BROOMFIELD – Not that the home fans at Broomfield High School needed much extra incentive to pile into the gym amid a 23-win season that returned its girls basketball program to state-power status. But they got it anyway, thanks to the arrival of Riverdale Ridge megastar Brihanna Crittendon for Wednesday’s Class 6A round of 16.
By the time the five-star junior prospect was playfully crowned by an assistant coach during player introductions, there wasn’t an empty seat in sight. Many of those then stayed frozen there for another moment or two after her game-sealing block preserved the No. 14 Ravens’ 44-41 upset over the third-ranked Eagles.
“Back in the day when we won five straight state championships, we had crowds like this,” Broomfield coach Mike Croell said. He then took a moment, chuckled lightly. “Well, I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen people who had no seats. But that’s how far girls basketball has come.”
The hype met expectations — even if the result didn’t.
Crittendon headlined the matchup against the powerhouse Eagles, the Granite Peaks League champs who came into the night on a 14-game win streak. Though her status as one of Colorado’s greatest girls’ basketball players is already a lock, she was aware she wasn’t the only big-time prospect in attendance.
Throughout the night, Crittendon got a first-hand look at Broomfield’s 6-foot-4 freshman Reece Gilpatrick. She’s a star, too. And whether it was Reece or her 6-2 sister, Paige Gilpatrick, as the primary defender against Crittendon, nothing came easy.
“I would tell (Reece) to keep her head up,” Crittendon said after the game. “She’s just a freshman. I’ve been there before. I lost in the Elite Eight. It really just motivates you. So just keep your head up and keep working.”
Coming in averaging a state-best 26.8 PPG this winter, Crittendon finished with 17 points — just the second time in her last 13 games she was held under 20.
Her best offensive stretch of the night came in the second quarter, where she scored seven quick points to help the Ravens to an eight-point halftime lead. After the Broomfield student section teased her with chants of “Overrated,” she immediately answered with a turnaround jumper over the outstretched hand of Paige Gilpatrick. She turned to them and smirked.
Her best, she saved for last. In the waning seconds — after the Eagles used an 11-0 run to tie things with 1:26 remaining before Riverdale Ridge pushed its lead back to three from the free-throw line — Crittendon stepped up to Paige Gilpatrick’s last-second, 3-point attempt that would have sent things to overtime. She stuffed it to send the Ravens into Saturday’s Great Eight at the Denver Coliseum.
“It’s hard to stop her,” said Reece Gilpatrick, who already has offers from CU, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. “I really want to get my game up like hers. She is a great player and that’s a great team. It was fun playing her tonight.”
Paige Gilpatrick had 12 points, Reece had 11 and senior Sydney Deem seven in the Broomfield’s (23-2) only loss since falling to defending champ Valor Christian in January. Olivia Kim (11.9 PPG) nearly gave the Eagles the lead in the final 30 seconds but her lay-in went half down before popping out.
“My coaches said they were already turning away, yelling for them to get back on defense,” Croell said. “I can’t believe it didn’t stay down. The whole crowd was cheering. Then was like, what?”
“I’m so proud of them,” Croell said. He fought back tears. “They fought like hell to get back into that thing. And just a little this, a little that.”
And on this night, plenty of Crittendon. The five-star junior will look to knock off No. 6 Highlands Ranch next.
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