(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — The Sterling boys basketball team never gave up Saturday and the Tigers were rewarded with an improbable Class 3A state championship.
Sterling outscored Faith Christian 8-2 in the final two minutes to claim a dramatic 48-47 win over the Eagles Saturday at Hamilton Gym on the University of Denver campus.
“We’re still kind of wondering what the heck happened,” said veteran Sterling coach Mike Holloway. “We just kept saying we have to be aggressive defensively and see if we can get some turnovers. This will be remembered as one of the best two minutes in Sterling basketball history.”
Sterling (23-5 overall) won its third state boys basketball title in school history – the other two were in 1984 and 2011. Faith Christian (18-9), meanwhile, saw its seventh state boys basketball crown, and first since 2012, slip through its grasp.
With two minutes left in the game, it looked as if Faith Christian would be celebrating title No. 7 – but looks were deceiving.
Garret Pott calmly sank two free throws, putting the Eagles up 46-39 with two minutes left.
That was the Tigers cue to come alive and Carter Keil supplied the late-game heroics.
The sophomore stole an errant pass from Jonah Gardner and then dribbled down for a layup and was fouled by Jonathan Hardcastle. Keil made the free throw to give Sterling a 48-47 edge with 25 seconds left.
“When I made the steal, I thought I had to at least make the shot and when I made the free throw I thought things were starting to go our way,” Keil said.
Following a timeout with 21 seconds left, Faith worked the ball to Alec Muehlemeyer who had an open look for a trey from the right side of the top of the key. Muehlemeyer’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim with two seconds left and was rebounded by Sterling to give the Tigers the win.
“When they missed that shot it was an unreal feeling,” said Keil, who have five of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. “It was a crazy two minutes.”
Holloway praised Keil for his clutch steal.
“That was very big steal and a bucket a free throw,” Holloway said. “We wanted to be aggressive and gamble a little bit and we were fortunate to get them to turn the ball over and rush some shots and convert on the other end. I’m going to have to watch the tape and see what happened because I’m kind of in awe right now.”
For Keil to take center stage, others had to also step for the Tigers and they did.
Isaac Harris made a layup, and was fouled, He missed his free throw, but teammate Christian Rose made a follow shot to get Sterling within 46-43 with 1:15 left.
Hardcastle was fouled and made one free throw with 63 seconds remaining, giving the Eagles a 47-43 edge. Bodie Hume, who had a team-high 15 points, added an inside bucket to get Sterling within 47-45 with 45 ticks left.
Leading 23-20 at half, Sterling’s Wade Kellogg made a jumper to give the Tigers a 25-20 lead, but Faith responded to get within 25-24.
Faith gabbed a 27-25 edge when Muehlemeyer swished a 3-pointer from the left corner with 4:48 left in the third. Benjamin Hawkins, who had a game-high 20 points, then blazed past the Sterling defense for a layup to give the Eagles a 29-25 lead at 4:09 of the third.
Hume’s free throw at 3:55 cut the deficit to 29-26, but then Hawkins made back-to-back 3-pointers from the right side of the top of the key to give the Eagles a 35-26 lead with 2:59 on the third-quarter clock.
Hawkins continued his scoring binge with two free throws at 1:54 mark of the third, giving Faith its largest lead of the game at 37-26 lead. Hume finally stopped Faith’s 17-3 run with a bucket, but then Gardner converted a three-point play at 51.4 seconds and Hume also picked up his fourth foul.
Hume bounced back with a driving layup to get the Tigers within 40-30 with eight minutes to play. That set the stage for the wild fourth quarter.
“This was a blast,” said Hume, a 6-foot-5 junior. “We came with a lot of heart and we were able to get this great win.”