The Denver East and Montbello girls each received a wake-up call Saturday.

No, not the type typically referred to in sports, but one in the literal sense.

The Denver Prep League rivals settled the league title at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Manual Thunderdome, a bright-and-early start that ended with Denver East winning 70-53. The Angels finished league play 8-0 and clinched their second consecutive league crown.

"We knew we had to keep our title and we just played with that aggression," Denver East guard Brooke Durant said.



The early start might have contributed to a sluggish pace, as the teams combined for 68 free throws while two players on each team fouled out. But Denver East took command early by building a 15-point halftime lead and the Angels never let the lead dip below eight in the second half.



Carlie Christianson paced the Angels (17-6 overall) with 17 points and 14 rebounds despite playing only about six minutes in the second half because of foul trouble. Christianson was whistled for a phantom fourth foul 3 minutes into the third quarter and went to the bench for the remainder of the period.



Montbello took advantage of her absence and cut the deficit to 46-38 entering the fourth. Christianson was whistled for another questionable foul a little more than 3 minutes into the quarter, and was finished. She was assessed a technical foul for disputing the call, but her team led 55-41 so Christianson was confident that the Angels would finish the victory.



"I knew my teammates were going to do it for me," Christianson said. "I was just more upset that I couldn’t play anymore, because I can’t do anything sitting on the bench. . . . The refs were calling some iffy fouls, but that’s part of the game."



Durant added 13 points for Denver East and Dawn Wattley came off the bench and contributed 11 points and seven rebounds. All 12 Angels players who played scored.



"We just had to keep our mental focus and keep our head," Durant said. "If we would have lost it, we would have lost."



Desirrie Frierson scored 15 points for Montbello and Tameka Hunt added 14, but the Warriors (15-5, 7-1) went a woeful 14-for-40 from the free-throw line.



"The difference was we didn’t make our free throws," Warriors coach Wayne McDonald said. "We’ve been playing (from behind) all year, but we just fell short this time. We’ve had a few tough games in the fourth quarter where we kept battling and battling and got over that wall, but this time, we just ran out of gas, basically."

Montbello. . . . . . . . . . . 11 12 15 15 — 53

Denver East. . . . . . . . . . 17 21 8 24 — 70

M — Tameka Hunt 6 0-2 14, Nykeyia Chambliss 1 2-6 5, Desirrie Frierson 5 5-6 15, Carmel Jackson 1 1-6 3, Danielle Brown 2 2-12 6, Jessica Brown 3 3-6 9, Charlotte Epperson 0 1-2 1, Tanya Vivens 0 0-0 0, Juney Hem 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 14-40 53.

DE — Brooke Durant 4 4-4 13, Renee Williams 1 2-2 4, Carlie Christianson 8 1-1 17, Tyshel McPherson 1 0-0 2, Dale Samuels 1 3-4 5, Dawn Wattley 4 3-4 11, Kiara Calbart 1 1-5 3, Nichole Finnie 2 0-2 4, Lyvette Groce 1 2-5 4, Samantha Sanders 1 1-1 3, Zabrina Jackson 0 2-2 2, Dominique Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 19-28 70.

Three-point goals — M, Hunt 2, Chambliss. D, Durant. Fouled out — Hunt, J. Brown, Christianson, Calbart.