DENVER – It’s not often the most important shot of a championship game is delivered in the first half.
But that was the case for Salida’s Braeden Johnson, who drained a deep 3-pointer while falling to the court of DU’s Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon – setting the tone in the biggest game of her career.
The shot was a catalyst that powered the Spartans past Yuma 48-38 in the Class 3A girls state championship game to claim their first title in program history.
“Seeing those though ones go in, it just gives you that confidence like ‘I can do this.’ It feels so good. I was ready for the moment,” Johnson said. “It helps to get going early. Playing in front of this many people. This is what I wanted. This is what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a freshman. I was ready for the moment.”
Salida took early control in the championship game before Yuma began to battle back. The Outlaws grabbed their first lead of the game late in the second quarter when Johnson responded with ‘the shot.’
The senior point guard raced down the court to hit just her second bucket of the game to put the Spartans back in front. From there, she would go on to score a game-high 22 points.
Johnson was complimented with 11 points from junior Reagan Osness, and another 10 from senior Graysa Kindle.
“It’s surreal. It’s unbelievable. I’m sitting here, just trying to catch my breath in the moment right now,” Salida coach Christopher Bainbridge said. “This hard work that we started three years ago with one goal paid off. Here we are.”
Yuma trailed Salida just 19-18 going into halftime of Saturday’s title game. The Spartans returned from the break strong to extend their lead and take control going into the final quarter.
“We knew that Yuma was going to come out and pressure us. We wanted to control the chaos, not them controlling us,” Bainbridge said. “We had to grind it out with them, and we responded.”
Salida, the No. 5 seed in the 3A bracket, went 25-3 overall this season – which included finishing on a 13-game winning streak in route to capturing the first state title in team history.
No. 3 Yuma finishes 21-7 overall as runner-up. The Outlaws were led by junior Berkley Nighswonger’s team-high 17 points on Saturday.
“We’ve been together since seventh grade, and we knew that we had the potential to be a state championship winning team,” Johnson said. “Just the fact that we did it, I’m so proud of the girls to stay locked in and get it done.”
