Colorado 4A Final 4 basketball: Delta stuns No. 2 Timnath to ends Cubs season in semifinals
DENVER — A magical run ran into a special performance.
No. 2 Timnath had taken on nearly all of Colorado Class 4A's top teams, but the Cubs hadn't seen a singular star turn like this.
No. 6 Delta pulled the upset Friday behind a virtuosic game from Breezy Huff, who scored 27 points to propel the Panthers to a 56-46 Final 4 win and into Saturday's 4A championship game.
Huff was a good player this season, but she hadn't been an overwhelming scorer. The senior averaged 9.3 points per game and only hit the 20-point mark once in her career, right at 20.
The Panthers guard picked the biggest stage for her best, going 3-of-4 beyond the arc, 10-for-11 at the free-throw stripe and dishing out three crucial late assists. She even grabbed nine rebounds.
"We let her get going early. She saw it go in a couple times and then her skill handling the ball just became tough to stop," Timnath head coach Kyle Crawford said.
"She really took over for them."
Timnath (23-4) hadn't lost to a 4A team since the season opener vs. Kent Denver.
It was clear from the jump this would be a more stern test than the Cubs had faced recently, especially in three playoff wins by an average of 26 points.
Delta dominated early, opening up an eight-point lead in the first quarter. But the higher seed responded, as Timnath went on a 20-6 run to close the first half with a six-point edge.
"Even though it didn't finish our way, super proud of our resiliency," Crawford said. "Just survived early, then pushed back strong and felt good with where we were."
But the Panthers exploded out of the locker room, with Huff scoring eight quick points to wrestle the lead back.
From there, Delta's defense was the difference. Extended pressure well beyond the 3-point line would quickly shift into matchup zone, flustering a Timnath offense that excels when shooting in rhythm.
Izzy Schimmelpfennig kept it close with some clutch 3-pointers, though perimeter shooting wasn't the issue. Timnath made eight triples, but just seven shots inside the arc with hands in front of every shot.
"They’re really good at forcing you into the shots they want you to take," Crawford said of Delta. "We went back and forth and found some looks, but sometimes they just don't fall."
Gretchen Deines led the Cubs with 17 points in an efficient effort, though Delta limited her in the second half. Sage Raymond added 11 and Schimmelpfennig finished with nine.
For Delta, Taylor Somers (the typical leading scorer this season) took over in the final period once the Cubs locked in on Huff.
She finished in traffic near the rim and scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. Somers also had six rebounds and two steals.
So the celebration was on for the Panthers in the postgame, with a rowdy contingent cheering them on in the Denver Coliseum despite their Western Slope home.
It was a tough finish for the Cubs, which easily set the team record for wins in the program's third season.
Timnath never blinked after an abrupt preseason coaching change, largely dominating while winning 17 games by double digits. The Cubs got plenty of big-game reps, earning the program's first three playoff wins.
"They got to experience playoff success, and, honestly, we’re ahead of schedule a little bit," Crawford said.
"This will be a good experience for us to remember how it feels. We’ll bring everybody back and have a full offseason together to get better."
The Cubs do not lose any seniors and have a strong base to build on behind Deines, Tiana Guzman, Olivia Zadeh, Schimmelpfennig and more.
The expectations, internal and external, will be higher after a confidence-building campaign.
"The more this season wore on, the more we realized we belong (at the Coliseum) on a yearly basis," Crawford said. "It’s not a fluke that we got here."
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado Final 4: Delta stuns No. 2 Timnath with Breezy Huff's career game
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