The starting five of the 2023-24 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Basketball Team — selected by the Sentinel in conjunction with balloting of city coaches — has absolutely everything you could want on a court: size, skill, heart, championship and almost-championship pedigree.
Two key players from Class 6A runner-up Regis Jesuit — the senior duo of Hana Belibi and Coryn Watts — two vital cogs from 6A No. 1 seed and Centennial League champion Cherokee Trail (senior Damara Allen and junior Delainey Miller) and dominant junior Sienna Betts, who just happened to repeat as Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year, combine to give the area a formidable presence.
Betts won two state championships in her first two seasons and though that run finally came to an end — as coach Josh Ulitzky’s Wolves lost to Centennial League rival Mullen in the 6A Sweet 16 to snap an 11-game postseason winning streak — she had another elite season.
The 6-foot-4 frontcourt player, who committed to UCLA prior to the season, went out and led the state’s largest classification in scoring (22.5 points per game) and rebounding (15.6 per game), while she also ranked in the top five in blocked shots (third at 3.2 per game) and assists (fifth with 4.6 per game), all while functioning as the center of a Wolves team with many new faces.
Belibi won Continental League Player of the Year honors and finished second to Betts in the top two statistical categories among area players, as she averaged 17.9 points (which was just outside the top 10 in 6A) and 8.7 rebounds per contest.
With good shooting range, a variety of mid-range shots and the ability to get to the free throw line, the 6-foot Harvard University commitment upped her scoring average to 19 points in five playoff games. She had a game-high 26 in a loss to Valor Christian in the state title game for coach Jordan Kasemodel’s Raiders (20-8).
Watts combined with Belibi to form the highest-scoring duo for an Aurora girls team, as the savvy 5-foot-7 guard poured in 15.9 points per game to give the Raiders a combined 33.8 points per contest.
She knocked down 45 3-pointers to lead her prolific shooting team — which made a total of 204 triples on the season — and she was unafraid to take the ball to the basket as well. Watts, the area’s assist leader among guards at 4.3 per game and a, has signed with the University of Denver.
Cherokee Trail’s best-ever season — which saw it make the Great 8 and Final Four for the first time before it suffered its only loss of the season to Valor Christian in the semifinals — was the realized goal of its senior catalyst, Allen. The Cougars finished 4-10 in Allen’s freshman season, which was abbreviated because of the COVID-19 pandemic and progressed steadily upward to 24-3 in her final prep campaign.
Allen, a University of Texas-San Antonio recruit, didn’t have to do everything for her team, but she took big shots, welcomed the toughest defensive assignments — the 5-foot-9 guard guarded Betts in the post despite giving up seven inches — and infused belief.
Allen finished as the team’s leading scorer at 11.9 points per game, while the All-Centennial League first-teamer also pulled down 6.3 rebounds per game (and finished with six double-doubles).
On a team with mostly carved out roles, Miller provided a little bit of everything that coach Tammi Traylor-Statewright needed. She was the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per contest, but upped that to nearly 15 per contest in four playoff games, including 21 points in the semifinals against Valor Christian.
Miller also averaged just under six rebounds, 2.2 assists and a steal per game, while she also provided well-time sparks to the Cougars on multiple occasions.
SECOND TEAM: A total of nine Aurora-area players earned all-league first team accolades between the Centennial League, City League (4A/5A and 6A), Colorado League and Continental League, while 14 others were all-league second team picks and there were numerous honorable mention nods. The All-Aurora second team is also a very talented group, which includes another key member of Cherokee Trail’s semifinal team in junior Madeline Gibbs, who knocked down 37 3-pointers on the season and has moved into the program lead in all-time makes. Regis Jesuit’s championship-game run came with big contributions from its senior leaders, but junior Jane Rumpf — an All-Continental League second team performer — was second on the team in rebounding (7.6 per contest) and she knocked down 38 3-pointers to boot as a vital contributor. Vista PEAK Prep won the City League 4A/5A title with help from veterans that included leading scorer Eianna Jackson (10.7 points per game), who also ranked in the top five among Aurora players in assists and steals per game in addition to the emotional spark she provided in big moments. Rangeview had a new coach and a variety of young players in the mix, but senior D’Ajha Horton was a holdover that could be counted on and she was a top-10 Aurora scorer (13.5 points) and rebounder (6.7 rebounds) per game, while she was a Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Sports (CCGS) All-State selection. Overland improved in the win column to 13 with help from senior Seilani Relford, a versatile contributor who made the All-Centennial League second team after she led her team in scoring average at 12.7 points and rebounding at 6.8 per game.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023-24 AURORA SENTINEL ALL-AURORA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Damara Allen, sr., Cherokee Trail; Hana Belibi, sr., Regis Jesuit; Sienna Betts, jr., Grandview; Delainey Miller, jr., Cherokee Trail; Coryn Watts, sr., Regis Jesuit
SECOND TEAM
Madeline Gibbs, jr., Cherokee Trail; D’Ajha Horton, sr., Rangeview; Eianna Jackson, jr., Vista PEAK Prep; Seilani Relford, sr., Overland; Jane Rumpf, jr., Regis Jesuit
— Full 2023-24 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Basketball Team, here
