Among those eager to see Monarch’s Natalie Guanella at the Denver Coliseum last month — on a stage finally befitting her big game — was her next coach, Fort Lewis basketball’s Taylor Harris.

He liked what he saw, he told Guanella. Had been liking it for a while. And her coach for the last four years, Mike Blakely, believes there’s plenty more to come from the star point guard.

“I think she is going to make a big impact at Fort Lewis next year,” the Coyotes coach said. “As much as we are going to miss her, I know they are excited to have her.”

Guanella is the Daily Camera girls basketball player of the year.

Last year, she was BoCoPreps’ player of the year.

“On top of being a really great player, she has a great basketball IQ as well,” Blakely said. “She is usually running our fastbreak, and when we aren’t running, she calls our offensive sets. She thinks (about) the game and helps us make adjustments on the fly. She gets her teammates involved.

“I think it’s unquestioned that she goes down as one of the best ever individual players at Monarch.”

Guanella left the high school game as Monarch’s second-leading scorer in school history.

Her 1,253 points were 74 behind Coyotes’ great Kimberly Dietz, who went on to have a nice four-year career at Kansas State in the mid-2000s. (If not for the pandemic-shortened season in 2021, Blakely pointed out, she likely would have been the school’s all-time points leader).

She finished fourth in school history in steals (227), sixth in assists (202), fourth in 3-pointers made (109) and second in free throws made (272).

Over Guanella’s four years, which included obstacles off the court like COVID-19 and the Marshall Fire, she helped turn the Coyotes back into a perennial contender.

Coming into the program the same year as Blakely, Monarch was 14-10 her freshman season and 58-6 in the three years following.

Her senior season was arguably her best.

She balanced the role of scorer and facilitator with precision, leading the Coyotes to their third title game appearance in school history.

During a run of 20 straight wins into the finals, she hit wide-open teammates and 3s as much as she put her body in peril driving to the rim.

“I can remember many times when she hit the floor hard enough with a knee, hip, or elbow that you could hear it from the bench,” Blakely said. “But she never missed a game due to injury.”

Monarch eventually fell to back-to-back champ Grandview and 6A player of the year Sienna Betts in the championship game.

“I think about all the memories I’ve had with my teammates,” Guanella said. “This year and last year have been the closest I’ve been with my teammates for any team — club, high school or even younger.”

Guanella was the lone area girl named to the first team in Class 6A after she was the only local on its second team last year.

She was also named the Front Range League player of the year for a third straight year after leading the Coyotes to three straight league titles.

A week ago, she was invited to Colorado’s premier all-star Top-20 game at The Show at Metro State.