1A boys basketball: Denver Jewish Day defeats Belleview Christian for first ever title

LOVELAND – The Denver Jewish Day boys basketball team finished off its most successful season in program history with its first-ever Class 1A boys basketball championship.

The No. 2-seeded Tigers proficient offense led the way Saturday as they shot the lights out of Budweiser Events Center to beat top-seeded Belleview Christian 55-42 Saturday in the Class 1A state championship basketball game.

Denver Jewish Days coach Michael Foonberg has been waiting for this day since the team’s seniors were in kindergarten. It was a long wait, but it was worth it.

“We just won the state championship and so it doesn’t get better than that,” Foonberg said. “We had guys step up and I just love these guys. I knew this day was going to come.”

The Tigers leading scorer Gavin Foonberg was hobbled in the game with a torn hamstring, but fellow senior Ilan Schinagel stepped up when it mattered and led all scorers with 25 points.

“I have been dreaming of this moment since I stepped on the court as a (junior varsity) player,” Schinagel said. “It’s just unreal. We came together as one and brought it home.”

It was the third time the two squads have faced off this season. Belleview won 58-50 in the regular season, while Denver Jewish Day (22-3 overall) won 57-49 to win the 5280 League District Championship for the first time in school history.

“It helped that we played them before,” Schinagel said. “They are our rivals – we dislike and like each other at the same time.”

While the Tigers were rolling on offense, its defense was just as dominant. Holding the Bruins to a season-low in scoring and making them work for each possession.

“(Our) defense was smothering.” Coach Foonberg said.

Belleview got on board first with a basket from Owen, but the Bruins found baskets hard to come by after that. Andrew Zimmerman made layup to put DJD up two early and then Schinagel hit a trey to give the Tigers a 10-6 advantage after the first.

Schinagel added a pair of baskets and a trey by Jonathan Noam pushed the lead to 10. David Hunter hit a trey for Belleview and a pair of free throws from Brandon Ewing cut the lead to seven. Baskets by Zimmerman and Schinagel pushed the lead to 24-15 at the half.

Despite being injured, Gavin Foonberg gave the Tigers an extra spark in the second half. He scored eight points in the third, including draining a pair of three-pointers to give DJD a 37-27 advantage going into the fourth quarter. He opened the fourth with a three-point play to advance the lead to 42-27.

Schinagel took it from there, scoring 13 points in the fourth to seal the victory.

“For (Gavin) to put on that performance and other guys to step up to score when he couldn’t do too much – is just remarkable,” Coach Foonberg said.

Gavin Foonberg finished with 14, while Owen led Belleview with 15 and Ewing chipped in 11.

Belleview Christian finished the season 24-2 which was the best record in school’s history.