Month: March 2019

  • Photos: Bear Creek boys lacrosse tops Denver North

    DENVER — Bear Creek boys lacrosse got a 14-0 win over Denver North on Monday.

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  • St. Mary’s repeats as 3A girls basketball state champion

    St. Mary's Colorado Springs Christian girls basketball
    (David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)

    DENVER — St. Mary’s repeated as the Class 3A girls basketball state champion, topping Colorado Springs Christian for the second year in a row.

    The Pirates won, 56-34.

    St. Mary’s held the dynamic duo of CSCS seniors Megan Engesser and Rachel Ingram in check. Each scored 10 points. The Pirates did their work in a different way offensively, using continued ball movement and team-work as they ran away in the second half.

    “They’re two players we have schemed against for four years so now maybe we can rest, but there is always somebody on the horizon,” said St. Mary’s coach Mike Burkett.

    While lone senior Mackenzie Pepper leaving the proud St. Mary’s program, the rest of the talented squad will be back for the Pirates next season. Pepper left her imprint on the program by doing a lot of the dirty work, and her guidance and effort has left her mark on her younger teammates.

    “In 2013 we got second in the state championship, and she (Pepper) told her mom and dad (when she was 12), ‘I want to play basketball for St. Mary’s.’ So sure enough, here she is winning two state championships,” Burkett said. “She has been important not only as a captain but helping guide the team. She just plays solid, plays consistent and that’s what we love about her.”

    The Pirates took control of the contest on defense. They held an explosive 3-point group to six percent shooting from long-range and 38 percent overall. St. Mary’s used these missed shots into offensive opportunities to get out and run.

    However, when the game was slowed down in the half-court set, St. Mary’s shot well, at 45 percent over and 54 percent from 3-point. They also hit on 89 percent from the free-throw line.

    St. Mary’s junior Catherine Cummings recorded nine points and nine rebounds. With  four of the team’s five starters returning, Cummings is excited for now, but also what could be coming.

    “They (2018 and 2019 teams) were both really hard for different reasons,” Cummings said postgame about repeating as champions. “I think because we are a different team, similar, but in different ways. This year was a different motivation. We have a lot of experience, a lot of juniors on this team and a lot of people coming up, so I think we are already working for our next one.”

    Junior Seneca Hackley (18 points) led St. Mary’s in scoring. That was followed by freshman Ellie Hartman, who shot 6-for-8 from the field and tallied 16 points (11 in the first half).

    “She’s very important, really has been all year,” Burkett said of Hartman. “She’s been one of those kinds of kids who’s a gym-rat. We were happy to have her, especially after losing some players last year.”

    St. Mary's Colorado Springs Christian girls basketball
    (David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)
  • Kit Carson girls basketball captures third consecutive 1A title

    Kit Carson Haxtun girls basketball
    (Dustin Price/DustinPricePhotography.com)

    PUEBLO — Kit Carson can now call itself one of the biggest prep girls basketball dynasties in state history.

    Behind a standout 23-point, 16-rebound effort from senior Tess Hornung, the Wildcats routed Haxtun 63-33 to win its third consecutive state title in Class 1A. It also marked the third straight undefeated state title season for the Wildcats.

    “It’s very exciting,” senior Olivia Isenbart said. “We’ve had our community behind us to encourage us all the way, and the journey has been amazing.”

    The Wildcats’ run is made even more impressive by its sheer dominance. 

    This season, in going the distance with a 25-0 mark, the Wildcats won each game by double-digits. The only team that came closest was actually Haxtun, Kit Carson winning 59-49 Feb. 2. 

    They were motivated by that win, which the team considered a lackluster performance. A 30-point win Saturday was definitely the opposite of lackluster. 

    “We were definitely used to pushing the ball offensively and being able to score when we want to,” Hornung said, “but that wasn’t our best game, and coming into this, I think we had something to prove.”

    Saturday, it showed that Kit Carson, especially its seniors, were on a mission.

    In addition to Hornung’s monster game, seniors McKenzie Smith, Haley Johnson and Olivia Isenbart left their marks on the program with banner nights. Johnson turned in seven rebounds in proving to be a defensive rock for the Wildcats while Isenbart went for 11 points and nine rebounds. Smith scored 13 points along with seven rebounds, as well.

