AURORA | A profile look at Regis Jesuit sophomore Fran Belibi, who is set to play for Team East in the inaugural A-Town All-Star Girls Game set for Saturday, March 18, 2017, at Cherokee Trail High School. The girls game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. (buy tickets in advance: bit.ly/ATOWN2017):
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
A-Town All-Stars Girls Game makes its debut March 18 at Cherokee Trail
FRAN BELIBI
School: Regis Jesuit High School
Year: Sophomore
Height: 6-foot-1
2016-17 averages: 15.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 2.6 steals per game
Season highlights: After a couple of down seasons by the program’s extremely lofty standards, the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team returned to the semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament during the 2016-17 season. The Raiders hadn’t been back in the Final Four since they won the state championship in 2014, but coach Carl Mattei’s team got the program back to elite level as part of a 20-win season. Sophomore Fran Belibi’s development into one of the most exciting players in the state helped Regis Jesuit earn the spotlight for a lot of the season. A longtime tennis player who had only a little over a year worth of experience in basketball, Belibi became the first Colorado girls basketball player to dunk a game this season and did it three times, including once in the postseason. The Continental League Player of the Year was one of only two Aurora girls players to average a double-double (Rangeview’s Angel Broadus was the other) as she contributed 15.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, plus 3.2 blocked shot and 2.6 steals. Belibi — whose performance this season generated scholarship offers from more than 200 women’s college basketball programs — will play on Team East in the inaugural A-Town All-Star Girls Game
Belibi vs. Aurora teams: vs. Cherokee Trail (22 points, 11 rebounds); vs. Grandview (13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks; 5 points)
