Month: March 2018

  • St. Mary’s wins first girls basketball championship in capturing 3A

    (Brent New/CHSAANow.com)

    DENVER — The long wait is over for St. Mary’s — its girls’ hoop team can finally enjoy the view from the top.

    Makenna Bodette scored 15 and Josephine Howery added 14 points as St. Mary’s beat Colorado Springs Christian 44-38 in an all-Colorado Springs Class 3A girls basketball championship at the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gymnasium.

    Clinging to a 40-38 lead in the final minute, Howery went 4 for 4 from the free throw line and Bodette had a key block on Megan Engesser to seal the school’s first state title in basketball.

    “I can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Bodette, the team’s senior captain. “It’s unreal. I’m just really excited.”

    The Tri-Peaks rivals had met twice before the finals with both teams winning once. And just like the first two, the finale came right down to the wire.

    The Pirates (26-1) led 21-14 at half, using a 15-5 run to finish the second quarter in command. The Lions scored five straight points to tie the game at 14-apiece before Josephine Howery and Mary Cummings hit 3s in the final two minutes as part of a momentum-swinging 7-0 spurt.

    Behind Engesser, though, the Lions (23-4) roared back to take a 30-29 lead in the third before the Pirates outscored them 12-8 in the fourth.

    Howery hit her first two free throws to give the Pirates a 42-38 lead with 51 seconds remaining and Bodette swatted Engesser in the lane to preserve it moments later.

    Howery, just a sophomore, said she thought about the hours her team had worked to get to this moment while at the line.

    “I just knew I had to do it for my team,” she said. “I just took a deep breath and focused.”

    Bodette had a similar mentality as she soared high to deny Engesser, 3A’s leading scorer, in the final seconds.

    “I had four fouls, but I wanted to help my team no matter what there,” the senior captain said. “No matter what I was either going to get the block or foul out there. I had to do that for my team.”

    Engesser had a game-high 21 points to lead CSCS, which finished as the state runner-up for the second straight season. She had 10 points by the half and another nine in the third before hitting just once in the fourth.

    The Lions outshot the Pirates, but they lost the battle on the boards and turnovers. St. Mary’s outrebounded CSCS 33-22 and scored 17 points off steals.

    “There is just so many things that could go either way and either team could have won,” CSCS coach Mark Engesser said. “Just a few things here or there. … They went their way and they did a good job.”

    The Pirates’ win was their first in hoops — both boys or girls. At the buzzer, the team celebrated alongside their fans before jumping in joy all the way to the locker room.

    “I think the school has been around for something like 140 years and it’s cool that this is the first state title in hoops,” St. Mary’s coach Mike Burkett said. “This is a good group. They won it for their community and for their school.”

  • Kit Carson beats Kim/Branson, repeats as 1A girls basketball champion

    Kit Carson Kim/Branson girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    LOVELAND — That special championship feeling never loses its luster — just ask the Kit Carson girls basketball team.

    The Wildcats celebrated on the floor of the Budweiser Events Center as if they had never been here before.

    But they have. Just last year, when they won their first state title in program history. Then again on Saturday, when they repeated as Class 1A state champions following a 63-39 win over Kim/Branson, raising the trophy yet again.

    And it was just as special as the first time around.

    “This one feels even a little more sweet, if that’s at all possible,” coach Sara Crawford said. “Last year was amazing, too. But this year we always ran into those little challenges that we had to overcome. … It’s a lot of pressure (to repeat). But we tried not to worry about being perfect.”

    Try or not, Kit Carson was indeed perfect — capping off an untouched season with a 25-0 record, just as it did in 2016-17. The second consecutive undefeated run now brings the program to an astonishing 98-2 mark over the past four years.

    “It feels awesome. It all just keeps piling on and giving us more energy to go into another season,” junior Olivia Isenbart said. “We always keep working and improving, even when it seems like there’s no room to go.”

