AURORA | It was a memorable last night for Sienna Betts and the Grandview girls basketball team in its final home game of the season.
Betts received a jersey in honor of her selection to the McDonald’s All-American Game in April after she led the top-seeded Wolves to a double-digit victory that made it the only Aurora area program to progress to Saturday’s Class 6A Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.
Tenth-seeded Regis Jesuit and 11th-seeded Cherokee Trail made determined bids to join the quarterfinal group, but dropped tight road contests to see their seasons come to end short of a return to the Denver Coliseum, where they both were a season ago.
Here’s a brief breakdown of Aurora’s Sweet 16 contests Wednesday:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(1) GRANDVIEW 56, (16) ROCKY MOUNTAIN 43
Grandview finished a perfect 12-0 on its home floor with a Sweet 16 victory in which it wasn’t challenged much by visiting Rocky Mountain. Coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves held the Lobos to single digits defensively in the first two quarters and built a 12-point lead at the break, then used a 24-point third quarter to take full control. Senior Sienna Betts finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 of those came in the third quarter when Grandview upped its lead to 24 points. Sophomore Ava Chang poured in 20 points and senior Deija Roberson added 10 for the Wolves (22-3), who advanced to a 4 p.m. Saturday Great 8 contest against No. 8 Denver East (17-8).
(7) LEGEND 47, (10) REGIS JESUIT 38
Regis Jesuit lost to Legend in overtime in a high-scoring contest during Continental League play, but the rematch in the Sweet 16 had a different look. The teams combined for just 32 points in the opening half and coach Jordan Kasemodel’s Raiders had just 13 against an aggressive Titans defense. Regis Jesuit got its scoring going a bit in the second half and cut its deficit from double figures to just three on a free throw by senior Iliana Greene, but Legend salted away the game at the free throw line. Senior Jane Rumpf finished with a team-high 13 points, while Greene added 11 for the Raiders, who finished 18-7 and had a two-seasons streak of Great 8 appearances snapped.
(6) HIGHLANDS RANCH 54, (11) CHEROKEE TRAIL 52 (OT)
Cherokee Trail knocked Highlands Ranch out of the postseason in the Sweet 16 round of last season’s 6A state tournament and was poised to do it again, as it had a two-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation. The Falcons tied it up on free throws to send the game to overtime and then outscored coach Tammi Traylor-Statewright’s Cougars 12-10 in the extra period, with all but two of those points coming from the free throw line. Junior Aaliyah Broadus poured in 26 points to lead Cherokee Trail (15-10), while senior Madeline Gibbs added 12 and junior Karson Chaney had 10.
