If it was his final game, and it probably was, Dick Katte is at peace with it. The man who first walked through the doors of Denver Christian High School in 1960, was an assistant coach for four years, a head coach for 48 and rang up a career record of 876-233 with eight state titles in boys basketball, went out a winner … again.
Katte’s Crusaders finished 27-0 last month and won the Class 2A state championship. Late Friday, Katte led the Blue team to a 92-85 victory over the White team in The Show at the Pepsi Center.
How else would you think the man would go out?
“As of this point, there are no more games on my schedule,” Katte said. “But we don’t know who’s going to schedule an all-star game or whatever. … But it was fun to see how they responded.”
Not surprisingly, Katte used state champions to power his final victory. Lewis-Palmer’s Josh Scott, everyone’s player of the year for the 2011-12 season — and MVP of the game — scored 27 points, including 13 in the final quarter, and grabbed 12 rebounds. He led the Rangers to the Class 4A state championship.
The dynamic duo that spearheaded Chaparral’s first championship run in Class 5A — Josh Adams (the big-school title-game hero in overtime) and Cory Calvert — combined to contribute 29 points as well as assorted dunks, 3-pointers, defensive plays and assists.
