Top Performances from the 4A Sweet 16

The Class 4A state tournament began with a field of 64 teams. After three rounds of intense action, including an exciting slate of Sweet 16 games on Tuesday night, the field of title-chasers has now been whittled down to just 16 remaining teams. Let’s take a look at the players who stood out in the Sweet 16 and who’s moving on to the next round – the Great 8 – on Friday night. &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_141998" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="95130" first="Megan" last="Pohs"][/caption]<strong>Mullen’s Pohs, Perez coming alive at the right time</strong> Some news out of the Mullen Mustangs’ most recent victory that might be frightening to the rest of the remaining 4A field: point guard [player_tooltip player_id="95130" first="Megan" last="Pohs"] is healthy and fellow sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="95170" first="Imani" last="Perez"] is playing her best. Now several games removed from a nagging hamstring injury, Pohs led Mullen to a 25-point victory against Montrose by scoring a game-high 24 points and doing her usual (when healthy) job of setting up her numerous talented teammates. Perez scored a modest eight points but the 6-foot-3 forward also led the Mustangs on a shot-blocking rampage throughout which they totaled an even dozen. Also for the Mustangs, [player_tooltip player_id="116776" first="Alexa" last="Dominguez"] scored 13 points and [player_tooltip player_id="95172" first="Gracie" last="Gallegos"] finished with 10. &nbsp; <strong>Team effort from Canon City leads to upset of No. 1 Sand Creek</strong> The No. 16 Canon City Tigers shook up the 4A state tournament bracket in a big way on Tuesday night, winning 69-55 over No. 1 Sand Creek on the road. It took an all-around team effort led by seniors [player_tooltip player_id="115814" first="Jerika" last="Moore"] (Bethany College) and Kate Tedquist for the Tigers to pull off the upset. Also in the game, Sand Creek senior [player_tooltip player_id="95081" first="Krystina" last="Hagood"] passed 1,000 points for her prep career. &nbsp; <strong>Simental, Cyclones pass big test in George Washington</strong> [caption id="attachment_141435" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="95017" first="Hannah" last="Simental"][/caption]The Pueblo West Cyclones got a huge third-quarter boost from bench player [player_tooltip player_id="145398" first="Marissa" last="Leyva"] and a team-high 22 points from [player_tooltip player_id="95017" first="Hannah" last="Simental"] on Tuesday night to get past a very dangerous George Washington team that had its own sights set on the 4A crown. It was exactly the type of balanced team effort, combined with a strong defensive showing, the Cyclones will need to replicate several more times if they hope to win it all this winter. For George Washington, shooting guard [player_tooltip player_id="95224" first="Jaida" last="Redwine"] led the team with 10 points and continues to make her case as the top freshman player in Colorado. &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_148680" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="116779" first="Alyssa" last="Wells"][/caption]<strong>Holy Family locks down Air Academy to reach the Great 8</strong> It took a concerted team effort and a constant barrage of lanky, athletic defenders – which Holy Family has plenty of – but the Tigers held Air Academy to 27 points in a victory on Tuesday night that launched them into the Great 8. Rotating different looks and defenders like [player_tooltip player_id="116779" first="Alyssa" last="Wells"] (11 points), [player_tooltip player_id="145397" first="Tyler" last="Whitlock"] and Cecelia Aanerud, the Holy Family was able to hold University of Colorado-bound senior [player_tooltip player_id="95020" first="Kylee" last="Blacksten"] to 13 points in the 42-27 win. &nbsp; <strong>Berthoud’s Cavey, Fowler combo heating up at the right time</strong> In a 58-42 win over Falcon in the Sweet 16, Berthoud senior [player_tooltip player_id="95030" first="Emily" last="Cavey"], who is having a big senior season after being limited by injuries the past couple of seasons, and junior [player_tooltip player_id="95140" first="Breanna" last="Fowler"] scored a combined 37 points. Cavey scored 19 points, shooting 7 for 20 from the field, and also had eight rebounds, seven assists and nine steals. Fowler scored 18 on a 7-for-13 shooting effort. Together, the pair was 5 for 12 from 3-point range. &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_148686" align="alignright" width="294"] [player_tooltip player_id="95176" first="Deb" last="Altshuler"][/caption]<strong>Six players in double figures send Erie roaring into Great 8</strong> The Erie Tigers are back in the Great 8 and Tuesday’s dominant 86-54 win over Glenwood Springs in which the Tigers scored 30 points in the first quarter and finished with six players scoring in double figures has them looking like a real threat in 4A. Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id="95176" first="Deb" last="Altshuler"] and [player_tooltip player_id="117710" first="Grace" last="Moyers"] led the Tigers with 18 points each, while [player_tooltip player_id="117722" first="Edie" last="Morrow"], another sophomore, scored 17. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="95135" first="Genevieve" last="Gudino"], who led the team with five assists, scored 11. Senior Alyssa Barnett and junior [player_tooltip player_id="116819" first="Anna" last="Hefner"] had 10 apiece. &nbsp; <strong>Hank gets to the line to help Green Mountain advance.</strong> On Tuesday, Green Mountain won 58-45 over Durango and 5-foot-10 junior [player_tooltip player_id="95134" first="Courtney" last="Hank"] did much of the heavy lifting for the Rams. Hank poured in a season-high 23 points and did the bulk of her scoring at the free-throw line, where she went 15 for 18. &nbsp; <strong>Howell’s double-double leads Sierra to victory</strong> Chosen as the player of the game by head coach Joseph Williams, Sierra junior Jaide Howell led the Stallions into the Great 8 with a double-double against Thompson Valley. She finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sierra senior [player_tooltip player_id="115759" first="D’nae" last="Wilson"] led all scored with 16 points and Thompson Valley senior [player_tooltip player_id="115770" first="Sydnee" last="Durtsche"] posted a double-double of her own, finished with 13 points and 16 boards.