    Kit Carson Kim/Branson girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    Though the final score suggests otherwise, top-seeded Kit Carson was tested early on by a No. 2 Kim/Branson team willing to take on the challenge. The Mustangs (21-4) held their own despite poor shooting that hindered them through the first two quarters, going into halftime trailing by just six points, 25-19.

    But the Wildcats were quick to show why they’re the top 1A team for a reason. They returned from the break on an 8-0 run to open the second half and began to distance themselves from their opponent. As the game entered the final quarter, the writing on the wall started to show how it would end.

    “We talked about playing with a little bit more emotion (at halftime) and loosening up a bit,” Crawford said. “They knew they had it, and needed to create it for themselves. That goes back to them being there for each other.”

    Kit Carson was led by a scoring trio that accounted for all but 10 of its points. Olivia Isenbart set the tone by putting up a game-high 25 points. Fellow junior Tess Hornung scored 18 points of her own and senior Micayla Isenbart added 11.

    Runner-up Kim/Branson had two players reach double-digit scoring figures as senior Joni Brown had a team-high 13 points while senior Ashley Yergert scored 10.

    “We’ll carry this momentum over into the next season,” Isenbart said.

    When asked about the possibility of a third straight perfect season, she responded with a smile and said:

    “That’s the plan.”

    Kit Carson Kim/Branson girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
  • Peetz fends off South Baca to capture 1A boys hoops title

    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    LOVELAND — Sean Fehringer knew something special was in the making.

    Four months ago, the Peetz boys basketball coach watched his school’s football team capture the 6-man state championship. The best part? Ten out of the 12 players on his basketball roster were multi-sport athletes also on that team.

    Knowing they were equipped with a championship mentality, Fehringer helped them transfer it over to the court — which came full circle Saturday night when the Bulldogs beat South Baca 51-44 in the Class 1A title game at the Budweiser Events Center.

    Peetz now has two championships this school year, and its first boys basketball crown since 1962.

    “Right after football season, we told the guys they had an opportunity to do something truly special for our town,” Fehringer said. “We have some of the greatest fan support for our athletics. It really is a community achievement for little old Peetz, Colorado.”

    The Bulldogs’ run to the basketball title began as the No. 5 seed in the state tournament. They had to move past No. 4 Sange de Cristo in the opening round, then survive an overtime thriller against top-seeded Creede in the semifinals.

    “We knew that coming in, there would be eight teams here all hungry for the same thing, and that makes it very challenging,” Fehringer said.

    In Saturday’s finale, Peetz (25-1) found itself evenly matched against No. 6 South Baca.

    Peetz South Baca boys basketball
    (dustinpricephotography.com)

    The Bulldogs grabbed an early lead but were unable to put the game away, which remained tight all the way until the final minutes. Although never having a lead, the Patriots did not trail more than eight at any point, continuing to apply pressure.

    It was the senior-heavy Peetz lineup that proved to be the difference coming down the stretch.

    Logan Sircy, who also earned football Player of the Year honors, finished as the game’s leading scorer with 23 points. Included in his performance was a key 3-pointer and a pair of free throws late in the fourth quarter to help his team fend off South Baca.

    Gabe Naegele and Bryson Long added nine and eight points, respectively, while Tre Fehringer chipped in five.

    South Baca finishes its season with a 21-5 record as state runner-up. The Patriots were led by the scoring duo of seniors Micah Crane (19 points) and Thomas Manuel (13).

    “This is awesome; just amazing. The environment and everything — you’ll never forget it,” Sircy said.

    “We’ve been dreaming of this for as long as I can remember. It was a long time coming. To come out and get it done on the last game of your career is a really special feeling.”

  • Bayfield boys hoops beats Lutheran to win 3A championship, program’s first

    Lutheran Bayfield boys basketball
    (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

    DENVER — The town of Bayfield had to wait 48 years for another chance to win a state title in boys basketball.

    Now, they’re celebrating two school titles in four months.

