6A girls basketball: Northfield, Highlands Ranch to battle for title

DENVER – The Northfield girls basketball team is one win away from state championship No. 1.

The City League top division champion and fifth-seeded Nighthawks turned up the pressure on top-seeded Cherokee Trail in the second half Thursday evening at the Denver Coliseum and surged to a 67-57 Class 6A semifinal victory that put the program in a final for the second time.

Northfield — which lost in the 5A state title game to Roosevelt back in 2024 before moving up in classifications — is set to play in the 6A state championship game at 2:15 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the other semifinal between No. 6 Denver East and No. 7 Highlands Ranch.

Coach Sydney Price’s Nighthawks (24-3) tallied 42 points in a foul-filled second half — helped by 23 of their 33 trips to the free throw line for the game — and held off a prideful late run by the Cougars (23-4) to advance.

Junior Delaney Dennis played a pivotal role in Northfield’s rally from a double-digit lead for Cherokee Trail in the opening half and led three players in double figures for her team with 22 points, while juniors Madison Bethel and London Taylor added 16 points apiece.

Freshman Chloe Cain finished with a game-high 25 points for coach Tammi Statewright’s Cougars, who lost in the semifinals for the second time in three seasons with a chance to make the championship game for the first time.

Cherokee Trail got off to a strong start in the game behind Cain and senior Aaliyah Broadus, whose departure from the game due to foul trouble had a major impact.

Dennis had seven in the third quarter as Northfield turned a five-point halftime deficit into a six-point lead after three quarters.

Cherokee Trail got back to within two points near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but London Taylor and Dennis scored back-to-back transition baskets that give the Nighthawks the cushion they needed.

Highlands Ranch 52, Denver East 33

April showers came in March for Highlands Ranch.

After making just three 3-pointers in the first half, the Falcons connected on six of them in the third quarter to beat Denver East in 6A Final 4.

Of the 20 points Highlands Ranch scored in the third, 18 of them came from long range.

Addie Moon scored a game-high XX points and after sending a jolt through the modest Falcons student section in the third, got the crowd going again by leading off the fourth quarter with yet another triple.

The Angels had briefly tied the game with 4:37 left in the third on a Mia Avramovic layup, but the Falcons responded by going on a 26-4 run to put the game well out of reach.

Highlands Ranch is now back in the title game for the first time since 2016 and is looking for its first championship since 2011.