Bluedevils hope momentum carries through into state 4A girls playoffs

GREENWOOD VILLAGE -- Fort Lupton girls basketball coach Joseph Gutierrez’ nails were in good shape when he sat down Sunday afternoon at the Doubletree Hotel to watch the unveiling of the 48-team, class 4A state girls basketball bracket.
    About 45 minutes later, he clapped his hands together, breathed a sigh of relief – and looked at his nails, which were still intact.
    His Bluedevils (8-15) earned an 11th seed in the state basketball tournament and a trip to face No. 6 Sierra High School (15-8) at 7 p.m., Feb. 22.
    “The girls have been working hard, and we are happy to get a chance to keep playing,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve been playing well, even in the game we lost that we should have won.”
    Fort Lupton finished the season with three wins in its last five games. One of the victories was an overtime win against Aurora Central. Westminster, which drew a berth in the state 5A tournament, beat the Bluedevils by two points. Prairie View, which drew an eighth seed in the state 5A brackets, held off Fort Lupton by 11 in the last game of the regular season.
    “I thought we had a chance when we had a three-game winning streak right there at the end of the season,” Gutierrez said. “I thought we needed to win two of three last week. We only got one. But after we beat Aurora Central, I thought we had a good chance.”
    Francesca Watson leads the Bluedevils’ offense at 10.2 points per game. Yadira Angel is next with an average of seven points per contest. Miranda Kruse averages about four rebounds per game. Sierra gets its offense from Chelsea Barrett, who averages 12 points per game. Kasey Dixon scores at an average of nine points per contest. Barrett also leads the team with an average of seven rebounds per game.
    “I think it’s better to play an unknown team,” Gutierrez said. “We quit making changes to our opponents and forced them to change to us. Our girls are more confident in what we are doing. We’d rather play against a team that doesn’t know anything about us.”

Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith at ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com or at 303-659-2522, ext. 224.