    Hayden Farmer scored 13 of his 18 points as part of a dominant beginning for the Wolverines, Ryan Phelps added 16 of his own, and No. 7 Bayfield beat No. 12 Lutheran 68-57 for its first boys basketball title in school history on Saturday night at the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gymnasium.

    Not long before winning the Class 3A title, many of the players — including four of the Wolverines’ five starters — were part of the school’s undefeated 2A football team.

    Getting the second felt just as good. 

    Lutheran Bayfield boys basketball
    (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

    “Man, we were hungry to get another one,” said Farmer, who is also the school’s starting quarterback. “We wanted to make history.”

    At the horn, the celebration carried from Denver to the small community 300 miles south. Junior Turner Kennedy was mobbed by purple-cladded fans as he rose the trophy high into the air and Farmer emotionally embraced his teammates.

    The win meant a lot — for everyone, Bayfield coach Jeff Lehnus said.

    “It’s a community that is very connected with each other,” Lehnus said. “You should have seen back at our Pine Cone restaurant, packed. The gym (in Bayfield), people are watching the game. There’s a unique connection among people because they grow up together.”

    Kennedy added 13 points and Dax Snooks had 11 for the Wolverines (19-7), who were making their third trip to the finals and first since 1970.

    The victory ended up being far less dramatic than their previous two in the postseason — wins over Alamosa and Faith Christian — both of which came down to the final minute.

    Bayfield jumped out to a 32-9 lead, behind Farmer and a 3-point arsenal. The Lions (20-7) responded with a 12-2 run to end the half and climbed within as few as eight in the third and nine in the final minute.

    But that’s as close as it would get.

    “We wanted this so bad and came out and gave everything,” Phelps said. “We wanted to put everything out there and we did.”

    Kole Brandon led Lutheran with 17 points, while Matthew Thompson added 14.

    The Lions made one final push in the closing minutes, but Bayfield kept things out of reach from the line — going 23 of 31 for the game.

    In the end, Lutheran’s magical run through the postseason was finally over. The Lions upset No. 1 Sterling the day before, thanks to a game-winning shot from Peter Gibas with 2.8 seconds remaining.

    “The greatest silver-lining is what these kids are going to learn from this,” Lutheran coach Bill Brandsma said. “They came together, they’re a brotherhood, they’ll never forget each other, and they truly love each other. We knew the outcome of this game wouldn’t define us.

    “Maybe we left it all out there yesterday (against Sterling), I don’t know,” he added. “But we sure came out flat today.”

    Lutheran Bayfield boys basketball
    (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
    Lutheran Bayfield boys basketball
    (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
  • Grandview rallies to repeat as 5A girls basketball champions

    Grandview girls basketball team champions
    (Cannon Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    DENVER — It was somehow fitting that a thrilling back-and-forth shootout was ultimately decided at the free-throw line.

    With both Regis Jesuit and Grandview losing key scoring threats to foul trouble Saturday night, the Class 5A girls basketball state championship game became a free-for-all in the final quarter.

    With three starters fouling out for the Raiders, the Wolves took advantage by knocking down a handful of clutch free throws in the final minute on their way to a 67-61 victory at Denver Coliseum.

    It was the highest-scoring 5A girls championship game since 2003.

    Grandview (25-3) claimed its second consecutive 5A crown in the process, capping an intense, physical 32 minutes by hoisting the state trophy once again. The Wolves also proved themselves in the process after graduating the 2017 Player of the Year, Michaela Onyenwere.

    “Being able to win it with this group of girls, especially after we were told that we wouldn’t be able to do it again with the people that we lost last year — this is amazing,” Grandview junior Alisha Davis said. “Not only to prove everybody wrong but to put this one in the books as well.”

    Freshman Addison O’Grady scored a game-high 14 points and was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Davis and Leilah Vigil each scored 13 points, and Allyah Marlett added 11.

    Regis Jesuit Grandview girls state basketball 2018
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    The Wolves were 7-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and overcame the loss of Vigil — the team’s leading scorer — after she fouled out with five minutes, five seconds remaining in the game.

