AURORA | The Cherokee Trail girls basketball team continued to grow its impressive resume — one it hopes will pay off in the upcoming Class 6A state playoffs — with a win over a team with a proven track record Wednesday night.
The Cougars started and finished strong in a Centennial League-opening clash with rival and two-time defending state champion Grandview, as they came away with a 52-40 victory to remain undefeated against Colorado teams.
Senior Damara Allen tallied 18 points and did her best to defend 6-foot-4 Wolves star Sienna Betts defensively, while juniors Madeline Gibbs and Delainey Miller added eight points apiece for coach Tammi Traylor-Statewright’s Cherokee Trail, which improved to 12-2 overall.
The Cougars — currently the No. 1 team in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s seeding index as well as MaxPreps’ rankings — moved to 10-0 against state teams with the win over coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves, who also were undefeated in Colorado coming into the game.
Betts scored a game-high 22 points, while sophomore Lexi Yi added seven and junior Deija Roberson five for Grandview, which had a three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 6-7. The Wolves sit No. 13 in the 6A seeding index and No. 10 in MaxPreps rankings.
Both teams get back into Centennial League play on Friday when Cherokee Trail goes to Smoky Hill and Grandview pays a visit to Arapahoe.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 52, GRANDVIEW 40
Score by quarters:
Grandview 9 11 10 10 — 40
Cher. Trail 11 18 9 14 — 52
GRANDVIEW (40)
Maya Smith 1 1-2 3, Lexi Yi 3 0-0 7, Ava Chang 1 0-2 3, Deija Roberson 2 1-4 5, Sienna Betts 7 8-8 22, Amya Narducci 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 10-16 40.
CHEROKEE TRAIL (52)
Karson Chaney 2 0-0 6, Madeline Gibbs 3 1-2 8, Talia Strode 2 1-2 5, Damara Allen 8 1-2 18, Delainey Miller 2 4-7 8, Aaliyah Broadus 2 0-0 5, Kynli Hart 1 0-0 2, Ryen Galloway 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-13 52.
3-point field goals — Grandview (2): Ava Chang, Lexi Yi. Cherokee Trail (5): Karson Chaney 2, Damara Allen, Aaliyah Broadus, Madeline Gibbs. Total fouls — Grandview 13, Cherokee Trail 19. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
