GREELEY – It’s been a long time coming, but the Class 1A boys’ basketball championship is finally returning to Cheyenne Wells.

The No. 2-seeded Tigers secured their first state title crown since 1955 with a 55-36 victory over No. 1 McClave in the title game at Bank of Colorado Arena.

“It means everything,” said Cheyenne Wells coach Kendall Pelton, who is a former player for the Tigers. “I don’t think anybody wanted it more than I did - aside from the players. We came up short a lot. It feels great.”

The Tigers size has been a huge advantage all season, with 6-foot-7 sophomore Corey Hill and 6-foot-5 senior Carson Noe patrolling the paint and that size made scoring a struggle for McClave, which was held to its lowest scoring output of the season.

“They couldn’t have played any better,” Pelton said. “McClave knew everything about us, and we knew everything about them. But we wanted it more and it showed.”
The two squads played twice earlier this season, with both outcomes going into overtime. The Tigers won 61-56 in overtime and then the Cardinals won 47-45 in double-overtime.

“We had more energy,” Noe said. “It was a state championship game and we have been waiting for it all season. We knew we were going to see them in the state championship, because we were the best two teams in the state.” 

Noe sealed the victory for the Tigers in the fourth with a steal and breakaway dunk that even surprised the senior.

“I didn’t know how close the guy was,” the senior said. “I thought I jumped from too far away, I was kind of worried. But it all worked out.”

Cheyenne Wells led from the jump and scored the first eight points of the contest and kept McClave scoreless until midway through the first when Conner Forgue hit a trey to cut the lead to 8-3. While Hill and Noe punished the Cardinals in the post, Conrad Ball was making them pay from behind the arc. Hitting a pair of treys to push the advantage to 19-4 after the first quarter.

The Cardinals did put a dent in the second quarter with a pair of treys from Forgue and Ethan Bronniman, but the Tigers just couldn’t be stopped as Noe hit a trey and Cheyenne Wells lead 24-12 at the half.

McClave cut the lead to eight in the third with a basket from Ray Mungaray, free throws from Hill and a basket from Noe pushed the lead back to 24-12. 
Forgue led all scorers with 23 points, while Hill led the Tigers with 17 and Noe added 16.