    “I’m proud of them all. They’re my sisters,” Vigil said. “I love them with every piece of me, and it’s going to hurt going to college next year. But those girls fought for me, and that’s what I really appreciated most.”

    Jada Moore scored 13 points to lead the Raiders (24-4), who had not lost to a team from Colorado this season. Jasmine Gaines drained three 3-pointers and scored 12 points, and Fran Belibi and Avery Vansickle added 11 each.

    Regis Jesuit led by four points with 2:17 remaining but had its three leading scorers foul out down the stretch. Vansickle and Belibi went out in the final four minutes, and Moore fouled out with 41.3 seconds remaining.

    With a little more than two minutes to go, Davis hit a pair of baskets inside the paint to cut the deficit to 61-59, and O’Grady hit a free throw to make it a one-point game. The teams traded missed chances until Davis came up with a steal and was fouled on the other end with 44.3 seconds remaining.

    The forward converted both attempts to put Grandview up 62-61. Moore was whistled for a charge, and Jaiden Galloway added another free throw to make it a two-point game.

    Marlett and Galloway combined to go 4-for-4 from the line in the final 20 seconds. The Raiders were held scoreless over the final 2:17.

    “I think the kids just really stepped up. They knew we needed defensive stops and to get turnovers, and they did,” Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky said. “We had kids who struggled a little bit for a little while, and they really stepped up and got in there.”

    The action was so fast-paced and frantic that there wasn’t much time for anyone to stop and think about what was at stake.

    “That’s how every game is,” Davis said. “You just develop momentum, and once you get that adrenaline rushing, you just go from there. That’s how we were able to pull this off.”

    Regis Jesuit took an 18-5 lead in the opening minutes of the game, but the Wolves recovered and went on a 10-0 run to pull within three late in the first quarter. Grandview didn’t take its first lead until Galloway beat the buzzer at the end of the first half.

    “I was like ‘look, we can’t get it all back right now. One possession at a time,’” Ulitzky said. “Us worrying about trying to make up a deficit in one or two possessions isn’t going to happen, so just focus on what we do.”

    The players never doubted themselves, even after falling behind in the first quarter and again after losing Vigil in the fourth.

    “It’s the thing we’ve been working on all season,” O’Grady said. “We had one goal, and to finally achieve that goal is just great. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

    Grandview Regis Jesuit girls basketball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    (Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
  • Yuma defeats Clear Creek to win 2A girls basketball championship

    Yuma Clear Creek girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    LOVELAND — The best teams in sport are often the ones with the best chemistry.

    The chemistry on the Yuma girls basketball team couldn’t have been much better if it were scientifically engineered.

    That bond carried Yuma, the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A girls tournament, to its second state championship in three years Saturday at the Budweiser Events Center.

    Led by juniors Cody Robinson and Chasey Blanch, two friends since the fourth grade, Yuma put an end to No. 7 Clear Creek’s quest for gold with a 45-23 rout in the title game.

    Robinson led all scorers with 18 points, while Blach was close behind with 17 of her own. The two linked up on a number of assists and were among the first to embrace when the final buzzer sounded.

    “We’ve all been working so hard for this for so many years,” Robinson said. “We’re all such a close group. I’ve never been part of such a close group of girls. The chemistry is just always there, and this is what we’ve all been talking about. It’s been a dream of ours, so it feels amazing.”

    Yuma couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the championship game, taking a 13-1 lead after the first eight minutes on a run which was capped by a buzzer-beating runner by Robinson.

    On the other end, Clear Creek couldn’t buy a field goal and senior facilitator Rachel Lucas was stuck on the sideline for a majority of the quarter after early foul troubles.

    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    As the Golddiggers struggled to gain footing, managing just three field goals in the first half, Robinson and company parlayed their hot start into a 22-8 halftime advantage.

    “We wanted to come out with fire so that they couldn’t come out with a hot start, too,” Robinson said. “We didn’t want to get down and have to come back, so having the confidence and being able to start fast was key.

