With the conclusion of the 2023 CHSAA state basketball tournament, here’s hat tips to top performers in Class 4A, 5A and 6A over the past couple weekends at the Denver Coliseum.
Rudy Carey. The Colorado basketball coaching GOAT glitzed his resume on Saturday as Denver East boat-raced Fossil Ridge in the Class 6A title game. A few months after breaking Dick Katte’s all-time CHSAA wins mark, Carey made history again, with his record 10th state title. With the record book on lockdown, will the 69-year-old come back for more next winter? He’s at 897 career wins. Maybe Carey wants 900. Maybe he sticks around to put the record wayyy out of reach at 1,000, and perhaps another title or two.
East’s primetime Angel. Speaking of Denver East, not many folks outside of East Colfax had the Angels running the table to the 6A title this year, even if they had won 22 straight games coming into the tournament. But it was clear at the Denver Coliseum that senior D’Aundre Samuels was going to put the team on his back. The senior averaged a sizzling 23.4 points over five tournament games, including 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on a bum ankle in the championship.
Fossil Ridge’s silver linings. The Sabercats, who whipped the Angels 63-40 on Dec. 2, were on the wrong end of a blowout in Saturday’s 82-61 loss to East. But that doesn’t take the shine off the powerhouse that coach Matt Johannsen has built up north, plus the tremendous prep career of Sabercats star senior Nick Randall. The big man is a big reason why the Sabercats made two title games in a row, and on Saturday against East, he dropped 26 points.
First-year Class 5A coaches. Both 5A title teams were led by first-year bosses. Roosevelt’s Enoch Miller, possibly the most energetic coach in the whole tournament, spent seven years as the Frederick boys coach before his wife’s battle with COVID last year forced him to step away. He landed in a sweet spot with the talented Rough Rider girls. Same goes for Mesa Ridge’s Joel Babbitt, who was an assistant at Lewis-Palmer and Palmer Ridge but had never been a head coach before leading the Grizzlies to an undefeated season and first title.
The Tough Riders. Something’s afoot in Johnstown. After the football team won the school’s first state title this past fall, the Rough Rider girls won the school’s first hoops title by suffocating teams with their full-court press. Miller’s squad, which doesn’t feature a single senior, wears teams down with its toughness, physicality and relentless pressure. In Saturday’s title game against Windsor, Roosevelt pulled away in the second half while using a half-court zone. Watch out: This is a team that could easily two- or three-peat.
Nicholls, Windsor. The Wizards fell in the title game for the third straight year after falling to Mullen in consecutive Class 4A championships in 2021 and ’22. That makes three title appearances in three seasons for Wizards boss Karin Nicholls, an accomplished former college coach. Nicholls definitely isn’t satisfied, and Windsor also isn’t going away. The Wizards lost four of five starters from last year but still made a deep run this year; Nicholls knows how to reload and the Windsor girls will be back.
The Sienna Factor. Grandview looked vulnerable at times this year across its nine defeats, but the one constant remained sophomore forward Sienna Betts. She’s not just Lauren’s younger sister anymore. She’s a star in her own right, and polished off an impressive state tournament performance with a 20-point, 20-rebound double-double in the Wolves’ 38-28 win over Monarch in the Class 6A championship. It marked Grandview’s fourth title and second straight. Last year was Lauren’s crown. This year, it’s Sienna’s.
Holy Family double-dip. The Tigers pulled off the rare boys/girls crowns on Saturday in the Class 4A brackets. First, the top-seeded Holy Family girls beat previously undefeated D’Evelyn, notching coach Ron Rossi his record-tying seventh state title. Then, the Tiger boys beat Resurrection Christian as coach Peter Villecco overcame 11 regular-season losses and the No. 17 seed in the tournament. Holy Family is the first school to win boys and girls hoops titles in the same year since Yuma (Class 2A, 2018 and ’19) and Grandview (5A, 2018).
Double bonus. Away from the big-school festivities near downtown Denver, little Denver Jewish Day claimed its first state championship with a 55-42 victory over Belleview Christian in the Class 1A boys title game at Budweiser Event Center. It marked the team’s second win in three weeks over the top-seeded Bruins. Led by seniors Gavin Foonberg, Andrew Zimmerman and Ilan Schinage, the Tigers won four of their five tournament games by double-digits and finished the season 22-3.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