    This historic three-peat has roots going back a decade. Crawford said the members of this team were taking part in Kit Carson camps as little girls, and the team started from there.

    “This accomplishment goes back many years,” Crawford said. “They started to fall in love with the game back in 2nd grade, knocking on the door to our camps to let them in. They were our team managers back in junior high when all of those teams did so well, and it went from there.”

    Hornung said she had no idea that this squad was on the doorstep to a dynasty when they were sophomores, but Saturday, it sunk in that something special was built, she said.

    “I think we knew we had the skill and talent,” Hornung said, “but we never really thought about how far we could take it. We wanted to leave a legacy for the younger kids and it’s great to have started something like that.”

    (Anthony Sandstrom/CHSAANow.com)
  • Yuma beats Swink to repeat as 2A girls basketball champion

    (Nick Jurney/CHSAANow.com)

    LOVELAND — Yuma is quickly turning into Title Town.

    The rural city, with a population of just over 3,500, rolled deep to the Budweiser Events Center Saturday to see a familiar sight: its high school winning a state championship.

    Fresh off a sweep of the Class 2A basketball championships last spring and a Class 2A volleyball championship in the fall, Yuma added to its trophy collection Saturday with a second straight girls basketball title.

    Behind the backdrop of a red and white sea in the stands, Yuma (23-3) defeated Swink (24-5) by a final score of 41-25.

    With the Yuma boys also winning a second-straight title of their own later in the night, the city of Yuma might as well just take up a part-time residency at The Ranch in Loveland.

    “It’s amazing, the whole town is here pretty much,” said senior Chasey Blach, who dropped five points into the winning effort. “They love it.”

    And what’s not to love about winning?

    Blach and fellow senior Cody Robinson did plenty of that at Yuma, and it culminated in a second straight state title and third in four years on Saturday night.

    But it didn’t exactly come easy.

    Swink jumped out to an early lead in a low-scoring first half, capitalizing on a number of missed free throws by Yuma to pull ahead 6-3 after eight minutes.

    Late in the second, Robinson kick-started the championship run with an important sequence. With under three minutes left in the half, Robinson hit a 3-pointer to help the Indians pull within two points. On the next possession, she drove inside and dropped in a bucket while getting fouled. The ensuing free throw gave Yuma its first lead of the night at 11-10 with 2:16 left in the half.

    More importantly, it gave Yuma a spark.

    “We knew their defense was always strong, and offensively they came out strong as well,” Robinson said. “We just needed to fight through it and play like it was our last game.”

    Swink senior Brianna Denton hit a long jumper at the halftime buzzer to send the teams into the locker room knotted at 14. But in the second half, everything changed.

    The Lions struggled to make a shot in the third quarter, ultimately scoring just four points. Yuma’s Reagan Nolin hit one of her two 3-pointers to kick-start the third quarter, and Robinson added another trey of her own to push the lead to 22-16. Robinson finished with a game-high 21 points in her final performance in a Yuma uniform.

    In the fourth, the hole became even deeper for the Lions. Denton, the team’s leading scorer by a long stretch (she averaged 17.9 points per game heading into the tournament), fouled out. That left the Lions without a primary scorer and only a tiny slimmer of hope.

    A fastbreak layup by Yum’s Viri Escobar, along with another 3-ball by Nolin, quickly erased that hope. And soon after, Title Town was celebrating another championship.

    “It’s not easy to do,” Yuma coach Bob Rahm said of going back-to-back. “But it is so awesome to live in Yuma, Colorado.”

    (Nick Jurney/CHSAANow.com)
  • De Beque captures 1A boys basketball championship

    De Beque Sangre de Cristo boys basketball
    (Dustin Price/DustinPricePhotography.com)

    PUEBLO — Just five years ago, De Beque didn’t win a single game.

    Now, as they hoisted the banner as the newest Class 1A boys basketball state champions, De Beque didn’t lose a single game. 

    Led by a standout performance by sophomore Wesley Ryan, who went for 27 points to lead the Dragons, De Beque won its first state championship since 1998 with a 55-42 win over Sangre de Cristo in the 1A state championship game at CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena Saturday night.

    It was an unbelievable journey rife with storylines.

    Beginning this season, former Grand Valley head coach Jake Higuera took over the De Beque program, taking over a team that was 14-8 in 2018, and before that, won a grand total of 22 games over 10 seasons.

