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Family affair for Sewells

Brad Byler, Special to the Rocky

Published March 15, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Broomfield's Chaundra Sewell, a 6-foot-1 junior who scored 12 points and was named the Class 4A tournament MVP, is fouled by Silver Creek's Meghan Heimstra in the third quarter Friday night.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Broomfield's Chaundra Sewell, a 6-foot-1 junior who scored 12 points and was named the Class 4A tournament MVP, is fouled by Silver Creek's Meghan Heimstra in the third quarter Friday night.

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The Broomfield girls basketball team had to feel confident going into Friday night's Class 4A state championship game against Silver Creek at the Coors Events Center.

After all, the Eagles had a Sewell on their roster, and that always helps.

Four years after her brother, Geoff, led the Broomfield boys team to an upset victory against Fountain-Fort Carson in the 2004 state championship game, Chaundra Sewell stepped to the spotlight to help Broomfield win its second consecutive girls title with a 50-34 victory against Silver Creek.

Sewell, a 6-foot-1 junior, had scored only four points earlier this season when the Raptors handed the Eagles their only loss this season.

But on Friday, with her brother in attendance, Sewell had 12 points and six rebounds and helped spark a third-quarter scoring run that put the Eagles out of range.

Sewell's consecutive baskets near the end of the third put Broomfield up 30-19, its biggest lead of the game to that point. Silver Creek rallied slightly in the final quarter, but it wasn't enough to keep the Eagles from hoisting the gold ball trophy again.

Sewell, who also had the tough task of guarding Raptors leading scorer Meghan Heimstra, said the points she scored were a bonus. She just wanted to limit Heimstra, which she did by holding the senior, who will play at Colorado State, to seven points.

"I knew that it was my role to work on Heimstra and slow her down," said Sewell, who scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a semifinal victory against Golden. "In the loss, I never did that. She did it to me."

In 2004, Geoff drew the assignment of guarding Fountain-Fort Carson's Phil Loadholt, a mammoth center who dwarfed the lean Sewell. But Sewell's rebounding and defense against Loadholt helped the Eagles claim the title.

Chaundra was at the game, along with future Eagles teammates Ashley Snow and Deborah Davies.

"Oh, yeah, that was amazing," Chaundra said. "Ashley and Deborah were at that basketball game with me. They were excited that I was his sister."

Geoff imparted some of his championship game wisdom to his little sister before the contest. With the big game scheduled for later, Chaundra got home early from school Friday. Too early, because with nothing else to think about, she couldn't relax. Until Geoff talked to her.

"I was at home and I had just read a newspaper article and I was ready to go," she said. "It was only 1 p.m. He just told me to calm down and that it would be OK. He said I can't get over-excited for the game, or I'd foul out."

Sewell had a composed start, scoring six points in the first half to lead the Eagles. And she kept Heimstra from getting off to a strong start, holding the Silver Creek standout to zero points on 0-for-7 shooting.

"I make bank on my defense," Sewell said. "Like tonight, my shots weren't really falling so I have to rely on my defense to get it done."