While Grandivew’s prolific sophomore Sienna Betts had four chances to shut the door from the free-throw line, she was unable to do so.
The No. 4 seed Wolves’ defense held its own, however. The reigning champions survived a late surge Saturday against No. 3 seed Highlands Ranch in a 57-53 win at the Denver Coliseum to advance to the Class 6A Final 4.
Betts, the sister of Stanford freshman Lauren, did more than enough to keep her team alive with a 23-point, 15-rebound performance. Perhaps uncoincidentally, 15 was the rebounding margin in favor of the Wolves.
“I didn’t really care but knew I had to move on and was like, ‘I missed, whatever. We gotta win this game,’ ” Betts said about her free throws down the stretch.
The Falcons (22-4) put a strong fourth-quarter run together. They made nine 3-pointers on the afternoon, including four in the fourth quarter to trim an eight-point deficit to one with 3:38 remaining.
“The key was, we were trying to take away the 3-point line and take care of the basketball,” Wolves head coach Josh Ulitzky said. “Credit to Highlands Ranch, they made it tough.”
Betts came through with her post work and added five assists, including a pair late in the fourth quarter. While this Wolves program isn’t new to the Final 4 stage, a number of players weren’t on last year’s title-winning team.
It’s why Betts is telling her teammates to embrace the moment.
“This year, we’re going into it totally differently, as we’ve got so many new girls on the team,” she said. “We’re going into it as if every game together is a blessing and we’re heading into it as, ‘Let’s do the best we can do, keep fighting and keep growing.’ ”
Grandview will play the winner of Cherry Creek-Doherty next week.
Highlands Ranch was led by point guard Tori Baker, who had 17 points and six assists and often disrupted Grandview’s half-court offense. Meanwhile, the matchup of the afternoon was down low, as sophomore small forward Maddie Groth more than held her own with a 14-point, eight-rebound effort.
Also contributing for the Wolves was Benedicte Kalala, who scored nine points, while Lexi Yi chipped in six.
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