DENVER – Cade Hemphill’s emotions poured out on the floor at DU’s Hamilton Gymnasium, and it’s easy to understand why.
His Strasburg teammates proudly sported ‘KH’ patches on their jerseys – the initials of his father who lost his long battle with cancer in January, honoring the memory of longtime assistant coach Kevin Hemphill.
But on Saturday, the Hemphills and the Strasburg community were winners.
And now it’s time to make room in the trophy case after the Indians captured their first boys basketball state championship in school history, defeating Forge Christian 61-57 in overtime in the Class 3A title game.
“These boys came together for (Kevin Hemphill). This season was for him. These kids just rallied from the point which he passed on,” said Strasburg head coach Kyle Bollers, who spent 17 years alongside Kevin Hemphill “The basketball came second; family came first. We don’t just wear family on our shirts for show. It means something in our program.”
Playing in his final high school game, Cade Hemphill scored 13 points for the Indians, who shook off a slow start in which they faced a 22-11 deficit to the Fury after the first quarter.
Forge Christian led by as many as 13 points late in the third quarter before a 3-point scoring barrage brought Strasburg to within 45-42 going into the fourth quarter.
The Indians were then able to force overtime, during which key buckets from Cam Manahan, who led the team with 14 points, secured the victory.
The win also avenges one of Strasburg’s only two losses this season (26-2 overall) – after the Indians lost to the Fury during the regular season.
“It felt like it was ours all along. It was a little up and down, but we found a way to get it done,” Cade Hemphill said.
Forge Christian was searching for its eighth state title in program history. Instead, the Fury finished with a 25-3 overall record as runner-up.
Levi Clark led Forge Christian with a game-high 14 points, while Enrique Diggins poured in 13 and Quentin Torres added 10.
“Man, this is unreal. Just seeing the whole community come out here and support us is just a different kind of feeling. And getting it done just feels good,” Cade Hemphill said. “(My dad) has been a part of Strasburg his whole life, and that was our first (state title) ever, so it feels amazing.”
(Quentin Sickafoose)
