4A boys basketball: Holy Family claims first title since 2014 with win over Resurrection Christian

DENVER — Let’s party like it’s 2014!

It was nine years ago down in Colorado Springs at the Air Force’s Clune Arena that the Holy Family basketball teams pulled off one of the rare doubles in high school sports by winning both the boys and girls Class 3A titles on the same night.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon at the Denver Coliseum, and after the girls had already held up their end of the bargain against D’Evelyn to win their title, the No. 17 seed Tigers boys took the court to try and repeat history.

Mission accomplished.

Holy Family, who had dropped eight of ten games from the end of January to mid-February in the rough-and-tumble Northern Colorado Athletic Conference , got hot at the right time and made a stunning run through the Class 4A tournament that culminated with a 53-43 victory over No. 2 Resurrection Christian.

“It was rough and this season had a lot of high and lows,” said senior Rocco Bridges, who scored nine points in the Tigers first ever Class 4A title and second overall. “When we stick together and we play for each other, we knew we were going to win this whole thing.

“Even as a No. 17 seed, we were confident coming into this tournament.”

Said Tigers coach Pete Villecco, who got a good post game soaking by his team in the locker room: “We were at rock bottom, down in the dumps, but these guys just kept grinding away. I can’t believe it and to win this thing is just unreal. Adversity is a gift, and we don’t win this thing without going through that.”

The Tigers run through the tournament included victories of No. 1 Kent Denver in the Sweet 16, No. 8 Colorado Academy in the Great 8, No. 4 Eagle Ridge Academy in the Final 4 and the No. 2 Resurrection on Saturday afternoon.

Holy Family (17-11), the first No. 17-seed to ever win a Colorado state title, got things cooking early from long range and never trailed the game. Seniors Eric Quintana and Grayden Harkness along with junior Gabe Tafoya all hit their first shots and before the Cougars could settle in, they were down 9-2.

Tafoya, who woke up for the Tigers offensively during the tournament, scored eight of his game high 18 points in the opening eight minutes.

“Our strength is in our entire crew,” Villecco said. “We don’t have a guy who’s going to go out and get 20 or 25, but for us, it’s collective, it’s about the unit.”

Resurrection Christian (23-5) kept things interesting and was only down 20-19 at the half and it would still be just a two possession game midway through the fourth quarter.

In crunch time late in the fourth, the Cougars turned the ball over twice and each time the Tigers made them pay with points on the other end. Rez’s balanced scoring attack was led by Cade Crutcher’s 12 points. Marcus Phillips added 11 and Ty Yoder finished with 10.

Villecco was quick to thank girls coach Ron Rossi and his girls team, saying, “That win was huge. It just gave us all sorts of mojo. When they won, he came to me and said ‘It’s your turn coach.’ It brought back those memories from nine years ago.”