DENVER | From opening tip to final horn, the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team had its foot on the gas pedal against Lakewood Thursday night.
The relentless top-seeded Raiders overwhelmed the second-seeded Tigers for the entire 32 minutes of their Class 5A girls state basketball Great 8 contest at the Denver Coliseum, finished a 72-31 victory that brought coach Carl Mattei’s team a step closer to defending last season’s state title.
Senior Diani Akigbogun scored 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 21 for the game to pace Regis Jesuit, while senior Justine Hall added 16 and senior Jordan Molyneaux chipped in 13 as the Raiders earned themselves a ninth trip to a Final Four in the past 10 seasons.
Regis Jesuit (24-2) faces another No. 2 seed — Poudre — in a March 13 semifinal game at the Coors Events Center in Boulder as it seeks to win a second consecutive state championship.
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) REGIS JESUIT 72, (2) LAKEWOOD 31
Score by quarters:
Lakewood 7 8 9 7 — 31
Regis Jesuit 24 16 16 16 — 72
LAKEWOOD (31)
Jessica Brooks 2 4-5 8, Madeleine Coughlin 2 0-0 4, Gabby Carbone 1 0-0 3, McKenna Bishop 2 3-4 7, Mackenzie Forrest 2 2-2 6, Anissa Barela 0 0-0 0, Madeline Miller 0 1-3 1, Marissa Morton 1 0-0 2, Marisela Perez 0 0-1 0, Bo Shaffer 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 10-15 31.
REGIS JESUIT (72)
Justine Hall 6 3-4 16, Jess Lewis 3 0-0 6, Anna Ptasinski 1 2-2 5, Diani Akigbogun 5 11-13 21, Kelsi Lidge 0 0-0 0, Jordan Molyneaux 6 1-2 13, Neffie Lockley 2 1-3 5, TaeKenya Cleveland 1 1-2 3, Maggie Groissant 1 0-0 3, Julia Drexelius 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 19-26 72.
3-point field goals — Lakewood: Gabby Carbone; Regis Jesuit (3): Maggie Groissant, Justine Hall, Anna Ptasinski. Total fouls — Lakewood 15, Regis Jesuit 18. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.