PARKER – Mark Engesser knew the significance of Colorado Springs Christian School’s opening contest.

The Lions had won 33 consecutive games heading into their matchup with Lutheran and needed one more to break the school record. They’ll have to wait to set the new mark.

Lutheran held off the Lions, who outscored them 18-9 in the fourth quarter, to beat CSCS 47-42 on Saturday and handed the Lions their first loss since February 2023.

“I knew about the streak coming in,” Engesser said. “But it’s ok. We tied the school record, but we’re going to make a new (streak) starting with our next game.”

The Lions, the two-time defending 3A girls state champs, lost Grace Minihane to graduation and Kinley Asp, who transferred to Air Academy, in the offseason.

Prior to the loss, Colorado Springs Christian’s 33 wins in a row were also the top mark in Colorado girls basketball.

During that streak, the Lions earned the championship in 2023 and last season’s crown after a 59-32 win against top-seeded Peyton.

The Lions finished 27-0 last season and won each contest by double figures, including each playoff game by at least 27 points.

To start this season, however, the Lions found themselves in a rare situation – a double-digit deficit.

Lutheran opened the contest on an 11-0 run, which forced Engesser to call a timeout to deliver a message to his team.

“I told them stop passing it to Lutheran,” Engesser said as he laughed. “We have the blue jerseys on, so let’s pass it to the blue jerseys. Let’s stop panicking. It took us a quarter and a half to settle down.”

The Lions cut the lead to 16-10 after the first, but went cold in the second quarter and hit just two field goals and a pair of free throws and trailed 24-17 at the break.

Lutheran held the Lions to just 7 points in the third, but Hayley Helwege’s 3-pointer at the buzzer cut the lead to 38-24.

“I like the fight that they had in the fourth quarter,” Engesser said. “We played hard the whole game. We made a lot of mistakes, but we can fix those. The girls played hard and sprinted everywhere. I’m very proud of them.”

Helwege’s 3-pointer sparked a 16-5 run over the next 5:27 and Rose Ross’ triple followed by a lay up 20 seconds later closed the gap to 43-37 with 2:33 on the clock.

Jordyn Rollins, who finished the game with 8 points, poured in half her total in the fourth to help the Lions trim the lead.

“The end of the fourth quarter shows who we are as a team,” Rollins said. “We still have to gel. We’re a young team and we managed to gel some throughout the game. But we know we still have a way to go.”

The Lions outscored Lutheran by one, 5-4, in the final 2:33 of the game, but Lutheran didn’t waver on its home court.

“The hope for the rest of the year is we come out how we ended this one,” Rollins said. “How we ended the fourth quarter and that run we went on and the intensity we came out with, we hope that’s every quarter. … This is going to be one of our hardest games that we have until we get to playoffs and we know that.”

Yes, despite losing key pieces to their team, Rollins knows the Lions lost this game, but not their fight.

“We dream big,” Rollins said. “We have high hopes and high expectations for ourselves. We know we have pressure on us and we put pressure on ourselves. … If it takes a few losses to get there, so be it. We still want it.”

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BREAKOUT BOX

With Colorado Springs Christian’s loss Saturday, 4A’s Riverdale Ridge now holds the longest win streak at 18 consecutive games.

Victories during win streak

2022-23 season (Finished 25-2, closed on six-game winning streak)

Feb. 25, 53-34 over St. Mary’s

March 3, 68-29 over Timnath

March 4, 62-14 over Fountain Valley

March 9, 44-35 over Platte Valley

March 10, 33-29 over St. Mary’s

March 11, 57-41 over Vanguard**

2023-24 (Finished 27-0)

Dec. 7, 79-16 over Bennett

Dec. 9, 82-31 over Fowler

Dec. 12, 87-22 over Ellicott

Dec. 16, 59-4 over Lamar

Dec. 21, 54-40 over Pueblo West

Jan. 6, 78-13 over Pueblo South

Jan. 9, 81-20 over Manitou Springs

Jan. 17, 71-17 over Salida

Jan. 19, 69-14 over Woodland Park

Jan. 23, 90-6 over Fowler

Jan. 25, 66-11 over Rye

Jan. 27, 91-15 over James Irwin

Jan. 30, 80-20 over Buena Vista

Feb. 2, 74-32 over St. Mary’s

Feb. 6, 61-13 over Banning Lewis

Feb. 8, 42-27 over Rangeview

Feb. 10, 75-14 over La Junta

Feb. 13, 45-35 over Centauri

Feb. 15, 70-18 over Vanguard

Feb. 20, 80-10 over Woodland Park

Feb. 23, 56-20 over Salida

Feb. 24, 58-23 over St. Mary’s

March 1, 69-20 over Gunnison

March 2, 80-25 over Olathe

March 7, 54-23 over Highland

March 8, 53-8 over St. Mary’s

March 9, 59-32 over Peyton**

**Denotes championship games