Vanessa Abrahamson Blog: Class 6A No. 5 Monarch upends No. 1 Cherry Creek

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Class 6A No. 5 Monarch upends No. 1 Cherry Creek – Colorado Hometown Weekly

LOUISVILLE — High school athletics often teaches its athletes life lessons they can carry with them at all times. On Friday night at Monarch High, Class 6A No. 1 Cherry Creek learned something valuable: Don’t test Monarch girls in basketball.

It won’t end well.

After a first half dominated by defense, the No. 5 Coyotes exploded on court in the third quarter to build a lead that proved unassailable in the final eight minutes. Monarch buried the Bruins, 47-37, to give them their first loss of the season while the Coyotes stayed perfect at 6-0.

6A girls basketball will be fun this year.

“I know we’ve had years in the biggest league where it feels like there’s really only one or two teams that are the top teams and everyone else is just hoping to play as long as possible.” said head coach Mike Blakely. “I really have a feeling that any of those five or six, maybe even seven teams could win the (whole) thing this year. I think that makes it more exciting.”

Senior point guard Natalie Guanella took the Coyotes under her wing in a white-hot third quarter before ending her night with 19 points scored from all over the floor. Junior Hayley Luther challenged her for the spotlight, but she parted ways with Guanella with a circular line when she sank four 3-pointers en route to her 16 points.

Luther really showed up when her team needed her most, much to the Bruins’ chagrin.

“I feel like we were all ready to play, but there was definitely a sense of nervousness that they’re No. 1,” she said. “We played really well together, definitely on offense. On defense, I feel like we have to work on some things like the press break. I feel like it just showed us what we are capable of and how to fulfill that potential.”

The Coyotes got off to a rocky start, struggling to find ways to penetrate the Bruins’ stifling defenses. They, in turn, continued to knock out the Bruins at the other end of the floor before they trailed just 23-20 at halftime. Cherry Creek never led by more than five points but certainly held the lead for the first 16 minutes.

That didn’t sit well with the Coyotes.

Monarch's Arezo Safi drives the ball towards the basket during the Coyotes' home game against Cherry Creek on December 16, 2022. (By Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) — Monarch’s Arezo Safi drives for the basket during the Coyotes’ home game against Cherry Creek on Friday. (Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com)

Monarch charged back in the third quarter, led by Guanella’s seven points to edge the Bruins 16-4 in that frame alone, then extended the lead to 14, 41-27 with just under seven minutes remaining.

Senior power forward Amelia Rosin, who returned to the Coyotes after missing half of last season with an ankle injury, served as the perfect lure in the color to give her teammates more scoring chances. She hopes Friday night’s competition will turn the tide for her team as they prepare for the winter break.

“To play with this team again, I love everyone on the team,” said Rosin. “We had a really good game tonight. Everyone contributed. We had a bumpy start at the beginning and now it felt like we were really getting back on track. We’ve won our last few games, but we haven’t played our basketball, which I know we can play. Today we came out and we all played as a team and we played really good basketball.

Cherry Creek tried his best to push back into the fight in the final minutes of the matchup, but failed as the clock ticked down to zero. Guanella kept the ball close to the touchline as time ticked down and boisterous cheers filled the gymnasium.

The Coyotes won’t have long to celebrate, however, as they face another tough test when they head out to Regis Jesuit No. 4 for their final game of 2022 on Wednesday night. If Cherry Creek taught the Raiders anything, it’s that they shouldn’t sleep on this Monarch team.

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