    Despite all of that, though, Higuera said knew he had the pieces in place to be good, but he didn’t know how good.

    “Honestly, early on, it was pretty rough,” Higuera said. “I really didn’t know what we had to begin with, but the kids bought in right away, started listening us, and every day, you see them little by little getting better.”

    De Beque had a mixture of special young talent, which included sophomores Jaden Jordan, Ryan and Brennan Rigsby, the latter of which averaged 22.5 points per game this season. 

    Then it had a group of six seniors that had been through the ringer. As freshmen and sophomores, they won a grand total of six varsity games.

    All of those ragtag pieces came together Saturday night to win a championship.

    Sangre de Cristo led De Beque 16-15 near the end of the first half, and it seemed that it was possible that De Beque’s unbelievable mission might come to an end.

    But a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Jordan capped the first half to give De Beque a 20-16 lead heading to halftime, and that momentum continued into the championship-making third quarter.

    Ryan, the team’s second-leading scorer who often deferred to Ringsby as the team’s “superstar,” was an absolute gamer for the Dragons, not only Saturday, but in Friday’s semifinals as well.

    Ryan completed four three-point plays in the third quarter, helping to key a dominant 19-5 De Beque explosion. Ryan finished with 27 points, and had 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting in De Beque’s semifinal win over Haxtun Friday night.

    “I’ve gotta do what’s best for my team,” Ryan said. “I felt even more composed than (Friday night). I don’t know why. I just wanted it so bad.”

    Now, De Beque will add a new championship photo to its halls, joining the 1998 team photo, of which Higuera was a member.

    It’s a welcome addition, Higuera said. 

    “I’m glad we get to hang another picture up,” Higuera said, “because that one was getting a little lonely.”

    Fernando Candelaria, one of the six De Beque seniors who’d seen the dark days of Dragon basketball, couldn’t keep the tears from flowing as he and his teammates lifted the state title trophy. He thought about the journey to get there.

    “What was going through my head was all the emotions, all the past,” Candelaria said. “When we were freshman to now, we had been through the ups and downs. Now, I couldn’t be more happy.”

    (Anthony Sandstrom/CHSAANow.com)
  • Manual wins 3A boys basketball title, first since 1991

    MAnual Vanguard boys basketball
    (David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)

    DENVER — Manual trailed often during the Class 3A boys basketball state championship game on Saturday. But an explosive end to the third quarter put Thunderbolts in position to win a state title.

    And Manual did exactly that, capturing their state-record 12th crown with an 80-68 victory against Vanguard behind an aggressive defense and superb athleticism.

    The atmosphere at the University of Denver was enthusiastic and Manual fed off of the crowd’s energy. It was an energy Manual used to rally and take the lead, and then eventually pull away in the fourth quarter.

    Manual trailed by as much as 39-26 with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter before exploding for 54 points the final quarter and a half. The T-Bolts outscored Vanguard by 25 in that stretch, thanks in large part to clutch shooting to end the third quarter from senior Jaedon Bowles and junior Jaden Stofel.

    It helped Manual get within striking distance at 51-44 heading to the fourth.

    “Between the both of them, I believe they can play anywhere in this state,” Manual coach Omar Henry said postgame. “Both of them work really hard at what they do. We spend hours on them working on taking over games in the fourth quarter, and that’s what they finally showed today. When the fourth quarter started, they showed up and took things over.”

    Manual finally retook the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter with a 54-53 score 2:23 into the fourth.

    The lead then changed hands four times before Manual seized control at 62-57 with 3:58 remaining.

    Vanguard wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, and they cut the margin back to one with 3:11 left.

    Staying calm, cool, and collected the Thunderbolts went on a 16-5 run to end the game. The Manual defense locked in when they had to. 

    “We came out of halftime saying we need to put pressure on them,” Bowles said. “They were getting too many easy shots. Everything is special to me right now. It’s unbelievable. I’m glad I have a team that I have right now and to bring back the championship. It’s been a long time.”

    Recording a team-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, Bowles’ do-it-all attitude proved infectious to the rest of his teammates.

    Manual forced 12 turnovers in the second half after Vanguard had just three in the first. Manual found success in the full-court press using their length to cause deflections and easy baskets on the other end.

    “We have been down this much all year,” senior Davion Davis said. “Our coach told us to stay calm, and as one, we just fought and fought and fought. This is very special for us.”

