LOVELAND – Just two seasons ago, the McClave Cardinals boys basketball team did not win a single game.
 
Now, they are the 2022 1A boys basketball state champions with a 61-36 victory over Merino Saturday evening.
 
“This is amazing,” McClave head coach Jeremy Mallard exclaimed. “These guys worked extremely hard, no one knows just how hard these kids work. We’re just extremely happy.”
 
“Just two years ago, we didn’t win a game at all,” junior Aiden Martinez said. “And now to win this championship, it’s just a special moment. This just shows all of the hard work that we put in, and all that we’ve been through.”
 
It is the second boys basketball title in program history, the other coming back in 2013.
 
Four Cardinal players finished in double figures, led by 13 points from Eduardo Verdu. He was followed closely by Martinez and Riccardo Cazziniga who had 12, while Conner Forgue added 10.
 
Merino finishes the season with an 18-9 record, and the third runner-up finish in program history. The Rams have seven team titles in program history, including five-straight from 1976-80.
 
The Rams had one player finish in double digits, with 11 from Derrick Alber, while Kadeln Piel and Tyler Miller added nine apiece.
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth tilt, as neither team could gain much in the way of a lead. After the first eight minutes, the game was tied at 13-13.
 
McClave’s defense clamped down in the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run all the way into the two-minute mark, before Merino finally got a bucket, but the Cardinal lead stood at 22-15. They then scored the next eight to finish a 17-2 period and take a 30-15 advantage into the half.
 
“We just hit some big baskets early, and we defended so well, we defended well all weekend,” Mallard explained. “Our defense carried us whenever we weren’t scoring and when teams got hot, we found a way to stop them.”
 
McClave got their lead up to 16 to start the third, before Merino began to chip away, getting the deficit down to seven at one point. The Cardinals did not yield, though, taking a 40-29 advantage into the final eight minutes of play.
 
The Cardinals didn’t slow down in the fourth quarter either, going on a 6-2 run to start to continue to build on their lead, 46-31, and eventually running away with the 25-point margin of victory.
 
McClave will have a good shot at returning to this stage next season as well, with only one senior on the roster. But for now, coach Mallard, who is also the McClave football coach, is focused on the fall.
 
“I coach football too,” Mallard said. “And I expect to be really good at that. Then we’ll try and be back here again next year.”