A group of young women who will be attending Brighton High School in the fall participated in a junior-varsity competitive league in May and June in the Gold Crown League .

    The teams in their division were from Beth Eden, Evergreen, Prairie View, Golden, Arapahoe, Littleton, Brighton and the Denver Indian Center. Brighton’s team members were Cheyenne Siemering, Katrina Fair, Cassie Kaiser, Aili Kremer, Zoe Sailas, Brielle Brady, Nikki Kreuger, and Natori Houston.

    The girls were coached by Robert Siemering and his assistant coach Bobbie Kremer. They run an up-tempo attacking style of play with intense defense focused on team play, passing the ball and making free throws consistently. The BHS girls are not nearly as tall as the teams they play against – with only one tall player at 5 foot 10 inches. The BHS girls play much taller than their physical height by proper positioning, smart decision making and being very fast.

    The regular season ended with the Brighton team having 10 wins and no losses. The Denver Indian Center was second with a record of 7-3. In the tournament the girls played the second-place team in the Gold Division from Green Mountain. The Green Mountain team played a game of keep away, choosing to run time off the clock instead of trying to score and play real basketball. There were some slight jitters on the BHS side, which resulted in the only loss of the season by a score of 32-27.

    BHS then played a team from Castle View, which also ended the regular season at 10-0. Although there were four players for Castle View which ranged from 6 foot to 6 foot 3 inches, the BHS team won in a nail biter by three points, 36-33 and took third place in the tournament. Overall, the BHS team averaged 36 points per game to its opponents 21 and outscored its opponents 426 -252 in 12 games.

    The Gold Crown Foundation is a non-profit public charity founded in 1986 by former NBA Denver Nuggets player Bill Hanzlik and Colorado business leader Ray Baker. The organization operates with a mission to provide opportunities and educate youth and community through sports programs. The foundation operates the Gold Crown Fieldhouse, a 56,000-square-foot indoor facility in Lakewood that houses six basketball courts which are in almost constant use daily.

    What is the rest of the story? The BHS team had one junior and two sophomores. The balance of the BHS team was made up of incoming freshman who have had no high school basketball experience yet. The teams the girls were competing against were made up primarily of juniors and sophomores.         According to Siemering, “We have played teams from all over the Front Range over the past three years, and there is not a team out there that we cannot compete with. I think these girls believe that too.”

    In the past three years, the team is 74-18. Well-done, Lady Bulldogs. The future of Brighton basketball appears bright.

Editor’s note: Rod Fair’s daughter was a member of the team.