FOUNTAIN – Simple thoughts went through Ashton Bond’s head as he spun the ball in his hand.

With a serve for the state title he wasn’t bogged down by technical details. The Eaglecrest junior outside hitter ignored any creeping doubt. After all, a few of his serves didn’t clear the net and after each unforced error, he looked at his teammates, his wrist and pointed to his chest in apology.

As he tossed it up, “hit it hard and prayed it goes in,” was the plan. The sage advice he heard in an interview with BYU senior Keoni Thiim paid off as the return sailed out of bounds as Eaglecrest secured its first Class 5A state title with a 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 27-25 win over Littleton Public Schools on Saturday at Trojan Arena in Fountain.

“That’s all I did if I am being totally honest,” Bond said. “There was nothing going through my head. It was just go ahead and hit it hard.”

The fourth time was the charm for the Raptors (25-5) against LPS (27-2). Eaglecrest had dropped its previous three matches to the No. 1 seed, including a straight-set defeat Saturday morning in the semifinals.

It looked like more of the same could be on tap in the opening set as LPS Senior outside hitter Jordan Fredericks and senior opposite hitter Brady Wiggers came out pounding kills from both sides of the floor.

Despite the setback, Raptors coach Chad Bond wore a smile on his face as he patrolled the sideline. His infectious energy permeated its way through the entire Eaglecrest lineup. Gradually the Raptors began to dig fierce LPS attacks. Their middle blockers thwarted attacks and allowed the establishment of their own passing game.

A 7-0 run in the first set was capped by senior outside hitter Jackson Shaw’s kill and gave the Raptors cut the LPS lead to 22-17. They went on to lose the set, but gradually forced LPS to play more conservatively. Gone were the soaring spike attempts and instead LPS played tip shots to avoid the Eaglecrest blockers.

“We just stuck to our game plan,” said Shaw who had 24 kills and 19 digs. “We faced adversity and that’s hard sometimes. It’s hard to get back up after you get blown out in the first set. But, we played through it and I couldn’t be prouder of my teammates.”

Once the Raptors were able to recycle their sets and get their passing game to flow, the power attack of LPS was neutralized.

“They came out and brought it in that first game,” Raptor’s coach Chad Bond said. “They were slamming it hard. Their power game was intense. But, if you listened to us on the sideline, we were laughing, smiling and having a good time. We knew we’d been there before. We know what it’s like to start a game down. We’ve been there before. There’s no quitting in these guys, their mentality is so strong.”

“We got them out of their system. And that’s what we want to do. That’s our game. We want to out ball control people.”

As Shaw lay on the floor with the state championship banner draped over his body, the cramps that moments earlier sent a trainer to the court as the Raptors trailed 24-23 to check on him had dissipated.

He shook off the cramps, led the Raptors on a set-closing 5-1 run that included a kill to set up Ashton Bond’s title-clinching serve.

“He’s pivotal,” Chad Bond said about Shaw. “He did everything, right?”

“He’s getting kills. He’s getting blocks. He’s getting digs. He’s a leader. He’s staying positive and when we needed a point he and Ashton went and got it.”

And the Raptors went and got their first state title.