DENVER | Tammi Statewright had a slight bit of trepidation about how her Cherokee Trail girls basketball team would play in Friday afternoon’s Class 6A Great 8 after an admittedly bad practice the previous day.
The veteran coach got the exact opposite when the ball when the ball went up in the air between her top-seeded Cougars and No. 9 Legend at the Denver Coliseum, as Cherokee Trail was on point from start to finish in a thorough 66-39 victory.
Senior Aaliyah Broadus poured in a game-high 29 points, while senior Karson Chaney and freshman Chloe Cain added 13 apiece as the Cougars poured it on to beat the Titans for the third time on the season and made it to the Final Four for the first time since 2024 and second time in program history.
“We had a terrible practice yesterday and it was all about anxiety,” Statewright said. “That was something I had to learn. Previous years, we would play like we had a terrible practice, so a lot of it is nerves. We acknowledged the nerves this time and it helped.
“We went out there and played as a team probably better than we had all season.”
Cherokee Trail (23-3) will play a 5:45 p.m. contest March 12 against No. 5 Northfield (23-3) — which ousted No. 13 Riverdale Ridge and Colorado all-time leading scorer Brihanna Crittendon in the Great 8 — with a chance to play in the March 13 6A final on the line.
No. 7 Highlands Ranch (23-3) and No. 6 Denver East (20-6) meet in the other semifinal at 7:15 p.m. with a spot in the March 14 championship game at stake.
Statewright wants her to team to play inside-out and having the strong, experienced inside presence of a player like Broadus — who is headed to Wichita State — helped tremendously.
“We know this atmosphere is different, so we wanted our first 10 shots to be inside the arc to get that feel,” said Broadus, who had an inside basket and putback to help a strong start.
Later in the period, Chaney then knocked down a 3-pointer to give Cherokee Trail a double-digit advantage at 17-7. The Titans crept back to within three on a Maile Starns’ three-point play, but a free throw from freshman Chanel Stovall followed by a layup and two free throws from Broadus made it an eight-point margin at halftime.
Sophomore Milania Gutierrez didn’t score in the opening half, but came up with several steals and hustle plays that helped the Cougars maintain their lead.
“It was the first time for me here, so it took a little while to get into the flow,” said Gutierrez, who scored all eight of her points in the second half. “My shot wasn’t really falling in the first half, so I was just doing anything else I could do to bring energy and help the team.”
Broadus got off to a strong start to the third quarter as well and Chaney scored in transition to get the lead back into double figures at 34-23.
A 27-point fourth quarter for Cherokee Trail (which Legend scored just 10) secured the victory.
The Cougars weren’t looking forward to the long wait for the semifinal contest, but planned to make use of it to prepare for Northfield.
“We have more practice, more time to get better and figure out what didn’t work here so the next team can exploit it,” Broadus said. “We need to work hard and just stay humble.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 6A GIRLS BASKETBALL GREAT 8
(1) CHEROKEE TRAIL 66, (9) LEGEND 39
Score by quarters:
Cher. Trail 17 11 11 27 — 66
Legend 9 11 9 10 — 39
LEGEND (39)
Tatum Burke 0 1-2 1, Lucy Thompson 3 0-0 7, Maile Starns 4 6-6 15, Addyson Law 1 0-0 3, Marley Pickett 0 0-0 0, Rhya Matoush 2 0-0 5, Jaida Reuter 1 0-0 2, Ruby Davis 0 2-2 2, Amaya Sparks 1 2-4 4, Addison Lesage 0 0-2 0, Madi Smolen 0 0-0 0, Braelyn Hills 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-16 39.
CHEROKEE TRAIL (66)
Karson Chaney 5 0-0 13, Chloe Cain 5 0-0 13, Milania Gutierrez 3 2-4 8, Aaliyah Broadus 10 9-9 29, Hannah Conger 0 0-0 0, Hannah Hazim 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Brown 1 0-0 2, Chanel Stovall 0 1-2 1, Zoey Brandon 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 12-15 66.
3-point field goals — Legend (4): Addyson Law, Rhya Matoush, Maile Starns, Lucy Thompson. Cherokee Trail (6): Chloe Cain 3, Karson Chaney 3. Total fouls — Legend 14, Cherokee Trail 15. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Cherokee Trail: Chaney.
