With no seniors on the roster, the Roosevelt girls gritted their way to the first basketball title in school history Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
And with that crown, the uber-tough Rough Riders put the state on notice: The Johnstown school is just getting started. With everybody coming back, mark them down as the favorites in 2024. And 2025 while you’re at it.
“This is just the beginning,” said sophomore combo guard Ryanne Bahnsen-Price, who led Roosevelt with 13 points. “We’ve got at least the next two in our sights. This is a young, hungry team and now we’re on the map.”
Roosevelt beat Windsor 54-44 in the Class 5A championship, using their trademark pressure plus sharpshooting, hustle and poise to pull away in the second half. It marked the Wizards’ third consecutive title game defeat after losing to Mullen in the Class 4A championship each of the past two years.
Freshman forward Kyla Hollier had 10 points and nine rebounds in addition to Bahnsen-Price’s production. Those clutch underclassmen performances were rounded out by nine points apiece from juniors Brynn Price and Madison Moyers. Windsor was paced by 13 points from senior Samantha Darnell and 10 points from sophomore Reyleigh Hess.
Both teams handled the full-court pressure well in a tight first quarter that ended with the score 11-11. In the second quarter, Windsor slowed down the pace, playing borderline stall ball to try to keep Roosevelt from setting the tempo.
Coach Karin Nicholls’ strategy worked for a while, and the Wizards used a 14-2 run to take a 20-15 lead into the locker room. Roosevelt helped Windsor’s push before the half by playing uncharacteristically sloppy; it took the Rough Riders about four minutes to score in the frame. While the Rough Riders temporarily lost their identity, the Wizards surged and had the momentum at their backs at the halftime buzzer.
But the momentum shifted quickly in the third quarter. Roosevelt put its foot on the gas, and Windsor all of a sudden couldn’t find the bucket, turning in an eight-point frame as the Rough Riders took a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter.
“They tried to slow us down, they controlled tempo in the first half,” Roosevelt first-year coach Enoch Miller said. “We had a hard time guarding them the way we’ve been guarding the last couple games, so we had to adjust and go to our zone press in the second half. That allowed us to get the tempo back in our favor, and we just started attacking.”
From there, the Rough Riders stayed aggressive. Meanwhile, the Wizards lost their edge. Roosevelt’s relentless pressure appeared to break the Wizards down, and by midway through the fourth, Roosevelt was in the double-bonus and had opened up a double-digit lead. By then, their second win over the Wizards was cemented, as Roosevelt also beat Windsor 61-59 in non-league play on Dec. 10.
While the Rough Riders full-court pressed their way to wins over Air Academy in the Great 8 and Durango in the Final Four, it was the half-court trap that Miller leaned on the most Saturday. Windsor handled it better than every other team in the tournament, but still, Roosevelt’s athleticism and pressure sped up the Wizards and got them out of rhythm in their half-court offense.
Miller took over Roosevelt this season after taking most of last year off from coaching because of his wife’s battle with COVID. He was previously the Frederick boys coach for seven seasons, and Bahnsen-Price said the coach’s intensity and influence helped push the young team to the title.
“It’s a completely different offense than we ran last year,” Bahnsen-Price said. “A lot more movement, a lot more production, a lot faster. It works for our team, as we saw this tournament.”
