Arapahoe seniors close Chatfield... advance to Sweet 16 (2/27/09)

by MARTY CESARIO

Chatfield 53
Arapahoe 66

The Arapahoe girls don't have much in the post. Their coach, RON BURGIN, admits that. "So what!" would be my response. It's "The Movement" that inspires the Lady Warriors. And their record would back me up.

What Burgin does have is five senior starters who run, press, trap, move and win! Two of those ladies have started for Burgin's varsity squad for four seasons -- one of them a clear all-state candidate while the other is returning to active status at the perfect time. 

AMY BARCZUK is the all-stater. You may have heard of her. She averages roughly 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists each night she puts her hair up and throws on a jersey. Certainly, the Chatfield Chargers know about her. Early in the season, Barczuk scored 29 on them in a nine point Warriors victory. Here in late February, the Chargers seemed to have found some ways to corral, or at least counter, Arapahoe's featured player. 

Chatfield opened this Class 5A - Round 2 playoff game with a lot of patience and whole lotta' precision. Their self-control on offense slowed the game. Their sharp shooting kept the Warriors from running. Chargers senior, DILAN SUTLIFF, was definitely feeling it from the perimeter. (Sutliff drained four three-pointers and led her squad with 16 points.) And the impressive man-defense from senior, CHELSEA O'BRIEN, forced Barczuk to pass the ball or take errant shots instead of filling the bucket. Truthfully, all the Warriors struggled from the field for most of the first half. That helped Chatfield, too... and then that all changed. 

Coming out of the intermission with a not-so-comfy four point lead, Burgin "sicked" his back-court press on the Chargers. As HANNA HOOPINGARNER and BECKY BOWMAN messed with Chatfield guards before they could get to the timeline, the game's pace picked up... and so did the Arapahoe offense. Barczuk hit some short jumpers then started consistently attacking with the drive from half-court to the rim. AMANDA WOJAHN cut her way into the lane for tough baskets. The Warriors' twenty point burst in the third quarter opened their lead to fourteen. Sure, a deep ball from sophomore, KATE KURTENBACH, pulled Chatfield to within nine at the 3:20 mark in
the final frame, but Arapahoe had a grip that wouldn't loosen. They closed this deal with that defense, senior seasoning, and stellar free-throw shooting from DIANA HENTSCHEL -- which was nice to see. Although she showed signs of a player who'd missed all but seven games this season, Hentschel led all Arapahoe scorers. Most importantly, she was solid at the line when her team needed her to be. She sank 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts -- most of those makes in the last couple of minutes. If Diana can reemerge as the outside gun to compliment Barczuk's gifted, all-around game... ya know... like we've seen from them in three previous seasons... perhaps the Final Four prediction from our Mary Kay Mauro will come true. (See our "Hoop Queens" blog from 2/19.) The time is now, though. And Western Slope power, Grand Junction Central, is next. 
       

Final: AW 66 - CC 53... AW (20-3, 12-2) Hentschel 21, Barczuk 19, Wojahn 9, Bowman 9 ... CC (13-12, 9-4) Sutliff 16, Kurtenbach 10, O'Brien 8