AURORA | Sienna Betts’ prowess in the paint is well known, but her range was on display Friday night in the Grandview girls basketball team’s showdown with Regis Jesuit.
The 6-foot-4 junior star post knocked down several jump shots as part of a 27-point explosion in the second half, then came through with a deciding basket inside with just under 20 seconds remaining in the Wolves’ big 53-52 victory over the Raiders.
Betts scored all but five of the 32 second-half points for coach Josh Ulitzky’s Grandview team, which successfully defended several late attempts Regis Jesuit, which didn’t score in the final 2 minutes, 31 seconds, of regulation after taking a three-point lead.
Freshman Ava Chang’s 3-pointer and junior Deija Roberson’s free throws were the only points scored for Grandview (8-7) other than those from Betts, who finished with 17 points in the third quarter and had all 10 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter.
Chang finished with eight points and junior Maya Smith had six for the Wolves, who won their third straight game against Regis Jesuit — two of them decided by two points — since a loss to the Raiders in the 2021 Class 5A semifinals.
Coach Jordan Kasemodel’s Regis Jesuit team dropped to 11-6 on the season despite 15 points from senior Coryn Watts (who was held scoreless in last season’s meeting between the teams), 13 from senior Hana Belibi and 12 from junior Jane Rumpf.
Grandview earned the win a night after a close Centennial League loss to Mullen and immediately returns to league play Saturday with a 1 p.m. home game against Overland (11-5). Regis Jesuit — which had a four-game winning streak snapped — returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at home against Douglas County.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
GRANDVIEW 53, REGIS JESUIT 52
Score by quarters:
Grandview 11 10 22 10 — 53
Regis Jesuit 13 11 17 11 — 52
GRANDVIEW (53)
Maya Smith 3 0-0 6, Lexi Yi 1 2-5 4, Ava Chang 3 0-0 8, Deija Roberson 0 2-2 2, Sienna Betts 15 3-4 33, Leiava Holliman 0 0-0 0, Amya Narducci 0 0-0 0, Aliya Zitek 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-11 53.
REGIS JESUIT (52)
Jane Rumpf 4 2-2 12, Coryn Watts 4 6-8 15, Hana Belibi 4 4-4 13, Jada Hodges 1 0-0 2, Iliana Greene 2 0-0 6, Izzy Davies 0 4-4 4, Alice Lynett 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 16-18 52.
3-point field goals — Grandview (2): Ava Chang 2. Regis Jesuit (6): Iliana Greene 2, Jane Rumpf 2, Hana Belibi, Coryn Watts. Total fouls — Grandview 21, Regis Jesuit 18. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
