AURORA | With a chance to seal its second straight EMAC championship, the Vista PEAK girls basketball team took care of business early Wednesday night.
Coach Howard Payne’s Bison went up 19-4 after one quarter in their visit to Hinkley and cruised to a 73-15 victory that secured their defense of last season’s title.
Vista PEAK improved to 8-0 in EMAC play ahead of its league and regular season finale, set for 7 p.m. Thursday. The Bison will also celebrate Senior Night, where Denali Hughes — the team’s leading scorer — Nay Nay Bailey, Tachina Cruz and Angelique Washington will be honored.
The Bison (20-2) — which bounced back from a non-league loss to Rangeview — collected their 20th win of the season again Hinkley, with Highlands Ranch (21-1) the only other team in Class 5A to have as many wins. Vista PEAK surpassed the program’s previous all-time best of 18 wins with its 19th victory when it topped Prairie View Feb. 7.
Vista PEAK did, however, drop one spot in the latest 5A RPI standings as it went down to the No. 11 spot. Teams seeded in the top 16 receive opening round byes in the postseason.
In their first season in 5A, the Bison — which has only lost to Ponderosa and Rangeview — have designs on making it at least to 5A’s Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
VISTA PEAK 73, HINKLEY 15
Score by quarters:
Vista PEAK 19 23 16 15 — 73
Hinkley 4 2 7 2 — 15
