AURORA | Top seeds Grandview and Regis Jesuit took a quarter or so to get going Friday night in Class 5A girls state basketball second round matchups, but they eventually got into gear.
The Wolves and Raiders earned their expected places in Tuesday’s Sweet 16 round with decisive home victories, with Grandview racing past No. 9 Loveland 73-38 and Regis Jesuit rolling over No. 8 Rocky Mountain 67-32.
The Aurora teams will each be at home for one more round, with a victory moving them on to the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum. Grandview will play host to No. 5 Castle View — a four-point winner over No. 4 Horizon — at 7 p.m., the same time Regis Jesuit takes the floor at its Boys Division gym to face visiting No. 5 Ralston Valley.
Regis Jesuit (22-2) got off to an exceptionally slow start against Rocky Mountain by scoring just three points in the first quarter, but held the Lobos off the scoreboard completely in the period and blew the game open with a 30-point second quarter.
Senior Diani Akigbogun paced the Raiders with 15 points, while senior Justine Hall and junior Jess Lewis added 14 apiece and senior Anna Ptasinski added nine.
Grandview (22-2) struggled through a foul-marred first half against Loveland and had to play much of the opening two quarters without senior standout Katie Cunningham, who picked up three early fouls.
The Wolves managed to build a 38-22 lead at halftime and kept the foot on the gas, especially with senior Natalie Halbleib finding the range from the perimeter. Halbleib knocked down six 3-pointers in the game and finished with 23 points for Grandview.
Freshman Michaela Onyenwere chipped in 17 points in her first playoff game for the Wolves.
Sixth-seeded Cherokee Trail and eighth-seeded Rangeview were on the other end of lopsided road contests, as the Cougars dropped a 91-53 decision at No. 3 Highlands Ranch and the Raiders went down 76-30 at top-seeded Fossil Ridge.
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) GRANDVIEW 73, (9) LOVELAND 38
Score by quarters:
Loveland 12 10 8 8 — 38
Grandview 16 22 21 14 — 73
LOVELAND (38)
Annika Anderson 4 3-4 13, Braydee Bakovich 2 0-0 4, Alex Koeschel 2 1-1 5, Tatum Rembao 1 3-5 6, Layne Parker 0 0-1 0, Sara Jones 2 1-4 5, Brette Southworth 2 1-2 5. Totals 13 9-17 38.
GRANDVIEW (73)
Jen Jordan 0 0-1 0, Michaela Onyenwere 7 5-8 19, Natalie Halbleib 8 1-5 23, Katie Cunningham 1 4-4 6, Brittany Bender 1 3-4 5, Kennede Brown 1 0-0 2, Denise Batiste 3 0-0 6, Kayla Vallin 2 1-2 5, Cristina Salazar 2 1-2 5, Hannah Hasstedt 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 15-26 73.
3-point field goals — Loveland (3): Annika Anderson 2, Tatum Rembao; Grandview (6): Natalie Halbleib 6. Total fouls — Loveland 22, Grandview 14. Fouled out — Loveland: Rembao, Sara Jones. Technical fouls — None.
(1) REGIS JESUIT 67, (8) ROCKY MOUNTAIN 32
Score by quarters:
Rocky Mtn. 0 7 11 14 — 32
Regis Jesuit 3 30 17 17 — 67
REGIS JESUIT (67)
Justine Hall 7 0-0 14, Jess Lewis 5 0-0 14, Anna Ptasinski 3 0-0 9, Diani Akigbogun 7 1-5 15, Kelsi Lidge 1 0-0 2, Neffie Lockley 3 0-0 6, Julia Drexelius 1 0-0 3, Jordan Molyneaux 1 1-2 3, TaeKenya Cleveland 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 3-9 67.
3-point field goals — Regis Jesuit (8): Jess Lewis 4, Anna Ptasinski 3, Julia Drexelius.