Graduated IHS senior helps team place third
Chosen for, but due to a bum left ankle unable to play in the Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Sports All-State Games’ basketball showcase back in March, Solymar Cosio took advantage of her Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State selection.
Able to score three points Tuesday, June 11, in a semifinal loss to the Games’ Black team, the graduated Ignacio center netted one bucket versus White in the next afternoon’s third-place contest. Coming with 4:58 remaining in the fourth ten-minute quarter, Cosio’s inside hoop increased Blue’s lead to 73-50, and after Fleming guard MadiKay Serrato upped it to 77-50 with 3:54 to go, an Elam-rules target score of 85 points—to be reached by either team, with the game clock turned off but the 30-second shot clock still in effect—was set.
And despite an all-out, 11-point final frame by Frederick guard Gabriella Jima, White was simply too far behind to complete an unlikely comeback. Shortly after White lost Springfield guard Aliya Cohoon late in the game to an apparent left ankle injury, Blue’s Macy Scheer (Denver D’Evelyn) drained a long shot from just inside the three-point line to cap a thorough 86-60 conquest inside CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
“We were playing very good post players, so I had to definitely work like no other just to get available, and my teammates really pushed me to get it in the hole,” Cosio said of her final prep-level basket. “It was so fun.”
And nearly a foregone conclusion from the outset; Blue bolted out to a 16-3 lead in the first quarter, forcing White coaches Jake Hansen (Frederick) and Shawna Larson (Monte Vista) to use a timeout following Blue guard Faith Hayward’s trey with 4:16 left. But with Scheer and Serrato also connecting from distance, plus forward Eboselulu Omofoma (Greeley Dayspring Christian Academy) quickly tallying seven points, Blue closed out the quarter leading 30-12.
The advantage grew to 49-24 at halftime and stood 66-39 through three frames, thanks in part to two triples by guard Dezirae Gonzales (Walden North Park) and all-around dominant rebounding led by Omofoma, Penelope Urquhart (Littleton), Dayshanay Bruner (Colorado Springs Coronado) and Cosio.
“We just pushed each other every possession,” said Cosio, who snared five true rebounds and also an air-balled White shot attempt. “It was just an amazing experience; everybody just played their heart out with no fear.”
“It was awesome to end it in this way at All-State,” the Benedictine College-bound post continued, “and to end that chapter in sports for me. I’m just so excited for the next chapter.”
Scheer totaled a game-high 18 points and Omofoma (4-9 FT) 14. Bruner and Hayward each contributed 12 points and Urquhart booked 10, while Serrato ended up with eight, Gonzales seven and Mikaela Harvey (Fort Collins Heritage Christian Academy) a fourth-quarter triple. Coaching the crew were Elizabeth’s Chris Martinez and HCA’s Joe Packard.
Jima totaled 17 points for White, with Akron forward Kinsey Grauer (14) and Center guard Alicia Rios (13) also in double figures.
ADDITIONALLY
In the CHSCA All-State Games’ first-place showdown, Pagosa Springs forward Annie O’Donnell and Montezuma-Cortez guard/forward Savannah Haselroth suited up for Black, which handled Red 63-40. Not long after an O’Donnell close-range basket early in the fourth quarter increased Black’s lead to 23 points, the game was terminated with 8:27 still left after Red’s Jenna Krise (Briggsdale) suffered a medical issue causing her to crash down in front of her crew’s bench.
But after a slow, tense process of responders stabilizing her, paying due attention to her head and neck, Krise—who actually tallied a game-high 11 points—was able to briefly sit herself upon the gurney and after being secured to it gave a slight, but positive left-handed wave to her ’mates as she was wheeled off Harry H. Simmons Court.
Limon forward Jentri Marx and Eaton forward Tayla Wiedeman each scored ten points for Black, with O’Donnell chipping in six points and Haselroth one.