Colorado holds off Oklahoma to earn sixth grade girls title

The Colorado Buffalos received a spectacular third quarter from Kayla Burt and held off a hard nosed Oklahoma Sooners team, 32-17, in the finals of the Amherst Youth Basketball sixth grade girls division held at Clearfield Community Center on Saturday morning.

The first half was an example of hard nosed defense from both teams as Oklahoma received solid interior defensive play from Jennifer DelSignore, Emily Marcus, and Sarah Stanford while Colorado was sparked defensively by Alexis Cook, Jane Truesdale, who finished with several steals, and the return of Emily Ludwig at center. Meanwhile, a late second quarter rebound and putback by Nadia Vasquez gave Colorado an 8-5 halftime lead and provided a spark for the third quarter fireworks.

Burt began the third quarter with consecutive steals and finished the plays with layups while Shelby Donhauser and Emily Malkowski provided big defensive rebounds that kept the Sooners off balance. Burt finished the third quarter with 12 consecutive points and the 20-7 lead by Colorado seemed insurmountable heading into the fourth.

However, Marcus and Hannah Pilkey led one last charge for Oklahoma by scoring consecutive baskets to start the fourth. Marcus drove the lane and put in a floater followed by a Pilkey layup to reduce the lead to nine points. That's when Megan Cirbus took the bull by the horns. Cirbus scored the next six points for Colorado on a wide range of plays that included a steal and a breakaway layup and a jump shot from the baseline followed by a layup off a pick and roll. Burt completed the scoring with four foul shots down the stretch to end the season.

Burt led Colorado and all scorers with 24 points. Cirbus had six points and Vasquez chipped in two. Oklahoma's Pilkey had six points. Marcus scored five, DelSignore chipped in four and Stanford added two.