Coming off a tough and physical loss to the Denver School of Science and Technology earlier in the week, the Brighton Collegiate High School CHS girls basketball team took to the home courts Thursday night with a purpose.

    The final 56-40 score against the Frontier Academy Wolverines did not reflect the effort in the game.

    “We worked as hard as we could,” BCHS top scorer Amanda Cole said after the game.

    Cole managed 20 points in the first half to keep her fellow Hawks close. The second half would be a different story, as the Wolverines obviously took the halftime break to refocus their efforts on Cole.

    “We’ve never been this close to Frontier before,” Cole said.

    Coming out of the locker rooms, BCHS fought to push that 32-23 deficit to its favor. With the score 36-32 a few minutes later, Frontier called time and sat down to regroup. The Hawks defense held Frontier to a mere five points the entire quarter.

    And as the fourth started, BCHS pushed more. With the Wolverines doubling on Cole, Shawneen Livesay stepped up, hitting a three and two field goals, narrowing the lead to 40-39.

    But that one-point slap in the face put the Wolverines on their toes. With more than six minutes to play, BCHS was shut down cold. That one point was stretched to 17 before Livesay hit a freethrow in the final seconds to finally break the drought.

    “They figured out what we were doing, and at that point, I was exhausted,” Cole said.

    Coach Bob Younger was excited to see his team gel as they did Thursday.

    “We had a few little mistakes that turned into four-point swings. We can’t let those happen. But overall, who wouldn’t be pleased with this game?” Younger said.

    Bruised and battered from the earlier game, BCHS simply wore down. Monique Webb did an outstanding job of keeping Melissa Strauss in check. Strauss is a natural player on the hardwoods and a strong leader at Frontier. She ended the game with 18 points to Cole’s game-high 24.

    “Mo (Webb) worked hard on her but what can you say? Strauss is definitely a solid player,” Younger noted.

    If the one-two punch of competition was tough on the Lady Hawks last week, this week should prove interesting. Starting Tuesday in Campion, after press time, the BCHS girls have a four-game week ahead of them.

    “We’ve never played four in a row. It should be interesting,” Younger said.