Girls basketball finishes their season

March 25, 2019

As the final buzzer sounded and cheers could be heard from the other side of the Coliseum, HR’s student section remained silent. Many did not even move a muscle for a solid two minutes. Everyone was visibly in disbelief; the team that no one from HR had seen lose this season, had been beat. This year, HR’s girls basketball team made it to the Final Four for the first time in three years. In their season, they went 25-2, and remained number one in state even after their 52-53 loss to Cherry Creek High School in the Final Four. As the 27th ranked team in the nation, there are a lot of aspects that went into their many successes as a team.

Jennah Klein, Community Chair

Autumn Watts, senior captain of the team, makes a free throw in order to win the Great Eight game against Broomfield High School. Watts is committed to the Division 1 school, University of New Mexico, to play girls basketball. According to Max Preps, she scored a total of 225 points in this season alone. *Photo by Jennah Klein*

HR won their Great 8 game in order to advance to the Final Four. They won 53-23 against Broomfield High School in the March 1 game. In the buzzer-beater Final Four, they lost to Cherry Creek by one point with a final score of 52-53. *Photo by Jennah Klein*

Kasey Neubert, senior captain, is also committed to a Division 1 school. She will be playing Women’s Basketball at the University of Hawaii at Manoa next year. She said, “I chose Hawaii because it’s honestly the most perfect school for me academically and sports wise. I’m excited to just live on the island and really get down to business bettering myself in school and on the court.” *Photo by Jennah Klein*

Many of the teammates play basketball at Colorado Basketball Club together outside of the regular season and they have a bond due to this. Sarah Mitchell, junior, said, “We are all so close already and have so much trust in each other.” Many of them have played together for many years and have similar mindsets. Mitchell said, “Because we were driven and motivated, we all wanted the same goal and we worked everyday for it.” *Photo by Jennah Klein*

The team was coached by Caryn Jarocki, who has just finished her 22nd season at HR. Last year, Jarocki won her 600th career game. According to CHSAA, she has won the most games in any female sport. Many girls on the school team are coached by her during club season. Mitchell said, “If you asked any of us, we wouldn’t have wanted to play for anyone else. We have grown up with her and being able to learn from one of the best for so long is such a blessing.” *Photo by Jennah Klein*

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