After a late season swoon that saw the Evergreen girls basketball team lose five straight games, Coach Maddy Hornecker was able to correct course and lead the team to wins in its final two regular games to secure a home 4A State Tournament game vs. Riverdale Ridge on Feb. 22.
Escaping sub-zero temperatures for the tip-off, the Cougars came out fired-up in front of a packed crowd at Lo Hunter Gymnasium but eventually fell 48-38 to the Ravens.
Sparked by a gritty drive to the paint and finish by senior Cat Beccaccio and six points by junior Jameson Mott, the Cougar women initially negated a size advantage by the visiting Ravens to take a 13-10 advantage after quarter one.
However, the second quarter saw a momentum shift and the shots began to fall for Riverdale Ridge. At one point, the Cougars went three minutes in the quarter without scoring a point, clearing the path for a Ravens 10-0 run. It wasn’t until Cougar junior Maria Schreffler stepped up to match the play-off level physicality that EHS slowed the Ravens onslaught. Schreffler finished with seven points in the second quarter and enabled EHS to go into half-time down only 27-21.
The second half started off in promising fashion for the Cougars as Mott continued to display her inside/outside game with a two and a three in the quarter. The inside battle began to take a toll though as Schreffler was forced to the sideline to get treatment from the trainer. With Schreffler momentarily sidelined, the Ravens took ownership of the paint and they stretched the lead to nine points going into the fourth quarter.
With the clock winding down on their season, the Cougars increased their urgency and matched Riverdale Ridge virtually point for point throughout the fourth quarter. Senior Jackie Donoho joined the battle in the trenches and chipped in four points from the line, but in the end, Evergreen could not overcome the deficit.
The EHS girls finished the year at 11-12 on the season and 7-7 in Jeffco conference play.