{"id":35039,"date":"2023-03-27T10:47:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T16:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-chandler-smith-secures-2a-all-staters-win\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:22:16","slug":"dolores-chandler-smith-secures-2a-all-staters-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-chandler-smith-secures-2a-all-staters-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores\u2019 Chandler Smith secures 2A all-staters\u2019 win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores\u2019
Dolores\u2019 Chandler Smith (10) receives complimentary gear and her certificate of being named a 2023 Colorado Coaches of Girls' Sports All-State Basketball Games Class 2A selection, prior to action Sunday morning, March 19, at Grandview High School in Aurora. (Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Possibly the most unassuming pick for an all-star basketball game, Dolores\u2019 Chandler Smith on Sunday morning ensured that even if patrons and players wouldn\u2019t remember her name, they\u2019d remember her winning basket in the 2023 Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports All-State Basketball Games\u2019 Class 2A feature.<\/p>\n

Blue teammate Daisy Palacio (Edwards Vail Christian) had put the designated home side up 40-38 with two clutch free throws, only to see state champion Sedgwick County\u2019s Jensen Renquist \u2013 the CHSAA record-holder for made FTs in a game (24-of-26 on Jan. 24, 2020) \u2013 answer with two of her own.<\/p>\n

And though Blue failed to immediately respond, they would when Red\u2019s subsequent possession ended with Greeley Dayspring Christian\u2019s Lily Beauvais leading a fast break and zipping a cross-court pass through multiple defenders to an unguarded Smith, merely filling her assigned lane, for a likely layup.<\/p>\n

\"Dolores\u2019
Dolores\u2019 Chandler Smith (10) tries driving around Burlington's Whitney Cure (4) during the recent 2023 Colorado Coaches of Girls' Sports All-State Basketball Games' Class 2A feature at Grandview High School in Aurora. (Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dolores'
Dolores' Chandler Smith (10) returns excitedly to the 2A-Blue team's bench after postgame handshakes in the wake of a 42-40 win Sunday morning, March 19, over Red at the 2023 Colorado Coaches of Girls' Sports All-State Basketball Games. (Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With ball in hand, the Dolores Bears senior knew she had to do just one simple thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, not freak out!\u201d she said afterward. \u201cAnd stay calm; this was such a big deal. I can\u2019t believe that a little small-town person like me made it all the way here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moments later the hoop would go into history as the clincher, after Smith deflected the pass of Simla\u2019s Jillian Nipple, targeting Renquist cutting into the paint, into the hands of Blue teammate Avery Hughes (Fort Collins Heritage Christian Academy) just before time expired inside Grandview High School\u2019s gymnasium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked like a big school but the gym felt familiar \u2026 wasn\u2019t too big \u2013 like, stadium-sized \u2013 and felt nice to be able to play in,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing honor to be here; to represent my family and Dolores \u2026 feels like a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith and Hayden\u2019s Isabella Svoboda each finished with eight points in victory, though Blue went an iffy 3-of-10 from the free-throw line. Dayspring\u2019s Aliya McClanahan racked up a game-high 15 points, Hughes scored five, and Beauvais two. The only other 2A player besides Smith selected from a squad finishing below .500 this winter, Palacio posted four points.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther all-stars from other teams \u2026 I just feel like it clicks with those people,\u201d said Smith, who played for Dayspring skipper Tina Beauvais and assistant Kris Bayne. \u201cAnd being able to be there, see and have that connection. \u2026 It\u2019s so much more than a basketball game at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renquist registered 11 points in defeat, and Del Norte\u2019s Abigail Rivera finished with nine \u2013 including a surprise 3-pointer tying the game at 38-38 with 2:29 left in regulation. Wray\u2019s Larissa Salmans and Wiggins\u2019 Raelyn Koenig each scored seven points for head coach Scott Dille (SC) and assistant Melanie Godsey (Wray), and Nipple nailed two treys for her six.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

game-winning hoop, deflects pass as clock winds down<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[600,28,37,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-basketball","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82842,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35039\/revisions\/82842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35039"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}