There are many reasons the Fairview Knights’ armor is shining a little more brightly this year.
Part of that is because of the length of their journey. For 12 seasons under coach Frank Lee, they never got past the Class 5A Sweet 16, despite fielding solid teams. For 15 years the school had never been to the final four, and it has been 28 years since the Knights of Boulder won their only boys basketball title.
So imagine the eager satisfaction tonight when the Knights (26-0) take the floor at the University of Colorado’s Coors Events Center needing to defeat George Washington (25-1) to earn a berth in Saturday’s final.
Loaded with 10 seniors who have embraced their roles and one another, these 12-deep Knights believe this scenario has been their calling since they were friends in middle school.
“It’s been a process that’s taken quite a few years. It didn’t just happen this year,” Lee said. “These kids have been devoted to the game for a long time.”
Power forward Jonathan Morse might be their poster child.
Morse, a 6-foot-7 senior, has two older brothers who played for Lee at Fairview and went on to be a part of Metro State’s glory days under coach Mike Dunlap, including two NCAA Division II national championships.
Morse might not even be playing tonight if he hadn’t overcome surgery to correct a crooked leg and fought through the pain with the unwavering goal of getting better in the name of basketball. Cursed with a shin bone that began growing out rather than up when he was in middle school, Morse had surgery before his sophomore year to cut the bone and ease the pain under his knee.
“We would be in tears sometimes watching him try to maneuver with his leg hurting him like it did,” Lee recalled.
Doctors weren’t sure how smoothly Morse’s recovery would go. He came back early and joined the Fairview football team’s workout regimen this past offseason to become the fleet-footed big man Fairview’s up-tempo offense requires.
“I couldn’t run, to be honest,” Morse said. “I was slow, and I was out of shape.”
Michael Morse, the middle brother, is an assistant coach for the Knights. The competitive side of Michael wants to be on the floor for the Knights to win that elusive grail. The brotherly side of him, however, wouldn’t want to trade the time he spends working with Jonathan on his footwork and post moves, nor would Michael want to encroach on the spotlight, finally on his baby brother.
“I’m proud because he’s just been through so much,” Michael Morse said.
With Jonathan Morse running the floor and banging in the paint to the tune of 14 points a game, the Knights are a Round Table of talented pieces.
Beau Gamble and Darragh O’Neill fill the guard roles and control the tempo — which shifts between fast and very fast. Travis Shepherd, Greg Schoeninger and Michael Melillo are the primary perimeter threats, while Steven Cartwright and Tyler Bran-ham are defensive stoppers, Michael Grant is a rebounding maniac, and Brennan Dolan, Jon Giehl and Nick Larimer bring intensity and basketball sense to the floor.
These are the 12 Knights of Fairview. And winning a state title would be the culmination of their long journey.
Today’s boys semifinals
At Coors Events Center, Boulder
CLASS 5A
(3) ThunderRidge (18-8) vs. (1) Regis (24-2), 7 p.m.
(1) Fairview (26-0) vs. (2) G. Washington (25-1), 8:30 p.m.
Championship: 8 p.m. Saturday
CLASS 4A
(1) Sierra (21-5) vs. (3) Lewis-Palmer (19-7), 4 p.m.
(1) Pueblo South (26-0) vs. (1) Sterling (21-5), 5:30 p.m.
Championship: 6 p.m. Saturday