    In the second half, the rapport between Robinson and Blach only got better. Blach dished an assist to Robinson to start the scoring in the second half, and the two combined for 11 points in the third quarter alone to push the advantage to 36-18.

    Clear Creek remained aggressive in the fourth as Grace Werlin, who had a knack for shooting the long ball all year, finally converted on a 3-pointer with just over five minutes to play after missing her previous five attempts.

    Werlin and Lucas, the two leading scorers for Clear Creek on its magical run in its first ever state tournament appearance, were held to a combined 13 points.

    “We played really defense tonight on them,” Yuma coach Bob Rahm said. “We were just trying to limit their touches as much as we could.”

    Yuma’s most recent title drought lasted all but one year, winning the title in 2016 before finishing third a year ago. And with the Yuma boys playing for a title immediately after seing their counterparts walk off victorious, it’s obvious that the hardwood chemistry runs deep throughout the town.

    “The fans, the parents, the community, they all really buy into it,” Rahm said. “These kids play a lot of ball from a young age. Our summer is what really gets us, we go and challenge a lot of bigger schools and try to play the best. This is where all of that pays off at the end of the season.”

    Yuma Clear Creek girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
  • Photos: Grandview claims 5A boys and girls basketball championships

    DENVER — Grandview rallied to win the Class 5A girls basketball championship, and the Wolves’ boys team followed that with a title of their own.

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    (4) Grandview 67, (6) Regis Jesuit 61

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    (6) Grandview 57, (5) George Washington 52

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  • Grandview boys basketball beats George Washington to claim first title

    George Washington Grandview boys basketball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    DENVER — It’s no secret that Wolves hunt in packs. And that’s exactly what the Grandview Wolves did Saturday night. Hours after the girls won their second-straight basketball title, the boys followed suit.

    A 57-52 win over George Washington completed the Class 5A basketball sweep for Grandview. This is the first state championship for the boys.

    “I just believed that my team would win,” Grandview coach Michael Rogers said. “I’m just blessed with a great group of kids and I just knew we were going to win.

    Among that great group was Dayne Prim, who led the Wolves with 20 points in the winning effort. He shot 9-for-10 from the field and had similar performances all the way through the tournament.

    “I was just coming out to try and play every single game just like I do every single night,” Prim said. “I come out here, do what’s best for my team, be a team player, be the leader, lead my guys and we got the dub.”

    There were nine total lead changes in the first half an neither team held a lead larger than five points. The Patriots were briefly up 24-19, but a 3-point basket from Lean Ramiro followed by a steal and a fast break layup from Tyler Unger evened the score again.

    Jon’il Fugett scored four of George Washington’s last five points in the first half, including a drive and lay in with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. That basket gave the Patriots a 29-26 lead at the half.

    “This is a regular season game in the Centennial League,” Rogers said about the constant lead changes. “That’s why you play in the best league in the state and you play those guys twice.”

    Grandview George Washington boys basketball
    (Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)

    The Wolves cut into the three-point lead once again with another 3-pointer from Unger. On the next possession, Calib McGil navigated his way down low to give Grandview its first lead since it was 15-14.

    Mo Daillo tied things up for George Washington before Dayne Prim gave the Wolves a two-point edge after three quarters.

    That’s the way the Wolves started working. Prim had been a beast for Grandview all playoffs so when a bucket was needed, the ball went straight into Prim’s hands.

    “He has the heart of a champion,” Rogers said. “He came out tonight and said ‘get on my back, I got you guys.’”

    He added a layup to give Grandview a 44-38 lead, its biggest of the game with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.

    Heading into the fourth quarter, George Washington had made 12 of its 14 free throw attempts, but had three key misses as they tried to erase the Grandview lead.

    That wasn’t the case for the Wolves as McGil and Ben Boone made timely free throws to once again push the lead to six points and ultimately seal the game for the Wolves.

    “Practicing all season and going and getting free throws in all season, it just took us all back to Grandview,” Boone said. “This is just shoot around, this is just like we’re at Grandview and it worked out for us.”

