FORT COLLINS — The pain never felt so good for Faith Christian’s Nick Yeager.
The Eagles senior, who played despite a separated shoulder, embodies what the Faith Christian program is all about — being plain tough in every aspect of the game.
Faith Christian was just too much for the rest of the Class 3A field to handle, and on Saturday night earned its rightful place with a 54-42 victory over Colorado Springs Christian in the championship game at Moby Arena.
“These guys are just amazing, and they just did everything we asked them to do,” said Faith Christian coach Andrew Hasz, who coached the Eagles to their last state title in 2002. “We told them each night, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing and do it a little better each night.’ ”
The Eagles (25-1), much like they did on Friday night against Aspen, jumped out to a big lead, 12-0, and forced the other team to play catch-up.
But unlike the Skiers, C.S. Christian fought back to within 25-19 at the half.
“We knew they were going to get off to a fast start, they do every time,” said 6-foot-9 Lions senior Taylor Broekhuis. “We ran out of gas, and they just kept going. They are a phenomenal basketball team. There is not a better team in Class 3A, and I am 100 percent sure of that.”
Faith Christian padded its halftime advantage as Chase Grabau and Jobi Wall provided all the scoring in an 8-3 run that saw the six-point lead grow to 33-22.
“Our coaching staff is incredible. They just put us in phenomenal positions, and the scouting is amazing,” said Wall, who earned tournament most valuable player honors from The Denver Post. “They just give us every opportunity to have success on the court.”
Grabau’s work on the offensive end was overshadowed by the effort he put forth on defense. The 6-foot-4 Grabau gave up 5 inches to Broekhuis, but was tenacious in his effort to shut down the Lions’ go-to player.
“They give you five fouls in high school basketball, so why not use a couple of them,” said Grabau, who enjoyed the challenge of containing Broekhuis. “It’s fun. I just love going out there and battling with those big guys.”
Broekhuis, who had 21 points in the semifinals against defending champion Eaton, was held to just 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Faith’s Nick Gill led all scorers with 13 points. Grabau finished with 11 and Wall with 10.
The Lions, who lost 63-34 to Faith Christian in the regular season, got 11 points each from Broekhuis, Mike Shugart and Matt Baarts.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 54, C.S. CHRISTIAN 42
Faith Christian 15 10 14 15 — 54
C.S. Christian 5 14 10 13 — 42
Faith Christian — C. Grabau 4 2-4 11, Wall 3 2-2 10, Dennis 4 0-0 8, Yeager 3 0-1 6, Gill 5 2-2 13, McBeth 0 0-0 0, Chapman 0 0-0 0, Twedell 3 0-0 6, Morrison 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-9 54.C.S. Christian — Veltkamp 0 0-0 0, Mohnssen 2 0-0 5, Shugart 3 4-8 11, Broekhuis 3 5-5 11, Baarts 5 0-0 11, Terzian 0 0-0 0, Kiemel 1 2-2 4, Young 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-15 42.3-pt. goals — Wall 2, C. Grabau, Gill; Mohnssen, Shugart, Baarts. Total fouls — Faith Christian 16; C.S. Christian 14. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
All-tournament team: 3A boys
Taylor Broekhuis, Sr., C.S. Christian
Nick Gill, Sr., Faith Christian
Lance Korell, Sr., Eaton
Mike Shugart, Sr., C.S. Christian
Jobi Wall, Sr., Faith Christian
MVP: Jobi Wall
