year earlier.

The Cougars resume league play with a home game against Smoky Hill at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel

CHEROKEE TRAIL 58, BRIGHTON 20

Score by quarters:

Cher. Trail  16  15  12  15 — 58

Brighton      4    4    4    8 — 20

CHEROKEE TRAIL (58)

Mariyah Jones 2 1-2 6, Taryn Foxen 5 1-3 11, Jaleesa Avery 5 0-0 10, Kenzie McLelland 2 2-2 6, Anastacia Johnson 4 1-4 9, Dev Greene 3 0-0 6, Yolonda Fason 1 0-0 2, Ayana Rodgers 1 2-2 4, Ali Williamson 2 1-2 5, Journee Edwards 0 0-0 0, Abbie Sparks 0 0-0 0, Ashley Lawson 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-15 58.

BRIGHTON (20)

Jessica Baker 1 0-0 2, Maddie Janzen 1 1-2 3, Kaylah Lewis 2 0-1 4, Alejandra Dominguez 2 2-5 6, Tavia Weis 0 1-4 1, Sidney Potestio 1 0-0 2, Shayna Slorf 1 0-0 2, Aviana Covarrubias 0 0-3 0. Totals 8 4-12 20.

3-point field goals — None. Total fouls — Cherokee Trail 13, Brighton 13. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.

Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor and photographer with Sentinel Colorado. A Denver East High School and University of Colorado alum. He came to the Sentinel in 2001 and since then has received a number...