    This is just the third time that a 5A school has claimed both boys and girls basketball titles in the same season. ThunderRidge did back in 2003 and Regis Jesuit did it in 2009.

    The Grandview guys said that watching the girls battle back against Regis Jesuit to claim a second-straight title inspired them to go their own.

    “Of course they did,” Prim said. “And we’ve never done this at Grandview. We only had one boys championship and that’s in football (in 2007). We had never been to the championship, we never won one. This is history.”

    The school was already planning on a championship celebration, now the scale is just going to be a bit bigger. For winning two championships in one night, all the Wolves will celebrate as a team

    “We’ll do it together,” Boone said.

    They’ll do it as a pack.

    Grandview George Washington boys basketball
    (Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)
    Grandview boys basketball
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
    George Washington Grandview boys basketball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    Grandview George Washington boys basketball
    (Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
    Grandview boys basketball team champions
    (Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
  • Yuma boys basketball beats Crowley County to win 2A title

    Yuma Crowley County boys basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    LOVELAND — For the past couple of years, Yuma High School boys basketball was under construction.

    It was a program that had won just 12 games over the past two years combined and was in the state tournament for the first time since 2013. But finally, this year, Yuma built a winner.

    Taking on the moniker of a cartoon construction worker, Bob The Builder — or “BTB,” an abbreviation that Victor Mendoza says will now be engraved on the team’s state championship rings — the Yuma boys completed an incredible turnaround from an 8-12 season a year ago to a 25-2 state championship season.

    Entering the Class 2A boys state championship basketball game as the No. 2 seed, Yuma knocked off No. 1 and previously unbeaten Crowley County 59-41 for the rights to the crown.

    “After a game last year, we had a couple of starters out and we still won the game,” junior Victor Mendoza said. “We said, ‘You know what? We’re going to take this into next year.’ We said like Bob the Builder, BTB. Bob the Builder is in what zone? The construction zone. So we just said we’re going to keep building, and this year we finally got it.”

    Yuma Crowley County boys basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)

    Yuma will now be in for some more remodeling as it hangs a fourth boys basketball state championship banner on its decorated gymnasium wall, ending a drought that dated back to 1981. On the other side, Crowley County was vying for its first title since 1968.

    Crowley County, usually led by a potent offense, struggled to gain its footing early on and its two key bigs, senior Bradley Carnes-Clabey and junior Lane Walter, both picked up three fouls before the first half ended.

    Couple the Charger foul trouble with a quick start on the other end — Yuma jumped out to a 13-5 lead after the first eight minutes — and a pair of 3-pointers from Steven Wells off the bench, and Yuma had a formula for success.

    “(Crowley County is a very good team, a lot of credit to them,” Yuma coach Dave Sheffield said. “They do what they do well, and their strength was their bigs inside. We pretty much sent doubles at them the entire night and we were able to stifle them. All credit to these guys, they put in a tremendous amount of work and they deserve every ounce of what they just did.”

    The Chargers made a run early in the second half but never closed the gap to fewer than six points. Mendoza finished with 12 points, including six in the fourth quarter, while teammate Connor Hixon led the scoring with 15 points thanks to a pair of dagger 3-pointers in the final frame.

    Until Saturday night, no school had won both the boys and girls state basketball championships in the same season since Holy Family accomplished the feat in 2014 in Class 3A.

    But Yuma, surely playing inspired by watching the girls team soar to a title just before they took the court, did just that. Coincidentally, Grandview also accomplished the title sweep in the Class 5A tournament on Saturday.

    “It’s an incredible, incredible situation,” Sheffield said. “You look up in the stands and see all of the red here, and you can tell how much it means. These guys follow us around and it’s a passionate fanbase.”

    Yuma Crowley County boys basketball
    (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
  • Photos: Chatfield girls lacrosse tops Aspen

    LAKEWOOD — Ryley Caron and Bailey Truex each had five goals to lead Chatfield girls lacrosse to a 12-5 win over Aspen on Saturday.

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