Arvada West girls basketball grinds out victory against Columbine

ARVADA — Arvada West used an 8-0 run in the final 2 minutes Tuesday night to edge Columbine in Class 6A Jeffco League girls basketball action.

Columbine junior Jordyn Washington’s 3-point play the hard way with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter tied things up at 33-33. However, the Wildcats scored the final eight points to claim a 41-33 victory.

“We just found a way to be gritty, because it was an ugly basketball game,” A-West coach Brady Meeks said after the Wildcats’ third straight conference win.

A-West (15-2, 6-1 in league) took a 2-game lead over Columbine (13-5, 4-3) and Ralston Valley (11-7, 4-3) for second place in 6A Jeffco. Defending 6A state champion Valor Christian (15-2, 7-0) is atop the conference after its 11th straight victory Tuesday night, a 85-39 victory over Chatfield.

The Wildcats also completed the series sweep of the Rebels. A-West took a 50-43 win at Columbine a few weeks ago. The second time around came down to the quick burst late by A-West.

“We realized that we couldn’t give anything up,” A-West senior Sara Walker said of the Wildcats’ domination in the final minutes. “We were aggressive to the ball on defense and aggressive to the rim when we needed to.”

Walker, who was under the weather battling an illness Tuesday, had just one bucket in the win. It might have very well be the biggest basket of the night to begin the 8-0 run. The senior had a driving layup with 2 minutes left to put the Wildcats up 35-33.

On the next Columbine possession, Walker stole the ball and fed it ahead to sophomore Macie Ferguson for an uncontested layup.

“I told the kids that if we keep Columbine under 40 points we wouldn’t have a problem winning because they are a track meet team. They want to get into the 60s and 70s,” Meeks said. “If we keep teams under 40 points we should win every game. Honestly, we had a problem scoring 40 points until our defense picked it up.”

Walker had another steal and junior Santana Pena had a pair of steals as the turnover bug hit the Rebels in the final minutes. Senior Avery Harrison also had a couple of big defensive plays in the fourth quarter that held Columbine to just 3 points in the final quarter.

“When you aren’t playing well offensively your defense has to create your offense,” Meeks said. “Those last couple of minutes between Sara, Santana and Avery had some big block too. Those were huge for us.”

A-West senior Saylor Swanson had a game-high 15 points. Ferguson finished with 12 points for the Wildcats. Harrison had 6 points, all in the second half, and Pena finished with 6 points also.

“I thought our team really stepped up when I couldn’t do what I normally do,” Walker said. “Everyone picked it up.”

Columbine junior Taylor Speir had a team-high 11 points for the Rebels. Washington and junior Mason Abraham both had 9 points each as Columbine’s 5-game winning streak came to an end.

The Rebels host Bear Creek on Thursday before hitting the road against Valor in Highlands Ranch. A-West gets its second shot against Valor on Thursday night. The Wildcats are on the road against the Eagles.

“The pressure is all on them,” Walker said of the rematch against Valor. “If we play our game and play hard, we have a shot.”

Valor has won six straight Jeffco League titles. A win over A-West on Thursday would nearly clinch a 7th consecutive conference title.

“I just want them to go out and play,” Meeks said of the Valor game. “We aren’t reinventing the wheel now. We have the second round of these (league) games and we are thinking about how teams are going to adjust to us.”