AURORA | Michaela Onyenwere’s athleticism is becoming legendary, but her shooting range?
That seems to be getting better by the game, as the Grandview sophomore star did one of the few things she hadn’t done before at the varsity level — knock down a 3-pointer — in the Wolves’ rousing 72-67 comeback victory over Rampart Friday night in the Grandview Invitational semifinals.
Onyenwere’s triple came in the first half, after which Grandview found itself down by 14 points, but she exploded for a variety of inside baskets and free throws on her way to 24 points in the second half — finished with a career-high 35 — as the Wolves dug themselves out of a big hole to stun the Rams.
Coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves (5-0), ranked No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Class 5A media poll, will take on Grand Junction in the tournament championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers downed Lakewood 64-56 in the other semifinal between teams receiving votes in the AP poll.
Grandview needed every bit of effort from the eight players that got on the floor to overcome a hot start by Rampart (5-2), which made every right pass in the early going and made the Wolves pay for slow defensive rotations.
Cassidy Budge hurt Grandview the most, as the senior sharpshooter tallied 22 of her team-high 26 points in the first two quarters, which saw the Rams take a seemingly commanding 41-27 lead into the lockerroom at the half.
Ulitzky urged his young team to try to cut the deficit to seven points by the end of the third quarter and they more than did that thanks to improved rotations and overwhelming pressure that created turnovers in bunches.
Though they fell behind by as many as 17, the Wolves clawed their way within 54-51 with a 24-point quarter. Grandview closed the period with 12-2 run in the final 2:35, a burst that included a Kennede Brown jumper, a Kayla Vallin 3-pointer, an Alexus Gash layup and Sierra Penn’s two free throws.
The Wolves shaved the margin to one point before Budge hit two free throws with four seconds left in the third and made a layup to open the fourth to push Rampart back up by five points.
Onyenwere took over from there with 12 of Grandview’s next 14 points, a streak that included four free throws, a layup and two three-point plays, the second coming after a nice bounce pass in the lane from Penn..
The Wolves took the lead and never saw their margin fall below five points in the final four minutes.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(3) GRANDVIEW 72, RAMPART 67
Score by quarters:
Rampart 22 19 13 13 — 67
Grandview 16 11 24 21 — 72
RAMPART (67)
Thalie Buckley 0 0-2 0, Cassidy Budge 8 7-9 26, Nicea Eilely 6 0-0 13, JoJo Jurado 0 0-0 0, Kara Jones 0 0-1 0, Victoria Mondy 7 0-0 14, Taylor Mochowski 1 0-0 2, Milly Cruz 1 1-2 4, Bella Gonzalez 3 1-2 8. Totals 26 9-16 67.
GRANDVIEW (72)
Kennede Brown 5 2-5 12, Michaela Onyenwere 11 12-16 35, Cristina Salazar 1 0-4 3, Sierra Penn 3 2-2 8, Jaiden Galloway 2 2-4 6, Kayla Vallin 2 1-3 6, Alexus Gash 1 0-0 2, Lenzi Hudson 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 19-34 72.
3-point field goals — Rampart (6): Cassidy Budge 3, Milly Cruz, Nicea Eliely, Bella Gonzalez; Grandview (3): Michaela Onyenwere, Cristina Salazar, Kayla Vallin; Total fouls — Rampart 28, Grandview 20. Fouled out — Rampart: Eliely, JoJo Jurado, Victoria Mondy. Technical fouls — Rampart: Bench.