    Vanguard was led by junior Dominique Clifford’s 25 points, and senior Seth Fuqua had 20.

    Three other Thunderbolts found themselves in double-figures in Stofel (20), senior Adontre Thompson (16) and Davis (12). Stofel and Davis also recorded eight rebounds apiece.

    “I don’t even have words for it right now, that’s how great it feels. I’m truly blessed,” Henry said.

    MAnual Vanguard boys basketball
    (David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)
  • Van Gytenbeek’s heroics lead Cherry Creek over Grandview for 5A girls basketball title

    DENVER — Down 10 points with about six minutes left in the game, Cherry Creek coach Clint Evans was starting to lose faith.

    But his players weren’t.

    Little by little Jana Van Gytenbeek and Kacee Kyle helped the Cherry Creek Bruins fight back. And in the final five seconds of the game they pulled ahead and closed it out.

    With a 51-49 win over two-time defending Class 5A champion Grandview, Cherry Creek won its first girls state basketball title on Saturday.

    “I think we were down 10 with six minutes left,” Evans said. “We were just hoping for something good to happen then. I think we got Jana a corner 3-pointer and that was some momentum.”

    It turned out to be the break in the dam. Van Gytenbeek took over from there on out. She willed the Bruins to within two and then Kacee Kyle tied the game at 47. A quick Grandview bucket gave the Wolves a 49-47 lead but it was Kyle attacking the basket again.

    “We just needed to attack,” Kyle said. “I just felt like I had to take that ball and tried to win the game.”

    Or in this case, set the team up for the win.

    She made the shot and got fouled, but missed the free throw. Cherry Creek got the offensive rebound setting up one final look to win the state championship.

    The ball went into the hands of Van Gytenbeek who shot the ball over two defenders — one of which being 6-foot-7 freshman Lauren Betts. The ball bounced off the glass and fell cleanly through the net.

    Cherry Creek Grandview girls basketball
    (Sam Girgis/CHSAANow.com)

    “It’s bad but we dig ourselves into a tiny hole and then we come together and we finish,” Van Gytenbeek said. “It takes everybody.”

    Normally it’s Van Gytenbeek and Clark who pave the way for the Bruins (24-4) overall. But with Betts giving Clark fits in the post and Van Gytenbeek limited to four points in the first half, it was Kyle who stepped up in a big way.

    She scored 21 points which included the two late baskets that tied the game.

    “We said in practice that if we expected Jana and Cali to win the game by themselves it wasn’t going to happen,” Evans said. “Kacee came up in a big way. She’s the most poised sophomore you’ve ever seen.”

    Creek found an early edge to start the game but Allyah Marlett neutralized it quickly. The senior guard for the Wolves (23-5) scored seven of her nine first-half points in the first quarter to help the Wolves take a five-point lead.

    Kyle kept the Bruins in the game through by scoring 10 of the Bruins 12 points in the second quarter. The presence of Betts made it difficult for Clark to score in the post for the Bruins.

    Alisha Davis provided a steady flow of points for the Wolves as she racked up 13 points through three quarters.

    After beating top-seeded Highlands Ranch on Thursday, the confidence level for Creek remained high, even at the point where Evans’ faith began to waver.

    “Highlands Ranch is such a great team,” Kyle said. “So is Grandview. They’re the two-time state champs. The whole time we kept saying one team, one goal.”

    And that mentality served the Bruins well late in the game.

    Each time the Bruins knocked down a big shot that appeared to shift momentum, Grandview found an an answer. If it was Tomia Johnson getting to the free throw line or Betts getting a put back basket, the Wolves managed to keep Cherry Creek at arms length. At least until Van Gytenbeek decided to take over.

    She’ll be the first to say that it wasn’t her it was the team. And when Evans began to worry, she kept the Bruins calm on the floor. Her poise was rewarded with the biggest shot of her career trickling through the net and Cherry Creek winning a state title.

    “That’s a feeling I can’t explain,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
  • Yuma captures second-straight 2A boys basketball championship

    (Nick Jurney/CHSAANow.com)

    LOVELAND — Watch. Win. Repeat.

    Make history.

    That was the formula for Yuma boys basketball on Saturday at Loveland’s Budweiser Event Center.

