Faith Christian, coached by Andrew Hasz, beat previously unbeaten Aspen 57-47 to complete the season with a 26-1 record. Joe Hegarty scored 18 points, while Deron Rindes added 12 and Hayden Loudenslager nine for Faith Christian.
The Eagles defeated Eaton 70-34 in the quarterfinals and Kent Denver 64-49 in the semifinals. Aspen, led by Andrew Papenfus, 13 points, and Matthew Holmes with eight, finished the season 26-1.
"We played unselfish," said Hegarty, who was named the tournament MVP by the media. "We found the open man and we didn’t let their trap close us in. We played quick and smart, hard and ran the court. That was the key."
Can Faith Christian, which will graduate six seniors, make it four next season?
"Every year is a different story and every year you start working early," Hasz said. "We will start working next week because we know what it takes."
On the girls side, Holy Family came through with a decisive 45-29 victory against Colorado Springs Christian to finish the season with a 25-1 record. And, there was little doubt that revenge was a factor in this one as the Lions had beaten the Tigers 41-34 in their third game of the season.
Holy Family was led by Sarah Talamantes (14 points), who didn’t play in the loss to C.S. Christian, and Taylor Helbig (13 points).
Colorado Springs Christian's Brianne Vande Griend scored the game’s first basket, but the two points were the only ones by the Lions in the first quarter and only 12 for the half. They finished the year with a 26-1 record.
"Oh, my gosh, words can't begin to describe how excited we are to have won three in a row. Next year, we can go for a fourth," Helbig said.
"We talked last year about scoops of ice cream and we wanted a banana split because that takes three scoops, doesn't it?" Holy Family coach Ron Rossi said. "This is just as sweet as the first two scoops."
Caliche repeats in Class A
The Caliche (Iliff) boys successfully defended their Class A championship, beating previously undefeated Otis 67-55. It also was the third straight title-game appearance for the Buffs, coached by Randy Kirkwood. They finished second in 2008 to Hi-Plains.
Cory Stumpf, Aaron Stieb and Dalton Shuppe scored 17 points apiece for the Buffs in the title game, as they finished the season with a 25-2 record. Lance Pickett led Otis (26-1) with a game-high 23 points.
"It is the most amazing feeling in the world," said Stumpf, who has helped lead Caliche to a 94-11 mark in his career. "It is everything I could have ever hoped for. I was really excited, but I didn't feel any additional pressure. I knew I could count on everybody on the team."
Caliche was unbeaten in its classification, as the Buffs; only losses during the season were to 2A state champion Holyoke and 2A Wray.
One more win this season
Three of last year's state runner-ups, the 2A Holyoke boys, 2A Paonia girls and the Class A Kim girls, were able to take home the championship trophies this time.
Holyoke, coached by John Baumgartner , beat Ignacio 55-38 for the title after losing to the Colorado Springs School last season. Kyle Carper and Evan Swanson were the leaders for the Dragons (25-2), scoring 19 and 14 points, respectively. Baumgartner has two sons, senior Ryan and sophomore Reid, who also played significant roles during the season.
Paonia (24-2), a loser last year to Wray in the 2A girls final, beat Akron 43-39. The Eagles were led by Jami Reed and Jordyn Rienks, who each had 15 points in the final. It was the first championship for Paonia in either girls or boys basketball. Akron (22-4) was led by Rochelle Boyce, who scored a game-high 19 points.
"I knew we weren't going to lose this game," said Rienks, the daughter of coach Scott Rienks, who combined with Reed for seven points over the final 1 minute, 30 seconds of the game. "I had trust in my team. This is an amazing feeling. The eight seniors on this team have been dreaming about winning state since we were like 2 years old and it finally came true."
Danielle Lewis, the daughter of Kim coach Curt Lewis, scored 18 points to pace the Mustangs (26-0) to a 51-32 victory against Wiley. Haley Sheldon and Bailey McFerren scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the winners. Kim was beaten in last year's final by McClave.
