The Highlands Ranch girls’ basketball team wasn’t perfect
Saturday.
For two and a half minutes of its sweet 16 game against 16-6
Grand Junction at Manual High School’s Thunderdome, Highlands Ranch
stumbled, and the Tigers took an early 5-4 lead.
When the Falcons’ momentary lapse was over, however, so was the
game.
The Falcons took control, and Grand Junction was powerless to
stop them, as Highlands Ranch dominated the Tigers 82-39 and moved
on to the quarterfinals of the Colorado Class 5A girls’ basketball
playoffs.
The Falcons’ play was reminiscent of Magic Johnson’s Lakers or
Larry Bird’s Celtics or Michael Jordan’s Bulls. It was almost
flawless in every aspect, and it stunned the Tigers.
Every Tigers pass was intercepted, every shot was blocked and
every rebound was stolen. On offense, the Falcons unleashed their
extensive arsenal on the shocked Tigers.
Senior Kim Perkins posted 14 points for the Falcons, and junior
Faye Muller added 10.
Showing her diversity, Ann Strother, who scored 18 points, drove
the lane, hit the outside shots and made passes that likely gave
the Grand Junction players sore necks. Many of those passes landed
in the hands of Liz Sherwood, who used her 6-foot-4 frame to add 21
points to the Falcons’ victory.
One of the Falcons’ most powerful, and often unnoticed, weapons,
5-11 junior Susie Powers, seemed to be all over the court
Saturday.
While the Tigers tried to find an answer to Strother and
Sherwood (together they posted as many points as the entire Grand
Junction team), Powers was a constant burr under the Tigers’
saddle.
In addition to her 13 points, Powers controlled the pace of the
game on offense and seldom let Grand Junction get past half court
on defense.
“Defense was definitely a main focus for us,” Powers said. “We
had to stay focused and work together to be able to get it
done.”
With the top four teams in the state still in the tournament,
the Falcons will have to maintain that focus if they are to win
their third-straight state title.
As she has done all season, Highlands Ranch coach Caryn Jarocki
said she will take the tournament one game at a time.
For the moment, she is just happy to be past round
three.
“I hate this round,” she said. “This is the scariest round
because there’s usually upsets in this round.”
The Falcons didn’t seem to have any trouble avoiding an upset
and will take their 20-2 record to the Denver Coliseum at 3:30
p.m., today, to face Smoky Hill, which has an identical record.