    Yuma won its second straight Class 2A boys championship by knocking off Highland 52-39. That victory came on the heels of watching the Yuma girls win their second straight 2A championship.

    It’s the second straight year the Yuma squads have swept the championship games. It’s a feat that’s never been done in Colorado high school basketball. In any classification. Ever.

    “We said it all year that it’s harder to win it twice than it is to win it once, and the whole season we were practicing like we were No. 1,” senior Jake Chrisman said. “I can’t even describe it. These guys have put in a whole season of work just to try to get back here. And we just knew we’d have to put our best game together to do it.”

    The title was the fifth in school history for the Yuma boys, and it came in wire-to-wire fashion. Highland, a scrappy team that likes to play fast, tried to push the pace early on in the hopes of knocking Yuma off-balance.

    But the tempo was instead controlled by Chrisman and Co. The champs held Highland in check and allowed just four points through the first quarter, ultimately pushing the lead to 10 by half.

    “We had to outwork them,” Chrisman said. “We knew it was going to be a physical came, so we had to come out and play our hardest. We knew if we played hard, the score would take care of itself.”

    In the second half, Highland refused to go away. Junior Tate Bessire produced a number of hustle plays, including a steal-and-score that helped close out a mini-run in the third quarter for the Huskies.

    Bessire then hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that brought Highland back within single digits at 40-32, but Yuma frosh Clay Robinson — whose sister Cody led the girls to a second straight title earlier in the night — hit a 3-pointer on the other end to extend the lead back to 12 with just over three minutes to play.

    And after that, it was all time to add some fresh ink to history books.

    Chrisman led the team with 17 points, while Robinson chipped in 14.

    By the end of the night, the Yuma community’s collective roar should have been hoarse. Instead, it was deafening.

    Back-to-back championship performances by both the boys and girls teams is an absolute point of pride for the small community. And it showed.

    After the team posed for the ceremonial photo with the trophy and the state championship banner, head coach Dave Sheffield embraced some of his assistant coaches, players, and family. Then he said, “Let’s go celebrate.”

    “Just look up in the stands, it’s amazing,” Sheffield said. “You could rob the bank in Yuma right now … Everyone is here.”

    “This is just great. It’s a culmination of a lot of work by these guys. They’re the definition of what a team should be. I can’t say enough about them.”

    (Nick Jurney/CHSAANow.com)
  • Golden baseball gets walk-off win in season opener

    Golden players celebrate a walk-off victory against Elizabeth on Saturday. The Demons scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally for a 10-9 win in their season opener. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    GOLDEN — Good things can happen on the baseball field when you simply put the ball in play.

    That statement proved to be the endgame motto for Golden in its home and season opener Saturday afternoon against Elizabeth. Things looked pretty bleak for the Demons after a two-out, two-run double by Elizabeth sophomore Sage Ferguson gave the Cardinals a 9-6 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.

    Despite trailing since the third inning and needing a late-inning rally to pull out a victory, Golden came through with a four-run bottom of the seventh inning to grab a dramatic 10-9 win.

    Golden second baseman James Douthit (right) tags out Elizabeth junior Kellen McCoin during a rundown in the third inning Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take what we can get,” Golden junior Ben McLaughlin said moments after the walk-off victory.

    Seth Kenner, James Douthit and McLaughlin got things going in the bottom of the seventh inning with three consecutive hits to start the rally. Douthit’s double drove in Kenner and McLaughlin’s double scored Douthit to trim Elizabeth’s lead to 9-8.

    “We were striking out early in the game, but we were able to put things together and when you put the ball into play good things happen,” said McLaughlin, who finished with three hits and scored four times.

    Junior Zane Covey drove in the game-tying run with a foul ball down the left field line that was caught, but McLaughlin tagged up and scored from third base. The bottom half of the lineup got things going with the bases cleared and no outs.

    Junior Conrad Holmes was hit in the helmet with a pitch to get on base. Sophomore Ty Howe grounded to shortstop, but the Cardinals committed an error to keep the inning alive.

    “We didn’t take advantage of some situations early in the game,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said. “We did a better job of that late, but we need to do that earlier.”

    Golden catcher Conrad Holmes, right tags out Elizabeth senior Tyler Richardson at home plate during the seventh inning Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    It was better late than never for freshman Ethan Lewis. While the freshman struggled at the plate striking out in his first three at-bats, Lewis came through with a flare over the second baseman. Elizabeth’s right fielder had a beat on the fly ball, but it was dropped and pinch-runner Jackson Philleo scored from second base to give the Demons the dramatic 10-9 victory.

