DENVER – Perfection continued for the Resurrection Christian boys basketball team on the biggest stage in Class 3A.
Ty Yoder scored a game-high 17 points as the Cougars muscled past Strasburg in the state title game Saturday at Denver University’s Hamilton Gymnasium.
RCS finished its storybook season with a 28-0 record, and has now won 42 games in row, dating back to last season, which culminated with the Cougars defeating Kent Denver to capture the 4A state crown.
Strasburg ended its season with a 23-5 record with three of those losses coming against RCS.
“We knew Strasburg would come out intense because they are a great team,” Ty Yoder said. “Strasburg is very well coached, and they have a great team, but we knew we could beat them, and we just carried that mindset with us, and we just played our game nothing different.
“It is a little different than when we won last year, new people, but the feeling doesn’t change, I love it.”
RCS muscled out to a 13-6 lead by the end of the first quarter and by half the Cougars had stretched their advantage to 28-16. Egan Koenig and Ty Yoder, the coach’s son, led the way with eight and seven points, respectively.
“This is amazing, and I have never felt anything like it,” said Koenig, a junior. “It is a blessing to play with these guys and play for this school and these coaches. We are all in it together and it is a such a great feeling to celebrate this as a family and brothers.”
Coach Ryan Yoder couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome against the Indians.
“What an amazing group,” Coach Yoder said. “I always have to start by giving honor and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and almighty God for the talents, the abilities and opportunities. I couldn’t think of a better group of guys to coach. They have high character, their work ethic is unbelievable, and they are so coachable.”
Top-seeded Resurrection Christian claimed wins over Forge Christian (53-49), Centauri (49-31) and Strasburg in the Great 8.
“Our foundation is championships are won on defense and then rebounding No. 2 and sharing the ball and playing for each other on offense,” Coach Yoder said. “Those are our principles, and these guys have executed as well as anybody could ask.”
Koenig echoed Coach Yoder.
“We just stayed true to our defensive principles and wanting it more than they wanted it,” Koenig said. “We made sure we stayed locked in on everything we practiced and shutting down their best players. We take a lot of pride in our defense.”
Strasburg got within 45-35 with 1:32 to play, but then the Cougars added two free throws from Blake Cox which kept his team in front 47-35. Strasburg’s Colton Holloway answered with a 3-pointer the next time down the court to get the Indians within nine points.
Then, Strasburg’s Tyce Bollers made a driving layup to cut the deficit to 49-40, but the Cougars never got nervous.
Ty Yoder, who finished the game with 17 points, went 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
It was a day of celebration for Resurrection Christian as its girls basketball team won the 3A title in the game before the school’s boys team took the court.
Graham Riggs and Cade Crutcher each had 11 points in the RCS victory and Koenig finished with 10. Brody Hopwood and Holloway had 10 points each in the loss.