GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Thursday night, two big time Colorado programs in Valor Christian and Cherry Creek square off in an always big-time Class 5A battle.
Unlike previous meetings, these two teams face off looking to set their season straight. Both of these teams are sitting towards the bottom of the CHSAANow.com top 10 rankings with the Eagles at No. 8 and the Bruins at No. 9.
Both teams have had their early season struggles. Valor has yet to beat an opponent from Colorado and Cherry Creek has yet to get a win over a ranked opponent. The Eagles have allowed, on average, 32.5 points a game. On the other hand the Bruins’ offense generates an average of 17 points per game.
“It would be a huge win, not only for pride in our program, but it will be a step forward in the right direction for our team this year ,” senior lineman Jon Van Diest said.
With Altitude broadcasting the game, it will mark the television debut for the Bruins. The Eagles have appeared on ESPN, ESPNU and Altitude already this season.
“For some guys I believe it’ll heighten some nerves, but it won’t affect our game,” Van Diest said when talking about playing on TV.
Always a good game in store between the Bruins and the Eagles as both teams boast strong players such as Christian McCaffrey and Noah Ellis, and opposed by Van Diest and Dimirti Stanley.
Coming into the game, both teams have won two and lost two against the other.
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Cherry Creek handed Valor its first in-state loss in two seasons back in 2014. The Bruins doubled down on that feat with a 25-24 win over the Eagles in the 5A state championship that season.
Last year, it was the Eagles who got the upper hand twice. They came away with a 10-0 win in the regular season and then topped the Bruins 20-10 in the state semifinals to advance to the 5A game.
But those games of the past don’t matter Thursday. Once the ball is kicked-off, a new chapter will begin in what has developed into a top-notch rivalry.
Ethan Hillis is a comeback story, in a sense. It’s not really that he has something to prove to himself or others, but Cherry Creek boys tennis’ No. 1 singles player rejoined the team as a senior after taking a one-year hiatus from tennis last season.
“And he is one of the No. 1 contenders for the 5A No. 1 singles title, with all due respect to the other competitors,” second-year Cherry Creek tennis head coach Art Quinn said.
Hillis, one of Colorado’s top high school tennis players since his freshman year, hasn’t competed in a Bruins tennis shirt since his undefeated sophomore campaign came to an abrupt and brutal halt in the 2014 No. 1 singles final.
Fairview senior Ignatius Castelino won the championship 1-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5; the game, set and match were ultimately won after a point violation. The official penalized Hillis for slamming his racket into the ground, and he had already received a warning in the first set.
“I deserved it, but it probably helped more than it hurt in the long term,” Hillis said. “Unfortunately, I lost one match my sophomore year, and it was that one. I keep it in mind now when I’m on the court, and I like to think I control my temper a little better. I don’t want to be remembered for that moment and I don’t think I am anyways.”
Quinn added: “If we didn’t play with emotion, maybe we wouldn’t care.”
Ethan Hillis. (Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)
Hillis said he took a break from tennis for academic reasons, as any high school student can probably relate that junior year is the toughest.
“I always like playing for the team and I really enjoyed it my first two years,” Hillis said. “Last year I didn’t go out for a lot of school-related reasons. I couldn’t afford to take so much time for tennis my junior year, so I took a break from tennis in general. It was mostly academic, and I always wanted to come back. I was pretty disappointed I couldn’t last year.”
And his dedication to school has certainly paid off. Hillis currently maintains a weighted 4.3 grade point average and he scored a 34 on his ACT. “He’s weird-smart,” a Kent Denver dad and friend of Hillis’ said as he walked by.
Hillis will play collegiate tennis at Amherst College: a Division III school in Massachusetts that is consistently in the top-5 in tennis, occasionally falling to the 8 or 9 spot. For a major, Hillis is interested in math, computer science or both.
As far as senior year goes, it’s Hillis’ last hurrah in high school, and he wanted to be part of the tennis team one last time.
“My teammates were pushing me over the summer and texting me telling me to play,” Hillis said. “They missed having me on the team and that was a big part of the reason why I like high school tennis.”
Quinn added it was great to have Hillis back, especially after after he was gone last season.
Aside from the one blemish on his sophomore record at the hands of Castelino, Hillis has been undefeated. He didn’t lose a match his entire freshman season and captured the 2013 No. 3 singles title, and has also been undefeated his senior season as well.
Last Tuesday in a dual meet between the Bruins and Sun Devils, the defending Class 5A team champs against the defending 4A team champs, Hillis beat Kent Denver’s Casey Ross 3-2.
“I always play well against Casey,” Hillis said of his friend.
Kent Denver’s Casey Ross. (Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)
Ross and Hillis are ranked in the United State Tennis Association’s most recent Intermountain boys 18 singles standings as No. 1 and 2, respectively, but they’ve gone back and forth over the years.
Quinn explained that Ross has maintained a higher sectional ranking, but they’ve been head to head as of late, probably going more Ethan’s way.
“Ethan possesses a very strong will power, a very strong mental fortitude, and his physical prowess on the court deals with heavy top spin and crushing depth from ground strokes,” Quinn said. “He’s gotten a lot taller and bigger since his freshman year, and his ability to put physical weight on ball and mental weight on opponent is unrelenting.”
Hillis’ regular season comeback is just about complete, and he has already solidified his place in school history.
“Jeff Zeller, Doug Mayeda, Chad Harris and Ethan Hillis,” longtime Varsity 1 coach Dan Pierce said. “Those are the biggest guys to come through the program in the last 20 years.
Gary Harris, JV assistant coach and father of Chad Harris, added: “I’d put him in the top-10 of all time Creek players.”
And Pierce, who has been coaching Creek for 19 years, agreed: “We haven’t had that dominant of a singles player since Harris.”
Hillis will be 3-for-3 on entering the 5A state tournament undefeated, and he’s ready to make another run at the No. 1 singles title. He’s been there before, and he knows what he must do.
