BOULDER | When they last walked off the floor at the Coors Events Center, not many thought the Grandview girls basketball team would be back so soon.
Yet there the Wolves were on March 14, back in the Class 5A semifinals where their season ended almost exactly a year ago.
Grandview dropped a 65-54 decision to Fossil Ridge in a battle of teams both looking for their first trip to a state championship game, but it was a satisfying accomplishment for a team that graduated seven seniors.
“Looking back at all we lost from last year, nobody expected us to be back here,” said senior Katie Cunningham, a four-year starter who graduates as the winnigest player in program history.
“We proved a lot of people wrong and yeah, it didn’t end the way we wanted, but we still accomplished a lot.”
Indeed coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves didn’t fall off much despite the losses to graduation, as a holdover senior core of Cunningham, Natalie Halbleib and Brittany Bender was bolstered by the arrival of star freshman Michaela Onyenwere.
Onyenwere scored 17 points and was credited with 21 rebounds in the semifinal defeat for Ulitzky’s Wolves, who finished the season 24-3 overall.
Cunningham added 11 points and Halbleib and Bender chipped in 10 apiece in their final game in a Grandview uniform. The Wolves were disappointed they didn’t get a chance to play in the final against Regis Jesuit — which beat them earlier — but managed to keep things in perspective.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team for getting to the Final Four again,” Halbleib said. “To have a whole new team and get this far was amazing.”
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(1) FOSSIL RIDGE 65, (1) GRANDVIEW 54
Score by quarters:
Grandview 12 10 13 19 — 54
Fossil Ridge 15 14 14 22 — 65
GRANDVIEW (54)
Jen Jordan 1 0-0 2, Michaela Onyenwere 8 1-4 17, Natalie Halbleib 4 0-0 10, Katie Cunningham 4 3-4 11, Brittany Bender 5 0-1 10, Denise Batiste 2 0-0 4, Cristina Salazar 0 0-0 0, Kennede Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 4-9 54.
FOSSIL RIDGE (65)
Sami Steffeck 0 1-2 1, Savannah Smith 7 7-8 23, Natalie Williams 0 1-2 1, Kellee Willer 6 2-6 15, Brooke Pemberton 8 2-4 18, Karen Smith 1 2-3 4, Jenna Harrison 0 1-2 1, Heather Kahl 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 15-26 65.
3-point field goals — Grandview (2): Natalie Halbleib 2; Fossil Ridge (4): Savannah Smith 2, Heather Kahl, Kellee Willer. Total fouls — Grandview 20, Fossil Ridge 12. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
