Peetz girls ousted from district tourney

STERLING, Colo. – For much of the first half, the fifth-seeded Peetz Lady Bulldogs (8-12) stayed within growling distance of the No. 4 Briggsdale Lady Falcons 15-5). But then the Falcons' Darian Hale caught fire.

With 23 points, all scored in the second half, Hale led the Falcons to a 53-33 win over the Bulldogs at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling in a quarterfinal game of the Colorado 1A District 4 playoffs Wednesday night.

In the other quarterfinal games, No. 2 Fleming had little trouble with No. 7 Weldon Valley in a 56-21 final. Third-seeded Heritage Christian eliminated No. 6 Pawnee 42-35.

While the season came to an end for the Bulldogs, the high school careers of three of their seniors also concluded at the Bank of Colorado Event Center. While it was an emotional experience for Mallori Bjerke, Whitney Christian and Jennifer Gutierrez, Peetz head coach Janelle Cass could only smile when thinking of her three seniors.

"It was a ton of fun coaching them, just a blast," Cass said. "They were such good leaders and worked so hard to help us get better. I'll have some good players coming back but it won't be easy to replace leaders like that."

While Peetz trailed by just a field goal (7-5) after the first quarter, the second opened up in a back-and-forth manner with a pair of ties at nine and 11. The Falcons finally began to open up some breathing room with an 8-0 run to take a 19-11 advantage. The big blow came when Jodel Erickson threw up a 3-pointer from the top at the key. The Erickson bomb sank through the strings just as the halftime horn sounded for a 22-13 lead.

"Maybe if a few things went a little differently there might have been a different outcome," Bjerke said. "It's not like we were playing bad defense. I just tried to keep the team thinking positively no matter what."

Aside from the psychological blow that ended the first half, the Bulldogs struggled from the free-throw line. Peetz sank just one of nine from the line in the first half. The average climbed some in the second half as the Bulldogs went 7-13. Mikenna Curlee helped the average by hitting all four of her attempts over the final eight minutes.

Bjerke opened the second half with a field goal six seconds in after converting on a sharp pass from Curlee to the inside. But when Hale heated up, the Bulldogs had little success slowing her down. The Bulldogs opened up a 15-point lead by the end of the third quarter, 38-23.

"Darian is just a really good player and we know that," Gutierrez said before shifting gears towards the future. "I think now the program is in good hands with really good players coming up that will be ready to take on leadership roles."

Curlee sank the first two of her four foul shots in the opening seconds of the final quarter, but Hale continued her strong play. She followed up her 12-point third quarter with 11 more over the final eight minutes.

Sophomore Jodi Schumacher, the Bulldogs leading scorer this season, perhaps sent a signal that the young Peetz team will be ready for the next step in 2015-16. Schumacher scored the final basket of the game with a swish from downtown.

Schumacher led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points, while Curlee added 12.

"After the game it was most difficult for the seniors," said Christian. "I feel like we had a really good season and I'm really proud of this team."

WEDNESDAY'S BOXSCORE

Girls' Colo. Class 1A District 4

Briggsdale 53, Peetz 33

Peetz 5 8 10 10 – 33

Briggsdale 7 15 16 15 – 53

PEETZ (50) – Jodie Schumacher 14, Mikenna Curlee 12, Mallori Bjerke 4, Whitney Christian 2, Jennifer Gutierrez 1.

BRIGGSDALE (50) – Darian Hale 23, Jodel Erickson 15, Leilani Carrasco 6, Kerby Anderson 4, Amber Thormodsgard 3, Susanne Sutton 2.