3A Girls Basketball State Championships

The Colorado Springs Christian School basketball team celebrates a win over Peyton for their second consecutive 3A girls basketball state title.

 Parker Seibold

DENVER – Not all championship experiences are created equal, just ask Grace Minihane.

When Colorado Springs Christian School stormed to a title last year she was running a fever, could barely see out of one eye that was swollen, had a sore throat, congestion … you name it.

This time, all was clear. And she shone.

Minihane scored 22 points – including 11 in a tone-setting first quarter – as the Lions stormed to their second consecutive state title, knocking off Peyton 58-30 in an all-Pikes Peak region 3A girls’ championship game Saturday evening at the University of Denver.

3A Girls Basketball State Championships

The Colorado Springs Christian School basketball team celebrates a win over Peyton for their second consecutive 3A girls basketball state title on Saturday, March 9, 2024, at the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gym in Denver. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)

“This year, to be healthy and play with this team and really celebrate with this team was amazing,” said Minihane, a senior, who managed 11 points despite her many ailments in last year’s championship game on this same floor at Hamilton Gymnasium.

The Lions (27-0) stretched their overall winning streak to 33 games. They outscored their five playoff opponents 315-108, an average of 63-22.

PHOTOS: Colorado Springs Christian School wins back-to-back 3A state title

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3A Girls Basketball State Championships
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3A Girls Basketball State Championships
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3A Girls Basketball State Championships
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3A Girls Basketball State Championships
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3A Girls Basketball State Championships

But this one wasn’t quite as easy as it appeared.

Peyton, led by Air Force-bound senior AJ Mannering (32.8 ppg), scored more than 70 points per game this season and showed some of that firepower with a 13-3 run to open the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 31-26.

“Our girls gave great effort the whole game,” said Peyton (24-1) coach Brian Green, who has now taken Panthers boys and girls teams to runner-up finishes. “We battled back and we got it into single digits. Then they hit a couple big 3s and that kind of turned the momentum.”

Mannering scored 21 points Saturday against a defensive effort spearheaded by CSCS's Kinley Asp.

It was Asp who stepped into the leading scoring role in last year’s title game as Minihane was ill, scoring 29 points in the finale as a freshman. This time she scored 12 points and was perhaps the key contributor defensively for a team that prides itself on that end of the floor.

Jordyn Rollins added 11 points, including two second-half 3s that helped stretch the lead after the Mannering-led run that brought Peyton back into the game.

“We did a lot of homework on her,” Asp said of Mannering. “(Coach Mark) Engesser was up until like 4 a.m. He’s such a hard-working coach. He’s like no other.”

For the record, Engesser said it was more like 1:30 a.m. But either way, he was impressed with his team’s ability to execute the defensive plan with nothing more than a walk-through to prepare for the Panthers’ quick-strike attack.

This is Engesser’s second girls title at CSCS to go with the two he earned as the boys’ coach.

“We wanted to prove the computer algorithms wrong,” he said, noting that the Lions entered the past two state tournaments seeded second, while Peyton was No. 1. “We thought we were better last year and this year, and we proved the computer algorithms wrong. That was definitely motivating.”

For Minihane, the motivation was simply to finish on top and enjoy it with full health.

Done and done for the back-to-back champ.

“It feels amazing,” Minihane said. “I’m so thankful for this team and that we got another year together. I wish we had more.”