Colorado Springs Christian boys basketball takes aim at a repeat for Class 3A title

CSCS players get instructions from coach Mark Engesser (right) during practice. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com

COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Christian School basketball coach Mark Engesser hates losing. Can’t stand it. His desire to win coupled with his players’ hard work and motivation helped the Lions come away with the Class 3A state championship last March.

And oh boy, do they want to get back to the top of that mountain.

It helps that the Lions are returning two all-state players in forward Sam Howard and guard Justin Engesser. It also helps that those two guys were also two of the primary catalysts of last year’s title team. This year, they take the court with not only the hope of winning another championship, but with the pressure of trying to repeat.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say pressure,” Howard said. “We always want to do our best and no matter what people expect of us, we want to do what we think we can do. We’re just going to focus on playing our best and staying humble and whatever happens, we’re okay with.”

Staying humble may be the key. In the first month and a half of last season, the Lions were barely tested. It looked like they were going to cruise through their regular season schedule without a blemish.

But then something unexpected happened. On Jan. 23, the Lions hosted Tri-Peaks rival St. Mary’s and things did not go as planned. The Pirates kept the game close and were able to come away with a 51-49 win, ending CSCS’s chance at a perfect season.

“Nobody wants to lose,” Justin Engesser said. “If we learn from that, I guess, mistake; it’s better that we learn it early in the season rather than in the state tournament.”

That loss to St. Mary’s set the tone for the remainder of the season. It was a great reminder that nothing is given and for the Lions to reach the level that they wanted, they would have to continue to get better through the course of the season.

Sam Howard (33) and Justin Engesser watch as Howard’s shot falls during practice. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com

“When you’re winning all of your games, (Coach Engesser) has no reason to yell at us,” Howard said. “When you lose, it really gets your attention. There’s a lot of stuff you can work on. We looked at the film of that game and that’s what really carried us. We saw where we were weak.”

And they improved those weaknesses.

Like in any classification, there’s no ease to getting through a state tournament. Schools such as Jefferson Academy, Colorado Academy and Kent Denver routinely play for state titles. There are also programs like Faith Christian that have the ability to rattle off multiple state championships in a row.

“I thought we played harder than some of those teams,” Coach Engesser said. “We were diving on the floor, taking charges, playing harder. If you play hard on every single possession, good things will happen.”

And they did happen. When it was all said and done, the Lions came away as champions. Now as CSCS comes into the 2015-16 season with the expectations of winning another title, it’s also feeling a little bit of that pressure to defend that title.

But which comes more into play, the pressure or the expectation?

“I think the expectation,” Coach Engesser said. “It was a great moment for those guys and they want to experience that again. Expecting that moment… I guess it puts pressure on you too. I’ll say both. Pressure and expectation.”

Boys basketball preview

• Regular Season begins: Dec. 2
• Regular Season ends: Feb. 20
• Preseason rankings

Class 5A

• Defending champion: Overland
• Runner-up: ThunderRidge
• Preseason No. 1: Overland
• Returning All-State Players: De’Ron Davis, Sr., Overland (1st team); Nathan Davis, Sr., Mullen (3rd); Monroe Porter, Sr., Legend (3rd); Colbey Ross, Jr., Eaglecrest (2nd).
• Championship: March 10-12, Coors Event Center, Boulder

Class 4A

• Defending champion: Air Academy
• Runner-up: Longmont
• Preseason No. 1: Longmont
• Returning All-State Players: Khameron Davis, Sr., Valor Christian (2nd team); Chris Helbig, Sr., Holy Family (2nd); Cameron Horning, Sr., Glenwood Springs (3rd); Justinian Jessup, Sr., Longmont (1st); Michael Ranson, Sr., Pueblo Central (1st); D’Shawn Schwartz, Jr., Sand Creek (3rd); Jonathan Scott, Sr., Lewis-Palmer (1st); De’Aundre Twilley, Sr., Mitchell (3rd).
• Championship: March 10-12, Coors Event Center, Boulder

Class 3A

• Defending champion: CSCS
• Runner-up: Colorado Academy
• Preseason No. 1: CSCS
• Returning All-State Players: Justin Bassey, Sr., Colorado Academy (1st team); Justin Engesser, Jr., CSCS (2nd); Sam Howard, Sr., CSCS (1st); Christian Hyatt, Sr., Colorado Academy (3rd); Jaydn Michael, Sr., DSST-Green Valley Ranch (3rd).
• Championship: March 11-12, Denver Coliseum, Denver

Class 2A

• Defending champion: Sanford
• Runner-up: Resurrection Christian
• Preseason No. 1: Sanford
• Returning All-State Players: Miles Caldon, Sr., Sanford (1st team); Chance Canty, Sr., Sanford (2nd); Luke Fick, Sr., Resurrection Christian (1st); Wyatt Hayes, Sr., Ignacio (1st); Michael Stevenson, Jr., Resurrection Christian (2nd).
• Championship: March 11-12, Massari Arena, CSU-Pueblo

Class 1A

• Defending champion: Holly
• Runner-up: Fleming
• Preseason No. 1: Fleming
• Returning All-State Players: Jaxon King, Jr., Feliming (2nd team); Trent Leoffler, Sr., Arickaree/Woodlin (3rd); Blake Meredith, Sr., Fleming (2nd); Joey Stahley, Sr., Fleming (3rd).
• Championship: March 11-12, Budweiser Events Center, Loveland