DENVER | The Cherokee Trail girls basketball team lost just one time to a Colorado team in the entirety of the 2023-24 season.
Unfortunately, it came one game shy of the Cougars’ goal to reach the Class 6A state championship game, as the top seed suffered a 71-59 loss to No. 4 Valor Christian Thursday evening at Denver Coliseum in a game that was tighter than the final score.
Cherokee Trail got 21 points from junior Delainey Miller and 18 from senior Damara Allen, but couldn’t keep pace with the Eagles and junior star Quinn VanSickle (who had a game-high 33 points) in the pivotal portion of the contest.
“This is our first loss in the state,” Cougars coach Tammi Traylor-Statewright said. “It sucks that it happens today, but it was still pretty good.”
The Cougars finished 23-3 overall, with their only other two losses coming out of state at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona prior to winter break.
Cherokee Trail won the Centennial League championship — going 7-0 in the regular season and 3-0 at the Centennial League Challenge — earned the program’s first-ever trip to the Great 8 as well as its first semifinal berth, but ended up shy of its inaugural chance to play for a state championship.
“I told them to be proud of what they’ve done,” Traylor-Statewright said.
The semifinal could have gone a different direction, as the see-saw battle saw the game tied at 57-57 with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter on a basket for Miller.
The Cougars even had a chance to go ahead, but Valor Christian scored the next three points and still led 60-59 with 2:15 left after a basket by Cherokee Trail sophomore Karson Chaney.
The Cougars would not score the rest of the way, however, and VanSickle went 5-for-6 from the free throw line (part of a 10-for-11 performance in the game) to seal the result for the Eagles, who were awarded 30 free throws as a team and scored 24 points off of them.
“Quinn went nuts on us, so give her credit,” Traylor-Statewright said of VanSickle, who knocked down five of Valor Christian’s nine-pointers in the game.
Cherokee Trail graduates Allen — the team’s leading scorer for the season and a significant tone-setter, who is headed to the University of Texas, San Antonio — but expects to return a core of seniors-to-be in Miller, Madeline Gibbs and Talia Strode along with juniors-to-be Chaney and Aaliyah Broadus.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 6A GIRLS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
(4) VALOR CHRISTIAN 71, (1) CHEROKEE TRAIL 59
Score by quarters:
Valor Christian 13 16 19 21 — 71
Cher. Trail 10 23 15 11 — 59
VALOR CHRISTIAN (71)
Peyton Jones 3 5-7 13, Emma Lytle 2 1-2 5, Camryn Gunter 1 4-6 6, Quinn VanSickle 9 10-11 33, Rylie Beers 3 0-0 7, Kate Fuessel 1 2-2 5, Eva Parks 0 2-2 2. Totals 19 24-30 71.
CHEROKEE TRAIL (59)
Karson Chaney 3 0-0 6, Madeline Gibbs 2 0-0 4, Talia Strode 1 1-2 4, Damara Allen 6 5-7 18, Delainey Miller 7 6-9 21, Aaliyah Broadus 2 2-4 6, Ryen Galloway 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 14-22 59.
3-point field goals — Valor Christian (9): Quinn VanSickle 5, Peyton Jones 2, Rylie Beers, Kate Fuessel. Cherokee Trail (3): Damara Allen, Delainey Miller, Talia Strode. Total fouls — Valor Christian 17, Cherokee Trail 24. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