    “I know we didn’t necessarily played our best baseball, but getting a ‘W’ out of it makes me happy,” said McBroom, who liked what he saw from a pretty inexperience team when it comes to varsity playing time.

    McBroom returns just a couple of players from last year’s team with much varsity playing experience.

    Lewis pitched the final two innings for the Demons to pick up the victory. McLaughlin went the first five innings on the mound.

    “He (McLaughlin) is going to be our guy on the mound. He knows what he is going out there,” McBroom said. “He is going to be big at the plate. He is a good baseball player.”

    Elizabeth had to swallow the tough loss despite a great pitching effort from senior lefty ace Tyler Richardson, who went the first four innings with six strikeouts. Senior Casey Berndt showed off his power with a three-run opposite field home run off of McLaughlin in the Cardinals’ five-run third inning.

    Golden sophomore Jackson Philleo, left, sides safely into home plate for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday against Elizabeth. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
  • Rangeview beats Chaparral for first boys basketball title in 34 years

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    DENVER — It’s hard for the Rangeview players to remember the school’s last boys basketball title. Probably because none of them were alive when it happened.

    That’s no longer the case as the Raiders beat Chaparral 61-47 to win the Class 5A boys basketball championship.

    It’s the first state title for the Raiders since 1985.

    They wasted no time in jumping out to a lead, going up 13-7 after the first quarter. And getting the early lead was something that coach Shawn Palmer was pleased to see.

    “It was really important. We did a good job last night of getting off to a good start early offensively. We really set the tone defensively. We got stops early and I thought we missed some opportunities in transition but then Obi Agbim came off the bench and just caught fire.”

    Agbim hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter to keep Rangeview ahead. But the Raiders (26-2) were far from comfortable up seven after two. They couldn’t help but think back 24 hours when the Wolverines (23-5) were trailing ThunderRidge but clamped down defensively in the second half.

    “We always start the third quarter off pretty slow,” Agbim said. “This championship game we had to set the tone to have our best game of the season. We wanted started the third quarter as strong as we possibly could.”

    A 9-2 run put them up 14 midway through the third quarter and Chap kept struggling to make baskets. Kobe Sanders made his first field goal with less than two minutes left in the third quarter and Matthews picked up his fourth foul shortly after. Still, the ability of Chap to change the game with defensive pressure made Palmer uneasy.

    “We talked about ThunderRidge’s 25 turnovers in the second half,” he said. “We expected to see some different things, but I trust my guards so much.”

    Sanders found his stroke in the fourth quarter, but every time he got the Wolverines close, Christopher Speller found a way to keep the Raiders ahead. He had four points going into the fourth quarter but finished with a team-high 17.

    “He made his free throws,” Palmer pointed out.

    “I just didn’t want to lose,” Speller said. “When he was hitting those 3-pointers, I knew we had to keep the momentum up and keep up our pace.”

    But it was a timely performance from the Rangeview junior guard. Since he arrived in the Raiders program, his quest has been to raise another state championship banner for the school. With trophy in hand, it was hard for him to process the feat that he and his teammates accomplished in front of thousands of fans at the Denver Coliseum.

    “I feel amazing,” Speller said. “I’m just happy we got the job done. I’ve been waiting for this since I was a freshman. I’m glad we finally got the win. We got it for Aurora and we got it for our school.”

    And it was no easy task. The Wolverines had been ranked at or near the top of the CHSAANow.com basketball rankings all year. They looked impressive in wins over Smoky Hill and ThunderRidge early in the year. They beat Mountain Vista when the Golden Eagles were considered the top team in the state.

    And through the season, they averaged scoring 64 points per game. But the Raiders held them to 47, the lowest scoring game of the year for Chap.

    That wasn’t the ultimate goal though. They didn’t care how many points they surrendered as long as they scored even one more than the Wolverines. It harps back to the conversation that Palmer had with his boys about the state championship.

    Thirty-four years is a long time and it’s something the Raiders have openly discussed with each other.

    “We have,” Speller said. “We wanted to change that.”

    They got their wish. And they got their banner. And the championship drought for Rangeview is over.

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)