Valor Christian to defend 6A boys basketball title against Eaglecrest

DENVER – Eaglecrest was necessarily looking to tie the game. Jarris Krapcha told his guys to win it. But with a 3-pointer not available, Anthony Nettles figured he’d tie things up and let his team take its chances in overtime.

His floater fell and he hit a big 3 in overtime as the the Raptors stepped on the gas and got a 79-69 win over Mountain Vista to advance to the Class 6A boys basketball state championship game.

“The play was for a 3,” Nettles said. “But with time running down, it wasn’t there.”

The 3-pointer that was there in overtime?

“That felt great,” Nettles said.

It capped an impressive turnaround for the Raptors as the Golden Eagles built an 18-9 lead after the first quarter. To make matters worse, Garrett Barger had picked up two early fouls. But with Vista pulling ahead, Krapcha had no choice but to get him back in the game and just hope he could be careful.

“He switched me off their big,” Barger said. “Their big is very good down low, so he switched me off him and I had to play more low-down. I can’t go every block and I had to limit myself.”

And the stress wasn’t there as much for him offensively. Nettles and Kris Coleman were taking care of the bulk of the scoring. Nettles finished with a game-high 25 and Coleman added 17.

Barger certainly contributed with 12, but it was the 15 rebounds where he had the biggest impact.

After getting past the initial deficit, the Raptors settled down knowing they had been in this position several times before.

“We’ve been behind in a lot of games this year,” Krapcha said. “Surprisingly, our record is really good. We’ve come from behind or been in tight games. It was the first quarter, there were a lot of possessions left and they didn’t panic. They just stayed the course.”

This is the first state championship game for the Raptors since 2017, where they beat George Washington 53-47 to win the 5A title. That was the last game for longtime coach John Olander, who retired following the year, giving way to the Raptors bringing on Krapcha. And fittingly, Olander was there to smack Krapcha on the should in approval after the game.

“I’ve coached in Colorado for 12 years and I’ve wanted to coach in this game for a long time,” Krapcha said.

His wish will be granted as his team returns to the Coliseum on Saturday for one last game this season.

(5) Valor Christian 61, (1) Rangeview 51

Cole Scherer says he likes playing on the big stage.

Scoring 39 of Valor Christian’s 61 points would certainly support that theory. Scherer was nothing short of outstanding as he guided the fifth-seeded Eagles to their second straight 6A state title game. They’ll take on Eaglecrest on Saturday with a chance to defend their title.

And while it was no surprise, Scherer’s performance, the same kind of performance that won him Player of the Year honors a year ago, is a big reason that the Eagles have one more game to go at Denver Coliseum.

“We just took what they gave us,” Scherer said. “Obviously they kept feeding me the ball. I had the hot hand and we just kept on rolling.”

He also grabbed 10 rebounds and hit a major milestone for his career. He entered the game with 1,965 career points and passed the 2,000-point mark in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a lot of the hard work that pays off; the hard work that no one sees,” Scherer said. “It means a lot to everyone who’s helped me here.”

The next task at hand is the final task for the season. Scherer and the Eagles know the feeling of playing at the Coliseum for the state championship. They beat ThunderRidge to capture the 6A title last March and will head into Saturday’s game with Eaglecrest with their eyes wide open on what it takes to win on this stage.

“We just need to get some rest tonight, get our bodies back,” Scherer said. “We’ve been here before so we just have to keep prepping and showing out for the crowd.”

Valor sustained a solid game from LaDavian King, who scored 21 and also had 10 rebounds.

The loss in the semis was the Raiders’ first loss of the season. A win would have given them a state championship game appearance for the first time since 2019 when they beat Chaparral 61-47 to win the 5A crown.

Saturday’s state championship game between Eaglecrest and Valor is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tip at Denver Coliseum.