Call Cheyenne Mountain guard Amanda Weber a player who stepped up to score a game- and season-high 23 points in a 71-49 victory over Harrison in the second round of the 4A state quarterfinals. But coach Janie Mueller will refute that.

“Amanda is not a role player,” Mueller said. “If you look, Amanda … (is) very, very important.”

OK. Call Weber the star of the win — the Indians’ 15th straight. But she’ll just pass the credit on to her teammates.

“We did it as a team; we didn’t do it individually,” she said.

Well, then just call her a sharp-shooter. Because after hitting 3-of-5 3-pointers and going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, it’s hard to argue with that. Even Weber admitted that “everything was feeling good.”

The junior was a rock for the sixth-seeded Indians, who earned a second straight state quarterfinal berth, throughout a game that had a frantic pace from start to finish.

In a back-and-forth first quarter that included six Cheyenne Mountain turnovers, Weber hit a 3-pointer to give the Indians some stability. And after No. 11 Harrison rallied to take a 16-15 lead with 6 minutes left in the second, Weber hit two free throws to start an 18-4 run that put Cheyenne Mountain in control and added a three-point play later to help push the halftime lead to 33-20.

And while Weber couldn’t miss, Harrison couldn’t hit.

“When you’re 2-for-13 just from layups in the first half … those stats are hard to overcome,” Panthers coach Tamie Price said.

Jumpers found iron, layups rimmed out and frustration grew, putting Cheyenne Mountain in the bonus early in both halves.

Harrison did pull to within six midway through the third quarter after using its full-court press to force turnovers. But Weber helped pushed the lead back up to 47-32 after converting a three-point play and both ends of a 1-and-1.

The Panthers’ Charron Johnson, who wasn’t the tallest player on the floor but jumped head and shoulders above everyone else, then responded with a three-point play, stole the ball on the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a layup to pull the Panthers to within seven with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

But that was as close as Harrison would get, as Cheyenne Mountain went into the bonus. The Indians made 13-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and finished 27-of-32 for the game.

Janae Vander Ploeg and Connie Char each went 8-of-10 from the line and finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Danielle Pedersen added 10 points for Cheyenne Mountain, which will face 4A Metro rival Air Academy in Friday’s state quarterfinals at Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

Johnson led the Panthers with 13 points and Nikkita Lesiter and Nicole Herrera each had 10.

Cheyenne Mountain’s Amanda Weber shoots a free throw during the first half Friday against Harrison. Weber went 12-for-12 from the line and finished with 23 points. Photo by ANGIE DISALVO, THE GAZETTE