TCA win has Titans leading title race

To the distaste of Manitou Springs, The Classical Academy's Courtney Griggs finally put it all together.

The junior doubled her season-high in points with 16, teammate Hannah Carr added 14 points along with 13 rebounds, and the Titans knocked off the Tri-Peaks West-leading Mustangs 41-33 Friday night.

"I've scored well for one quarter a lot this year," Griggs smiled. "But never have I turned it into a whole game. I think it just gives credit to our passing — it gave me some open looks tonight."

Now, the league title comes down to the TCA-Salida league game Saturday afternoon. If the Titans (15-2 overall, 9-2 Tri-Peaks West) win, they will claim the title under first-year coach Kasey Lucero. If Salida wins, the Mustangs (12-7, 10-2) will hold on for their second-consecutive title during a season that included two coaches and a 2-5 start.

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Friday, host Manitou Springs looked prime to clinch when they ran out to an early lead behind lights-out shooting from Meghan McGee and Ali Thomspon.

In the first quarter, McGee hit a 3 from atop the key, before Thompson stole the following inbounds pass and flipped it in to give the Mustangs a 13-7 lead with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the quarter.

From there, it was all TCA.

Griggs scored TCA's first six points in the second quarter, before Carr's 15-footer gave the Titans the 17-15 lead with 3:10 left in the half.

TCA never trailed from that point on.

The Titans scored the first six points of the second half, as Griggs and Carr combined for 10 of TCA's 14 third-quarter points.

The Titans pushed the lead to 40-27 with 3 minutes to go, before coasting to their second victory over Manitou Springs this season.

"This gives us a really bad taste in our mouths," said Thompson, who scored four of her eight points in the first quarter. "We will either take first or second in the league. That's the way it is. Now we need to take this and remember it, because we don't want to feel like this again."

Lucero, the former TCA junior varsity coach, took one deep breath after another in the closing minutes, looking at the clock after every stoppage of play. She knows what can be accomplished from a team that was 3-7 in league last season.

"We're going to enjoy this win tonight, but I told these girls, 'Get some sleep and we'll go for it tomorrow,'" Lucero said. "Anything can happen in this game. I just wanted to make sure we closed it, because they are a very good team."

TCA hosts Salida at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.