AURORA | In the midst of a playoff-like contest Saturday afternoon, Grandview senior Leilah Vigil didn’t realize her team had fallen into a nine-point hole in the third quarter against visiting Cherry Creek.
Coach Josh Ulitzky certainly knew the precarious position the Wolves were in down 40-31 to the Bruins four minutes into the second half of their Centennial League showdown and he was pleased to see how they responded.
Grandview used renewed defensive intensity for the rest of the third period to take back the lead, then took control in crunch time on its way to an important 71-61 victory that gave it sole possession of first place atop the league standings.
“I didn’t even know we were down by that much, honestly, it was just about playing hard the whole time,” said Vigil, who finished with a game-high 28 points. “It’s about focusing on what your coach needs and what your team needs and everybody else can worry about the score. It felt like we were up the whole game.
“To me, it’s just playing hard and having fun and I had a lot of fun today.”
Junior Allyah Marlett added 14 points and junior Alisha Davis 12 in addition to big blocked shots and rebounds in a complete team effort for the defending Class 5A state champions, who won their seventh game in a row to improve to 11-3 overall and 6-0 in Centennial League play.
Grandview came in having won its last five games by an average of 48 points and Ulitzky was interested to see how his team would respond against Cherry Creek, which had been on a similar type of roll during a seven-game winning streak.
The Wolves got all they wanted from the Bruins, who came out rough at the start and fell behind 16-7 at the end of the first quarter (thanks to eight points from Vigil and four from Marlett), but captured the momentum for the majority of the second quarter and on the other side of halftime.
Outside shots started to fall, the Bruins came up with the loose balls that eluded them early and they threatened to run away with the game after star sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine points with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
Ulitzky was just hoping to get one stop to halt momentum, but his team did more than that on the defensive end. Grandview turned up the pressure and a variety of blocked shots and steals fueled a 10-0 run that put it into the lead.
“They came out in the second half and they had momentum and then our kids really locked in defensively,” Ulitzky said. “We made a couple of adjustments and the kids adjusted to some things on the fly and committed for each other.”
Davis swatted a shot on one end of the floor and finished a layup on the other end then had a putback on a missed free throw by freshman Addison O’Grady to put the Wolves in front 44-42.
A 3-pointer by Jaela Richardson (who tied Van Gytenbeek for team-high honors with 18 points) put Cherry Creek in front briefly in the fourth quarter, but senior Jaiden Galloway’s inside basket put Grandview back in front and back-to-back steals produced layups by junior Tomia Johnson and Davis.
That earned the Wolves the separation they needed to secure the victory.
“We’ve been working really hard for this; ever since we lost to Regis (53-51 on Dec. 11, 2017), we’ve been trying to focus on what we do best,” said Marlett, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter to match her season-high of 14.
“I think we came out and played amazing,” she added. “We’ve been working on being positive in practice and giving energy, so when we get down like that, it doesn’t phase us because we know what we’re capable of. When we play how we play, we’re not even worried about the score.”
Vigil gave Grandview the push it needed with a steady effort that included at least six points in all four quarters in addition to the usual brand of fire she contributes.
“Points don’t matter, just what the end score is and that my team is happy in the lockerroom,” the University of Missouri-Kansas City signee said.
Grandview completes its first trip through the Centennial League with a 7 p.m. Jan. 24 home game against Mullen, while it looks forward to a rematch on the Bruins’ home floor at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14.
“Chris (Cherry Creek coach Curneen) and I said the thing thing afterward, it was really great for both of our crews, but the only bummer is we have to wait three weeks to play each other again,” Ulitzky said.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
GRANDVIEW 71, CHERRY CREEK 61
Score by quarters:
Cherry Creek 7 21 16 17 — 61
Grandview 16 12 18 25 — 71
CHERRY CREEK (61)
Emma Wrede 1 0-0 3, Jana Van Gytenbeek 5 4-5 18, Isabella Sporaco 4 2-3 9, Sydney Mech 4 1-2 10, Jaela Richardson 7 2-2 18, KaCee Kyle 1 1-2 3, Julia Fein-Ashley 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-14 61.
GRANDVIEW (71)
Jaiden Galloway 3 3-3 9, Alisha Davis 5 2-3 12, Allyah Marlett 3 8-10 14, Leilah Vigil 12 4-7 28, Addison O’Grady 2 0-1 4, Tomia Johnson 1 2-2 4, Landri Hudson 0 0-0 0, Kameryn Bown 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 19-26 71.
3-point field goals — Cherry Creek (6): Jaela Richardson 2, Jana Van Gytenbeek 2, Sydney Mech, Emma Wrede. Total fouls — Cherry Creek 16, Grandview 15. Fouled out — Grandview: Jaiden Galloway. Technical fouls — None.
