Class 5A girls championship: Lauren Betts, Grandview finally get their title, top Valor Christian, 52-40: by SeanKeeler copreps
“Yes!” the Grandview senior center beamed as she hugged her mother, Michelle, following the Wolves’ 52-40 victory over Valor Christian in the girls Class 5A state championship game Saturday evening at Denver Coliseum. “Yes! Finally!”
Betts, a 6-foot-7 Stanford signee and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, lost in the 5A title game her freshman year. Sophomore year, COVID-19 ended the bracket before a champ could be crowned. Junior year, the Wolves were upset at Regis Jesuit — a game played on the road because of the pandemic — in the Final Four.
“I mean, this is my last game. I had to put it all out there. There was no way I could save any energy. I had to leave everything I brought out on the court. There was no holding back. Obviously, that was in the back of my head the entire time — like, ‘Hey, this is not only the state championship, this is my last high-school game.’ And I wanted to go out with a bang.”And neither were her teammates who all took turns carrying the rope to help pull Grandview over the line.
The marquee matchup of the evening, pitting the Oregon State-bound Raegan Beers against Betts in the paint, went to the latter in the early going. The Grandview post star converted on three of her first five attempts from the floor and had a team-high nine points at the halftime break. Beers, conversely, opened the game by misfiring on nine of her first 10 shots, almost all of which were heavily contested.