DENVER | No matter what happened during Saturday night’s epic Class 5A state championship game, the Grandview girls basketball team would not be denied its repeat.
The defending state champion Wolves faced a 12-0 deficit against Regis Jesuit in the opening minutes of the title game at the Denver Coliseum and also found themselves down five points with five minutes left with leading scorer and sparkplug Leilah Vigil fouled out.
Coach Josh Ulitzky’s team took both patches of adversity in stride and overcame it, as fourth-seeded Grandview finished the game on a 15-4 run for a 67-61 win over the sixth-seeded Raiders — the only Colorado team to beat the Wolves during the regular season — in the first-ever all-Aurora girls final.
Freshman Addison O’Grady stepped up down the stretch in Vigil’s absence and scored a game-high 14 points — six in the fourth quarter — Vigil and junior Alisha Davis contributed 13 apiece and junior Allyah Marlett kicked in 11 for Grandview, which became the first Colorado 5A girls team to repeat since that Regis Jesuit team in 2013 & 2014.
The Raiders went up double figures before many had gotten comfortable in their seats, but coach Carl Mattei’s team lost junior Fran Belibi and freshman Avery Vansickle to fouls in the fourth quarter when it tried to hold onto the lead they’d held the entire game.
Sophomore Jada Moore led Regis Jesuit with 13 points, while senior Jasmine Gaines had 12 and Belibi and Vansickle added 11 apiece.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
(4) GRANDVIEW 67, (6) REGIS JESUIT 61
Score by quarters:
Grandview 15 23 10 19 — 67
Regis Jesuit 20 17 16 8 — 61
REGIS JESUIT (61)
Fran Belibi 5 1-2 11, Jasmine Gaines 3 3-4 12, Avery Vansickle 3 2-2 11, Jada Moore 4 5-6 13, Noelle Cahill 3 3-3 9, Sam Jones 0 2-2 2, Sidney Weigand 1 0-0 3, Olivia Ayers 0 0-2 0, Gracie Weigand 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-21 61.
GRANDVIEW (67)
Jaiden Galloway 1 3-4 5, Alisha Davis 4 5-7 13, Allyah Marlett 3 3-5 11, Leilah Vigil 5 3-3 13, Addison O’Grady 4 6-8 14, Landri Hudson 2 0-0 6, Tomia Johnson 0 2-2 2, Sariah Serrano 1 0-0 3, Kameryn Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 22-29 67.
3-point field goals — Regis Jesuit (7): Jasmine Gaines 3, Avery Vansickle 3, Sidney Weigand; Grandview (5): Landri Hudson 2, Allyah Marlett 2, Sariah Serrano. Total fouls — Regis Jesuit 24, Grandview 18. Fouled out — Regis Jesuit: Fran Belibi, Jada Moore, Vansickle; Grandview: Leilah Vigil. Technical fouls — None.