Cheyenne Mountain gets OT win over Palisade in 5A boys basketball tournament

COLORADO SPRINGS – There is something about losing a jersey and getting an overtime win.

It happened one time to the greatest basketball player to ever live. On Feb. 14, 1990 Michael Jordan lost his customary “23” and had to don a jersey with the No. 12 as the Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic 135-129 in overtime.

Fast-forward 35 years.

Cheyenne Mountain’s Cayden Cooper couldn’t find his No. 12. If only there was a 23 for him to wear. Instead he settled for the points. Cooper scored a game-high 23, including six of Cheyenne Mountain’s eight points in overtime as the No. 9 Red-Tailed Hawks beat No. 24 Palisade 50-44 to advance to the Class 5A boys basketball Sweet 16.

“Cayden is one of the best players in the state of Colorado,” Hawks coach Travis Walk said. “People just haven’t had a chance to see him. He’s had two years off basketball, being hurt and not being able to develop and grow. But athletically, he’s on another level.”

And that competitive fire is there as well. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Red-Tailed Hawks (18-6 overall) trailed by three points. LJ Ballenger hit an early 3-pointer for the Bulldogs (13-11) and momentum briefly felt like it was slipping away from the home team. He finished with 11 points, sharing the team-high with Carter Hayward.

But Cooper answered with a 3 of his own and kicked into another gear at that point. He was active defensively, diving for loose balls and put his team in position to take the lead.

Alex Treglia was fouled in the closing seconds of regulation with the Hawks down one. He made one of two free throws to get to overtime where Cooper scored six in the blink of an eye.

“We haven’t made the playoffs in a while so we just wanted make sure we got that win,” Cooper said. “We wanted to get that win no matter what. No matter how.”

This is a basketball program that has seen its share of struggles in recent years. The Hawks last made the playoffs in 2022 and lost to Thompson Valley in the first round. They hadn’t won a playoff game since 2019 when they beat Sierra in double-overtime before losing to Pueblo East in the second round.

The last two years resulted in a combined nine wins for the Hawks. This playoff win meant everything to the coaches and players sitting on that bench.

“We had two wins last year,” Walk said. “No one what we had coming in here. But we’ve had some guys step up and we’ve gelled as a team.”

Walk certainly doesn’t like what he sees from some of the postgame numbers. He knows going 9-for-20 from the free throw can’t happen again, but it’s not something the’s overly concerned about.

Treglia missing the second free throw that would’ve put the Hawks up one with just a few seconds left was such an anomaly that he refuses to give it a second thought.

“He’s sophomore, there might’ve been a bit of a [nerves] factor,” Walk said. “It was his first chance at a moment like that, but you know what? It’s done. That kid is a baller. So he’ll come back and I know he’ll knock those down.”

And at least for one more game, Cooper will be there to back him up. The senior hopes he can find his customary No. 12 jersey for a showdown against Severance, but it turns out that the kid wearing No. 40 is nice to have on the roster as well.