AURORA | Regis Jesuit weathered a big Grandview run in the third quarter and made the big plays in crunch time on its way to a 59-53 non-league battle between previously unbeaten teams Saturday night at Regis Jesuit High School.
Junior Justine Hall had a game-high 20 points, junior Diani Akigbogun added 18 and junior Kelsi Lidge 11 — including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter — as the Raiders improved to 11-0 ahead of a trip to the Classic in the Country, an elite tournament in Kentucky.
Grandview’s unbeaten streak was snapped at 10 games, despite 17 points from junior Natalie Halbleib — who drained five of the Wolves’ seven 3-pointers — 11 each from seniors Adaeze Obinnah and Natasha Edge.
Behind a big second quarter by Hall, who had 12 in the period and 14 in the first half, Regis Jesuit pushed out to a 32-23 edge.
Edge ate into the lead immediately in the third quarter with a 3-pointer, which began an 18-4 run for the Wolves.
A basket by Obinnah and a 3-point play converted by Sedia Olsen brought Grandview within a point, while a steal and Edge layup produced a 35-34 advantage. Katie Cunningham’s 3-point play gave the Wolves their largest lead of five points with 2:52 remaining in the period.
Akigbogun got three back before the quarter end and nearly more, as her buzzer-beating shot from midcourt rimmed out.
The Raiders finally tied the game at 48-48 on Hall’s jumper with 2:32 left, then Akigbogun came up with a steal and found Lidge, whose 3-pointer gave her team the lead for good. It was the lone triple of the night for Regis Jesuit.
Twice the Raiders got up five points in the final 1:25, but Halbleib’s fifth 3-pointer of the game made it 55-53 with 39.1 seconds remaining.
Grandview wouldn’t score again, however, while Jess Lewis and Hall went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to seal the outcome.
The Wolves lost to Regis Jesuit for the third time in four seasons.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at [email protected] or 303-750-7555
REGIS JESUIT 59, GRANDVIEW 53
Score by quarters:
Grandview 12 11 18 12 — 53
Regis Jesuit 14 18 7 20 — 59
GRANDVIEW (53)
Brooke Genovese 0 0-0 0, Natalie Halbleib 6 0-0 17, Natasha Edge 4 2-4 11, Katie Cunningham 1 3-4 5, Adaeze Obinnah 5 1-3 11, Sedia Olsen 1 2-3 4, Erin Kemp 1 2-2 5, Brittany Bender 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-16 53.
REGIS JESUIT (59)
Justine Hall 7 6-6 20, Diani Akigbogun 8 2-5 18, Kelsi Lidge 4 2-2 11, Jess Lewis 0 2-2 2, Jordan Molyneaux 3 0-2 6, Anna Ptasinski 1 0-0 2, Neffie Lockley 0 0-0 0, Wendy Dyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-17 59.
3-point field goals — Grandview (7): Natalie Halbleib 5, Natasha Edge, Erin Kemp; Regis Jesuit: Kelsi Lidge. Total fouls — Grandview 20, Regis Jesuit 15. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
