Riverdale Ridge's Payton Meineke makes a layup during a 58-22 win over Lamar Feb. 24. Riverdale faces D'Evelyn at 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 3, in the Great 8 round of the Class 4A girls basketball tournament.
Jonathan Maness
Riverdale Ridge's Ella Cornellius shoots a jumper during a 58-22 win over Lamar Feb. 24. Riverdale faces D'Evelyn at 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 3, in the Great 8 round of the Class 4A girls basketball tournament.
Jonathan Maness
Riverdale Ridge's Gabby Herr shoots a jumper during a 58-22 win over Lamar Feb. 24. Riverdale faces D'Evelyn at 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 3, in the Great 8 round of the Class 4A girls basketball tournament.
Jonathan Maness
Riverdale Ridge's Brihanna Crittendon passes to an open teammate during a 58-22 win over Lamar Feb. 24. Riverdale faces D'Evelyn Friday, March 3, in the Great 8 round of the Class 4A girls basketball tournament.
Jonathan Maness
By Jonathan Maness
Special to Colorado Community Media
THORNTON – No.7-seeded Riverdale Ridge made quick work of No. 10 Lamar in the second-round of the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament.
The Ravens locked up the Thunder from the opening whistle as they cruised to a 58-22 victory.
Lamar came into the game averaging 46.6 points a contest and was on a 10-game winning streak, but that didn’t matter when it got to Riverdale.
The Thunder was held to only eight points in the first half and struggled to get an open shot against Riverdale’s aggressive defense.
“The girls have really been locked in on defense all year,” Riverdale coach Tim Jones said. “We have held multiple opponents below their averages. Our girls know it’s hard to scout effort on the defensive side of the ball.”
That effort was also key on the boards, as the Ravens dominated the glass on both sides of the ball. Riverdale consistently came up with offensive rebounds to get an extra possession.
“Dominating the glass helped us tremendously,” Jones said. “You can afford to have bad shooting nights if you rebound the ball well.”
The Ravens didn’t shoot the ball great. Brihanna Crittendon and Gabby Herr were the only RRHS players to score in the first half. However, that duo did its damage, scoring 15 points each to pace the Ravens as they cruised to a 30-8 advantage at the half.
Riverdale started to get more production in the second half. Macayla Stark, Danicka Rojas and Payton Meineke each added baskets. Lamar did its best to shut down Crittendon – many times throwing two to three defenders at her. However, there is a reason why the 6-foot-2 freshman leads the state in scoring. She continued to do damage from the charity stripe and scored on putbacks to finish the contest with 23 points.
The big challenge for Riverdale will be Friday when the Ravens face No. 2 D’Evelyn in the Great Eight matchup at the Denver Coliseum. The Jaguars are going into the matchup undefeated and are coming off of a commanding 73-42 victory over No. 15 Kent Denver.
“Next week is a great opportunity for our young team,” Jones said. “D’Evelyn, arguably to me, is the No. 1 team in 4A basketball.”
On paper the two teams are pretty identical. Riverdale averages 66.6 points and D’Evelyn scores at 61.6 a game. Defensively, D’Evelyn is only giving up 31 a game and Riverdale 34.3.
Both teams also feature two of the best players in the state. Crittendon averages 31 ½ points and 9 ½ rebounds per game. D’Evelyn features star junior Peyton Marvel. Marvel has averaged a double-double every year and is currently leading the Jaguars at 19.2 points and 12.8 rebounds a game.
“Our girls are pumped,” the coach said. “We matched up pretty well this summer, so next week should be some really good basketball.”
The game tips off at 8.45 a.m. on Friday.
