After making the Final 4 last year, Arapahoe girls basketball graduated star Sam Crispe, then started this season a ho-hum 4-4.
That’s when Warriors coach Jerry Knafelc decided to take a page out of George Washington’s playbook.
“It wasn’t until we went into break, or as we phrased it ‘Valley Forge,’ that we had the chance to truly refine ourselves,” Knafelc said. “It was like Washington’s winter camp, where he brought in famous generals from other armies to come in and train his troops, because they weren’t functioning very well, and they weren’t very disciplined.
“Then the very first battle out of Valley Forge, the British military leaders said, ‘This is a problem. This is a different group than they were.’ And we took that mindset into our practices during break and came out and started taking care of business.”
In “Valley Forge,” the Warriors amped up the intensity of their practices. And with what Knafelc described as a “collaborative intensity” between coaches and players, they started to realize their potential sans-Crispe, who is now playing at Boston University.
Arapahoe proceeded to win 16 of 18 games, and is back in the Final 4 on Friday afternoon against Monarch at the Denver Coliseum, with its sights set on winning the program’s first state title.
“We focused on us and what we could and should be, and then we chose to hold each other accountable,” Knafelc said.
The Warriors’ hot streak down the stretch included winning the inaugural Centennial League tournament. They beat defending state champion Grandview in the championship game Feb. 18, then upset top-ranked Valor Christian in last weekend’s Great 8.
Valor Christian beat Arapahoe in last year’s Final 4 and earlier this season, but the Warriors got revenge, as star sophomore point guard Gianna Smith poured in 24 points to lead the Warriors to a 62-54 triumph.
Beyond the dynamic Smith, Arapahoe’s core features senior captains Sydney White (Cal Baptist commit) and Emily Thomas, plus senior center Holly Jayasaker and junior guard Emerson Stark.
“We stayed together against Valor, because we were down in the first half, down in the third quarter,” White said. “That was my first time beating Valor as an Arapahoe Warrior, so that was a lot of motivation. They’re a really good team, but we knew the whole time we could beat them.”
Knafelc said the group’s growth mindset allowed them to shake off the up-and-down December, plus losses in league play to Grandview (32-30 on Jan. 20) and Cherry Creek (53-41 on Jan. 30) in order to peak at the perfect time.
“Our players didn’t let a few losses get under their skin,” Knafelc said. “They accepted the fact that was part of it, and they came to work every day with their lunch pail, determined to get better. The result is what we saw last weekend.”
Arapahoe is making its fifth Final 4 appearance all-time, and third under Knafelc.
“It would mean so much to us to be the team that finally wins the title,” Emily Thomas said. “Since we lost in the Final 4 last year, our whole goal this entire season has been to make it to the last game.”
The other side of the bracket features Grandview against Cherry Creek in the Centennial foes’ third meeting this season. The Wolves lost to the Bruins 56-40 on Feb. 1, then bounced back with a 55-36 win over the Bruins in the semifinal of the league tournament on Feb. 16.
Grandview, like Arapahoe, features a highly touted sophomore in Sienna Betts. After playing an auxiliary role on the Wolves’ 2022 title team headlined by her sister Lauren (now at Stanford), Betts has come into her own while averaging 21.6 points and 16.2 rebounds. That included a double-double in Grandview’s 57-53 win over Highlands Ranch in the Great 8.
“Sienna expanded what she does from a skill standpoint and in her leadership on the floor,” Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky said. “I never refer to Lauren (when coaching Sienna) because Sienna doesn’t want to be Lauren’s little sister, and she’s already become an incredible player in her own right and a top recruit in the country. This year has been a real opportunity for her to showcase the player she is.”
Creek has been a title favorite all winter long despite not having a senior in its starting five. Clint Evans’ Bruins won the program’s first crown in 2019, and then could’ve repeated in 2020 had the pandemic not canceled the championship game between Cherry Creek and Grandview. Now, the Bruins are back for the final weekend again as the top-seeded team left.
Cherry Creek’s youthful lineup features sophomore point guard Tianna Chambers, sophomore forward Braelynn Barnett, sophomore guard A’neya Chambers (unrelated to Tianna), sophomore guard Molly Dorighi and junior guard Mireya Johnson. The loss to Grandview in the league tournament was a speed bump, but besides that, Cherry Creek’s been rolling since Tianna Chambers returned from concussion protocol after winter break.
“That (2019 title) team was a much better perimeter shooting team, but this group is more athletic,” Evans said. “This year’s team can slap a lot of pressure on you all over the court.
“Tianna got hurt before Christmas and we weren’t quite playing together and on the same page. And then after Christmas, we got Tianna back and started gelling. Plus, this team has seen every defense that can be thrown at us… We’re ready for (the pressure of this weekend).”
If Arapahoe has anything to say about it, it will be the Warriors, not their more decorated Centennial League counterparts, who have the final say.
“We’re not done yet,” White said.
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