Rock Canyon’s championship run was punctuated by two declarations of confidence that came nearly a quarter-century apart.
Back in 2002, Jaguars boys basketball head coach Kent Grams was a centerpiece on ThunderRidge’s first title team. When one of Wheat Ridge’s stars went on a scoring binge in the championship game, Grams told ThunderRidge head coach Joe Ortiz at halftime that he would “shut him down.”
Grams delivered, holding Wheat Ridge’s Tony Bolling scoreless in the second half. Fast forward 24 years, and Grams’ star player delivered a similar proclamation to him. “We got this,” All-Colorado forward Jacob David asserted during a fourth-quarter timeout when the Jaguars were down one point — en route to a Class 6A championship victory over Ralston Valley.
The win gave Rock Canyon its first title, and earned Grams the nod as the 2026 All-Colorado boys hoops Coach of the Year.
“Kent played with pure passion in everything that we did, and that fueled us to move forward in the state tournament in 2002,” Ortiz recalled. “He was the leader and the key to our team. (Another coach) sent me a note during the season saying, ‘You’ll go as far as that guy takes you.’
“He was tough and fearless and willing to do whatever it took to win. That’s how you have to play at times, and that’s what Rock Canyon did this year. Some people were saying Rock Canyon was the least talented team in the Class 6A Final Four. But all his players are like him. They took on his personality and drive and belief in each other.”
‘Anything to win’
In Grams’ 14th year at Rock Canyon, his Jaguars finally broke through after coming up empty in seven previous trips to the Great 8 and two previous appearances in the Final Four.
Rock Canyon lacked the star power of the other teams at the Denver Coliseum, but like the ’02 ThunderRidge team — which didn’t have a single all-state or first-team all-league player, and won games with defensive gusto — the Jaguars triumphed in all three Coliseum games by double-digits thanks to their complete team makeup.
“It was sometimes a bloodbath in practice when I would have to separate kids because it got so intense,” Grams said with a laugh. “And that was who I was in high school. I remember Ortiz kicking me out of practice many times. But that’s who we were. We were gritty. We would do anything to win. That’s how this Rock Canyon team was. ”
The Jaguars were just and lost their leading scorer to graduation. But something clicked this winter, when Rock Canyon (25-3) lost just one in-state game, a 54-50 road setback to Chaparral on Jan. 23 in a showdown that ultimately decided the Continental League championship.
“Losing that one actually helped us, because it made us come together as a team,” David said. “We were thinking we were all this, we were all that — but it brought us back to where our heads were level, and right.”
Rock Canyon avenged that loss in the Final Four, beating the Wolverines 75-60 before going on to topple Ralston Valley the next day, 68-58. The Jaguars were led by the 6-foot-6 David, but senior guard Davis May, junior guard Cooper Ellwood and senior forward Kai Valentine also played critical roles.
“I didn’t agree with us being the darkhorse, but that was the color commentary that I heard on the (game broadcasts),” Grams said.
In the end, Grams got the payoff he’s been working his life towards, in a game he almost veered away from a couple of times, only for the hardcourt to draw him back in.
Ahead of his senior year at ThunderRidge, Grams was going to quit basketball and go out for the wrestling team instead. Until Ortiz caught wind of it.
“He found me in the hallway and got after me,” Grams said. “There were words that can’t be repeated. I had bought wrestling shoes and he took them out my hands and said, ‘You’re not doing that.’ So that stopped my wrestling career before it even started.”
After graduation, Grams went to Fort Lewis to play football as a safety, but missed basketball so much that he eventually became a preferred walk-on with the Skyhawks’ basketball team. He played both sports for one year and eventually quit football to focus full-time on basketball in Durango.
Post-college, Grams remained in the game as an assistant coach for Ortiz, coaching the Grizzlies’ freshman and sophomore teams over a seven-year stint. Ortiz said he hoped Grams would take over the ThunderRidge program when Ortiz retired, but the timing didn’t work out.
As it turned out, it was a great under-the-radar hire in 2012 by Rock Canyon, which quickly evolved into a hoops heavyweight under Grams’ leadership. The Jaguars got an apple that didn’t fall far from the Ortiz coaching tree. David describes the tough-love yet also humorous Grams as “an aggressive coach who loves players who hustle, who loves defense and scrappy teams that can win games.”
“He’s going to tell it to you straight, he’s going to be honest and direct,” Ortiz said of Grams’ coaching style. “And sometimes it’s going to be harsh, and sometimes it’s going to be how much he loves you. But he loves his players. I know his players love him.”
