The girls basketball program at Arvada West shook up the Class 6A standings Wednesday night, beating No. 1 Valor Christian 66-56.
The unranked Wildcats withstood 30 points from Montana commit Macey Huard, handing the Eagles their first loss in the Jefferson County League since Feb. 13, 2018.
What’s even stranger is Valor Christian had been the most dominant team in 6A over the last two months, winning 14 straight and 10 in a row by double digits.
The Eagles, in fact, have been ranked No. 1 in the class since Dec. 19.
Probably not anymore.
In this week’s look at the big classifications in girls basketball, we’ll take a peek at some of the most intriguing teams in Class 6A, 5A and 4A with a little more than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Class 6A
Arvada West: Yes it’s true the Wildcats didn’t receive a vote in the last polls. A candidate without a following. But who are they really?
Outside of a 19-point loss to Columbine last week, the Wildcats (14-4) have been in position to win every game on their schedule this winter in the final minutes.
Their other losses are to Chatfield by three, Ralston Valley by one and 4A No. 2 D’Evelyn by five.
Ellie Pugliese leads the team at 11.9 points per game. As part of it, she is shooting 80% (43 of 54) from the free throw line.
Sara Walker does a little of everything else. The sophomore is averaging a team-leading 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals. She is also shooting a team-best 47% from the field (30 of 86).
Arvada West faces No. 11 Ralston Valley Saturday.
No. 8 Grandview: If anything, the Wolves (11-7) are a young and talented team maturing by the week. A scary proposition to face in the postseason.
In this last week alone, they beat No. 7 Regis Jesuit by 12, lost to No. 4 Cherokee Trail by just three and fell to No. 3 Cherry Creek by 16.
Sienna Betts is just a sophomore and is already among the best players in the state. She’s a double-double in all 16 games. Her 21.3 points, 15.1 rebounds and 3.9 blocks, meanwhile, are each the most in the classification.
There are youngsters rising, too. Take freshman Lexi Yi. She had a career-high 19 points in the win over the Raiders Friday. That’s after she averaged less than four points coming into the game.
The Wolves are at No. 13 Eaglecrest Friday.
Class 5A
No. 3 Windsor: The Wizards (13-5), last year’s state runner-up in 4A, look to be in prime form to make another run at a state title this winter.
The program’s one and only championship came in 1994.
Over the past two weeks, Windsor has taken control of a deep and talented Northern Colorado Athletic Conference, beating No. 6 Centaurus, No. 5 Mead and 4A No. 1 Holy Family.
Samantha Darnell went 4 for 4 from deep in handing the Tigers their first loss of the season Thursday. She’s 6 of 8 from 3 in her last two games.
Hailee Wright leads the team with 14 PPG on 43% shooting. She went 6 of 12 from the field in a win over Greeley Central Saturday, scoring 17.
The Wizards are a game up on Holy Family in the league standings with five league games remaining. They are at Greeley West Friday.
Mountain View: Addison Branscum has been on a tear while leading the Mountain Lions (10-6) on their current seven-game winning streak.
The junior, averaging 19 PPG and 8.1 boards, has scored at least 18 in every game on the streak. Even better, she has shot 50% from the field or better in each.
The Mountain Lions are at Northridge Thursday before traveling to No. 2 Roosevelt Saturday.
Class 4A
No. 7 Resurrection Christian: The Cougars (10-7), who have had losing streaks of four and three games this season, are back on the rise.
Junior Mackenzie Flikkema scored 14 and Callie Gillespie added 13 in a 46-39 win over No. 8 Eaton Friday, the Cougars’ fourth straight win.
Flikkema is averaging 15 PPG and 6.8 boards while shooting 51% from the field. She’s also 40% from deep and 80% from the line.
The Cougars have a chance to pull within one game of the league lead Thursday night at No. 4 University. The Bulldogs beat them 61-53 on Jan. 12.
No. 9 Berthoud: The Spartans have balanced some really nice wins with enough razor-edge losses to sit at 9-9 with five games left in the regular season.
They just don’t feel like a .500 team.
On Saturday, they rallied to beat 6A Fossil Ridge, an 11-6 team and a 2021 5A quarterfinalist, 54-51. Katie Vierra had 16 points, Lilly Strait 15.
Then, they blew fourth quarter leads to No. 7 Platte Valley and No. 8 Eaton on consecutive nights to fall back to even on the year.
They’re now three games back in the loss column to University in the Patriot League standings.
They face Weld Central Saturday before traveling to face the Bulldogs Monday.
