DENVER – Finishing within one win of the program’s first state title in 2023 was devastating for last year’s Resurrection Christian boys basketball team.

But it was also motivating.

The Cougars used that pain as a driving force all season long and on Saturday night at the Denver Coliseum, they used it one more time to win 76-61 over Kent Denver to finish the job they started last year.

“It’s unbelievable just thinking of all the teams before us that couldn’t get it done or the COVID season when they weren’t able to get it done,” Cougars junior Ty Yoder said. “We feel so grateful for the opportunity to do it and I couldn’t ask for a better team to do it with. It (last season’s finish) was gut-wrenching. But we used it as motivation to get back here next year and we worked our butts off and we came to play.

“It worked out well.”

Resurrection Christian led 39-32 at halftime and kept that margin alive through the third quarter to start the fourth leading 48-41. Effective against the press, the Cougars continued to pull away and were solid at the free-throw line – going 24 for 28 in the game – to limit any home of a Kent Denver comeback down the stretch.

Yoder (13.1 ppg) finished with a team-high 19 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor and goin 8 for 8 at the free-throw line, including some critical makes late in the fourth quarter. Cade Crutcher and Jacob Barker each scored 18 points, and Marcus Phillips had 10 for the Cougars.

Making Saturday’s long-awaited victory even more special, Yoder was able to win a state championship while playing for head coach and father Ryan Yoder.

“He knows my strengths and he knows my weaknesses, so he can push me and he’s able to give me support when I need it,” Ty Yoder said. “I couldn’t ask for a better coach.”

For Kent Denver, Caleb Fay (20.6 ppg) led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and going 2 for 2 from long range. Gil Schayes and Elvis Lloyd each had eight.

Kent Denver has one boys basketball title from when the Sun Devils beat Centauri in 1997. The team was in 3A at the time.

To reach the championship game, Kent Denver won 68-56 over No. 5 Colorado Academy. In the other semifinal, Resurrection Christian won 51-45 over Lutheran.