BOULDER - The
Air Academy girls basketball team has faced the state's best this season, regardless of classification. Now, the Kadets will have the opportunity to put their mark on the Class 4A season.
Air Academy advanced to the state championship game for the first time with a 49-36 semifinals victory over
Pueblo West on Wednesday at the Coors Events Center. A year after losing in the Final Four, the Kadets will face D'Evelyn to try to secure their first state title.
Air Academy's Brittany Hernandez
File photo by Dennis Marpuri
After having faced three of the four teams in the 5A semifinals, Air Academy definitely seemed more prepared for the big stage. During the regular season the Kadets beat Legacy, while losing to Highlands Ranch and Regis Jesuit.
"Our coach (Bob Wingett) purposefully planned that schedule for us so we
would be able to handle things," senior
Brittany Hernandez said. "I think it's paying off for
us right now."
Despite some sloppy play in the first half, the Kadets (25-2) took a big lead into intermission because their trapping defense forced Pueblo West into an even sloppier performance. The Cyclones (23-4) committed 14 turnovers in the first half (Air Academy had nine), as the Kadets built a 26-11 advantage at the break.
Matters didn't improve much in the second half, as the Air Academy quickly grew early in the third quarter. It was the second victory for the Kadets against Pueblo West, the first a 45-34 decision on Dec. 13.
Hernandez led Air Academy with 17 points (on 7-for-11 shooting), to go along with 12 rebounds.
Kate Louthan and
Miranda Beal chipped in with nine points each.
Hernandez said having played Pueblo West earlier in the season helped "a little bit, but it's the playoffs, so you never know what can happen.
Upsets are really common in the playoffs, so we just came in with the
mindset that we had never played them before."
The Kadets did, though, use the experienced gained during the Final Four last year.
"We didn't feel quite as nervous or as uptight before for the game," Hernandez said "We
felt pretty comfortable playing here ... so I think that was another
thing that helped us."
Pueblo West, whose only losses came to Air Academy and undefeated Pueblo South twice, pulled to within nine points midway through the fourth quarter. The Cyclones, though, committed turnovers on three of their next four possessions, which allowed Air Academy to pull away. Pueblo West finished with 22 turnovers and also shot just 35 percent for the game.
Senior guard
Dee Arrieta led Pueblo West with 15 points.
D'Evelyn (Denver) 57, Pueblo South 53,
In the second semifinal, D’Evelyn used a big second half to wipe out an
11-point halftime deficit to also advance to the state championship game for the
first time. D’Evelyn outscored Pueblo South 41-26 in the second half.
Senior Holly Reinke scored 17 points, 10 coming in the
fourth quarter, to help the Jaguars (23-3) hand Pueblo South its only loss of
the season. For D’Evelyn, seven of its
10 3-pointers also came after intermission.
“We were very intimidated by them. They are an amazing team,
a good program. They always have been,” said Reinke, explaining the slow start.
“We stepped it up in the second half, obviously.”
D’Evelyn didn’t take its first lead of the game until the
fourth quarter, with 6:56 remaining, on a layup by Mallory Seemann. The teams
largely exchanged baskets for the next 3 minutes, until Reinke hit her second
3-pointer of the quarter to give D’Evelyn a 47-44 lead it didn’t relinquish.
Pueblo South (26-1) pulled to within 51-49 on a layup by
Megan Patterson with 1:20 remaining, but D’Evelyn made its free throws down the
stretch to seal it. Sophomore Malia Shappell made four of her six free-throw
attempts in the final 44 seconds and also made a key steal during that span.
Despite going 13-for-25 overall from the free-throw line,
the Jaguars made 8 of 11 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.
“We work on free throws all the time during practice. And
three pointers, that’s what we are known for, so that’s what we practice all
the time,” said Reinke, who also led all players with 10 rebounds. “We did well
under pressure. Some girls hit some big free throws for us.”
Megan Patterson paced the Colts with 17 points, while
Shannon Patterson added 12 points.
