Season Recap: Front Range League (5A)

The end of the 2019-20 girls basketball season in Colorado was sudden — unbecomingly sudden — due to the advance of the coronavirus. And while the finality of the winter season leaves plenty of want, the accomplishments of many of the state’s players and teams are no less significant. Today, we continue our coverage of the league battles across the state. Here’s a snapshot of this winter’s action from the 5A Front Range League.   Who won league in ’19-20 Fossil Ridge clinched the league crown alone after settling for a three-way split of it a year ago. The Sabercats, who finished a perfect 12-0 in league, gave away sole possession of the league crown in 2019 with a loss at Broomfield late in the season. A year later, its win over the Eagles put them atop the standings in the final weeks and wins over Fairview and Rocky Mountain thereafter sealed their fate. Broomfield finished second, going 11-1. Fairview, which lost three of its final five league games, was third at 9-3. And Horizon was 8-4. The Eagles and Knights made it to the Sweet 16 in the 5A postseason bracket. Fossil Ridge got to the Great Eight before falling to Valor Christian.   Five players who shined this winter [player_tooltip player_id="117726" first="Emily" last="Johnson"], 2022, C, Fort Collins [caption id="attachment_117278" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="95079" first="Halle" last="Mackiewicz"][/caption]Johnson led the league in shooting percentage among players with at least 100 attempts. She hit 94 of her 171 attempts, scoring 11.2 points per game in another hard-to-ignore season from the rising star. Overall, Johnson has shot 55 percent in her first two years at the high school level, averaging nearly 10 points and nine boards per game. In ’19-20, the Lambkins finished seven games under .500, but they should have a lot of returning talent expected back next year, including Johnson, who is currently ranked 75th among sophomores in the state by PGH.   [player_tooltip player_id="95079" first="Halle" last="Mackiewicz"], 2020, F, Legacy Mackiewicz is headed to Clemson to play goalie for its women’s soccer team. Good for her. Bummer for basketball. It’s fun to imagine where she could have ended up on a basketball scholarship, anyway. The 5-10 forward was dominant in averaging 19.1 points and 9.1 rebounds over 19 games in her senior season. Teams throughout the Lightning’s schedule placed multiple bodies on her trying to slow her down. And it did some, but the gifted senior always found a way to cause damage.   [player_tooltip player_id="115769" first="Isabelle" last="Munson"], 2020, PG, Fairview [caption id="attachment_139676" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="115769" first="Isabelle" last="Munson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="145388" first="Abigail" last="Russo"][/caption]The 5-9 guard was voted the league’s and BoCoPreps.com’s player of the year — and understandably so. Izzy led the league in scoring at 20.7 points per game. She also averaged 2.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 steals. In December, she scored 34 and 30 points in consecutive games while shooting a combined 69 percent in them. And from there she didn’t slow down much as she went on to post the eighth-highest scoring average in the state. She finished her career with 1,250 points while leading her team to the Sweet 16 as the 22 seed.   [player_tooltip player_id="115762" first="Olivia" last="Waufle"], 2020, PG, Horizon Waufle more than doubled her scoring average from her junior year, scoring 13.3 points to go along with 6.7 boards, 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals. She scored 27 points in a regular-season finale victory over Legacy and had another 23 in the first round against Eaglecrest, which watched its seven-point lead in the fourth quarter slip away at the hands of Waufle. She had five points in the final 37 seconds to seal the win. [caption id="attachment_136809" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="95128" first="Courtney" last="Wristen"][/caption]The senior, who plays for the Boulder Rockies Basketball Club, was not committed to a college in the last ranking updates on PGH. She is ranked 24th among the state’s seniors.   [player_tooltip player_id="95128" first="Courtney" last="Wristen"], 2021, PF/C/SF, Broomfield Wristen should be among the favorites to take home the league’s player of the year honors next winter. For one, the 6-2 junior is a matchup nightmare on both ends of the floor, where she averaged 14.2 points, nine rebounds and 2.3 blocks this past winter. Over the year she had 12 double-doubles — her last coming in the second round of the 5A postseason, where she totaled 11 points and 12 boards in a win over Mountain Vista, which had previously beaten the Eagles by 21.   Who was all-conference in ’19-20 First team [player_tooltip player_id="115762" first="Olivia" last="Waufle"], Horizon [caption id="attachment_145618" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="115768" first="Sophia" last="Hadad"][/caption][player_tooltip player_id="95079" first="Halle" last="Mackiewicz"], Legacy [player_tooltip player_id="128496" first="Izzy" last="Munson"], Fairview [player_tooltip player_id="116773" first="Brooke" last="Bohlender"], Poudre [player_tooltip player_id="95128" first="Courtney" last="Wristen"], Broomfield Megan Stackhouse, Loveland [player_tooltip player_id="115764" first="Lauren" last="Zwetzig"], Fossil Ridge [player_tooltip player_id="115779" first="Jessica" last="Hoffman"], Broomfield [player_tooltip player_id="115807" first="Lillian" last="West"], Mountain Range [player_tooltip player_id="117726" first="Emily" last="Johnson"], Fort Collins [player_tooltip player_id="115768" first="Sophia" last="Hadad"], Fossil Ridge [player_tooltip player_id="116813" first="Abbie" last="Gillach"], Boulder [caption id="attachment_136800" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="116813" first="Abbie" last="Gillach"][/caption]Second team Laisha Armendariz-Lopez, Rocky Mountain [player_tooltip player_id="145388" first="Abigail" last="Russo"], Monarch Nevaeh Sepeda Jr., Greeley West [player_tooltip player_id="117703" first="Audra" last="Vine"], Horizon [player_tooltip player_id="118727" first="Delaney" last="Matkin"], Rocky Mountain [player_tooltip player_id="117721" first="Kailey" last="Page"], Fairview Natalie Guanella, Monarch