Front Range Christian girls steal game from Lutheran-Parker in 4th

PARKER -- Jennifer Vigil knew that her team needed to do something. Front Range Christian had to get the momentum. But how?

The Lady Falcons, ranked fifth in The Denver Post 2A girls basketball poll, had taken the lead twice, but never seemed to gain any offensive traction in its Top 5 showdown with fourth-ranked Lutheran-Parker. Twice, Front Range Christian had fallen behind by six points with no signs of actually taking the lead for good.

Then Vigil took matters into her own hands.

The 5-foot-5 sophomore guard came up big with a steal and layup to close out a 12-5 run to end the third quarter, giving the Lady Falcons the lead. Another one to open the fourth only added to Front Range Christian’s growing momentum as the Lady Falcons held the lead the rest of the way in a crucial 44-36 win on Jan. 14 at Lutheran-Parker High School.

“It’s extremely big. We knew we had to beat them to get ourselves on the board really high,” said Vigil, who finished with 15 points. “We needed this win.”

Older sister Vanessa Vigil finished with a game-high 16 points, including going 7-of-8 from the foul line in the second half.

The game never got out of hand, but Lutheran-Parker (10-1, 2A Division 4 2-1) clearly had the momentum through most of the first three quarters. Kelsey Wall had had nine of her team-high 15 points in that span and Lexi Radic scored eight of her 10 points.

But a Vanessa Vigil layup with 43 seconds left in the third quarter pulled Front Range Christian (12-0, 3-0) to within a point. Then Jennifer Vigil’s steal and left-handed layup with seven seconds left in the frame gave the Lady Falcons the lead for good.

That basket, which gave Front Range Christian a 27-26 advantage, ignited the Lady Falcons. Coach Dominic Vigil saw that in his players’ eyes as they came off the court with one quarter to play.

“We felt like we were in mud for a little bit. We changed up by pushing the ball a little more,” Coach Vigil said. “We were concerned with our foul count in the first half. But in the second half we knew some of our key players weren’t in foul trouble. Then Jennifer had three or four steals that changed the momentum and put them on edge.”

A 10-2 run between the third and fourth quarters gave Front Range Christian a five-point lead at 33-28. The lead eventually grew to eight late in the game before the Lady Falcons settled for their smallest margin of victory all season.

But it was also their biggest win of the season as well.

“You know what I love Lutheran-Parker. I love their coach. But I hate playing them. They’re such a solid team,” Coach Vigil said. “This may not have been the defining moment of our season, but it could catapult us. We knew that it would be a tight game. We hadn’t had that experience all season. But to have it on their court in a huge game this is a huge win for us.”

FRONT RANGE CHRISTIAN 44, LUTHERAN-PARKER 38
FRCS                   7 10 9 12--38
LUTH.-PARKER 6 8 13 17--44
FRCS: Vanessa Vigil 3 10-13 16; Tori Griffiths 1 3-4 5; Sarah Nyhoff 0 0-0 0; Hanna Poppe 1 4-6 4; Jennifer Vigil 5 5-8 15; Leisha Wells 0 0-0 0; Katherine Oosthuizen 1 0-0 2; Dani Lanting 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 11 22-32 44.
L-P: Lexi Radic 4 2-4 10; Braden Washburn 0 0-0 0; Whitney Dettmering 0 2-2 2; Alex Winters 1 0-1 2; Haley Loptien 0 0-0 0; Kelsey Hizer 3 3-5 9; Kelsey Wall 4 3-4 15; Michelle Cattau 0 0-0 0; Amy Otte 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 10-16 36.
3-POINTERS: L-P 4 -- Wall; FOULED OUT: Radic; TECHNICAL FOULS: None