Fort Collins – Dick Katte has won 774 games and has coached in 11 state title games, but what he sat through Friday night has to rank pretty high on his list of memorable moments.
“If you keep believing and doing the things that got you there, it happens,” he said.
Katte’s Crusaders trailed by seven with less than 50 seconds to play, and somehow, some way found a way to rally for a 64-61 victory against upset-minded Colorado Springs Christian in the nightcap at Moby Arena, setting up a rematch of last year’s Class 3A title game against Roaring Fork.
C.S. Christian (20-5) led 61-54, and then things started to crumble. Jon Adamson hit a jumper to get within five points. A missed layup on a breakaway by Jeremy Mellema was turned into a 3-pointer on the other end by Tristan Matthies, and in a 14-second span the score was 61-59.
Matthies then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and tossed it to sophomore John Lenderink, who drilled a 3-pointer to give the Crusaders the lead for good with 26.3 seconds remaining.
“It was a dream come true. I never really pictured myself hitting a big shot like that,” Lenderink said of his only points of the game.
Jake Selley missed a runner in the lane that would have given the lead back to the Lions, and they were forced to foul with just 9.8 seconds left. They never got another shot off.
Cameron Matthies led the Crusaders with 18 points and Brent Schuster, who fouled out with 1:29 to play had 16.
C.S. Christian 17 15 12 17 – 61
Denver Christian 10 21 12 21 – 64
C.S. Christian – Mellema 1 4-5 6, Selley 4 2-2 14, Broekhuis 5 0-1 11, Kohere 7 0-2 14, Baarts 3 0-0 6, Veltkamp 0 0-0 0, Henderson 3 2-4 10, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-14 61.
Denver Christian – Smith 2 0-1 4, C. Matthies 6 5-5 18, T. Matthies 2 0-0 6, Zimmerman 2 0-0 4, Schuster 6 4-4 16, Adamson 2 0-0 4, B. Matthies 1 0-0 3, Van Kooten 1 0-0 2, Poland 1 0-0 2, Lenderink 1 0-0 3, Kurtz 0 2-4 2. Totals 24 11-14 64.
3-point goals – Selley 4, Henderson 2, Broekhuis; T. Matthies 2, C. Matthies, B. Matthies, Lenderink. Total fouls – C.S. Christian 14; Denver Christian 19. Fouled out – Schuster. Technicals – None.
ROARING FORK 49, PAGOSA SPRINGS 39
Roaring Fork pulled away from Pagosa Springs down the stretch and advanced to its second straight Class 3A title game at Moby Arena with a victory over the Pirates.
Roaring Fork (23-2) will have a title game rematch against Denver Christian on Saturday night at 7:45 p.m.
“We knew we had a good team coming back, but also some very big shoes to fill as well,” Roaring Fork coach Roger Walters said.
A 13-3 stretch over the final three minutes of the fourth quarter was big for the Rams. Tied at 36, Pagosa Springs appeared to have all the momentum after Roaring Fork’s Kyle Raaflaub was called for a charge.
But Kade Gianinetti’s basket followed by Torrey Udall’s block on Casey Schutz had the Rams riding their own wave.
“We talk all the time about playing that hard and not winning,” Pagosa coach Jim Shaffer said. “Our kids did all we could ask of them.”
The unquestioned leader of the Rams this season has been senior Christian Tena. Benched for much of the fourth quarter with foul trouble, Tena finally returned and gave the Rams a perfect ballhandler down the stretch.
Tena finished with a team-high 12 points.
Pagosa Springs (17-7), which lost for just the second time to an in-state 3A team, was led by Craig (18) and Casey (15) Schutz.
Pagosa Springs 11 8 11 9 – 39
Roaring Fork 18 6 10 15 – 49
Pagosa Springs – Shaffer 1 1-1 3, Hilsabeck 0 2-2 2, Przybylski 0 1-3 1, Ca. Schutz 5 2-2 15, Cr. Schutz 7 3-4 18, Trujillo 0-0 0, Harper 0 0-0 0, Richey 0 0-0 0, Ormonde 0 0-0 0, Hart 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Delyria 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-12 39.
Roaring Fork – Parker 4 3-4 11, Tr. Hunt 1 0-0 2, Nieslanik 1 0-0 2, Joiner 3 0-0 6, Tena 4 4-6 12, Porras 0 0-0 0, Gianinetti 1 0-0 2, Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Raaflaub 2 1-2 7, Ty. Hunt 0 0-0 0, Udall 3 0-0 7. Totals 19 8-12 49.
3-point goals – Ca. Schutz 3, Shaffer; Raaflaub 2, Udall. Total fouls – Pagosa Springs 15; Roaring Fork 18. Fouled out – None.
