What game could be more exciting than the last game of the season, and in some cases, the last game of your high school experience? There were two such win-or-go-home games Saturday afternoon at the Denver Coliseum, with the Girls and Boys 6A Division championship titles on the line. One game was decided by one basket, the other by a blowout.

In the end, the winners walked away with the Colorado State High School Championship Trophy and a place in the history books of Colorado sports.

For the girls’ tilt, the top-seeded Grandview Wolves won the title game 61-39 over Legend (no. 7) in the 6A bracket. It was Grandview’s fifth state championship since 2017. Since the new 6A division started, the Wolves have won two of the three years since its inception.

Grandview senior Sienna Betts led the way for the Wolves with 21 points and 16 rebounds in the win. Her 81st double-double in high school set a state record previously held by Kylee Shook with 80. Betts averaged 23.1 points per game in the season

“I’m super excited. I’m super happy for my team,” Betts said after the game. “We worked so hard for this and we came back and worked after last year’s loss in the Sweet 16. I’m just so proud of the coaches and all of us.”

Betts was named the Gatorade Colorado Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. Assisting Betts was Deija Roberson, who scored 15 points, and sophomore Ava Chang, who averaged 14.4 points per game, added 10. Grandview’s only in-state loss this season came at the hands of 2024 state champion Valor Christian on January 4th, 2025. Last year’s Wolves team lost in the Sweet 16 round.

This season, the top-seeded Wolves (25-3) led 16-7 after the first quarter and 33-17 at halftime. No. 7 Legend (22-6) outscored Grandview 11-9 in the third quarter, but the Wolves hung on and pulled further away in the fourth quarter for the victory. Senior Grace Stanley (10.4 ppg) led the way for Legend with 11 points. And Mason Borcherding and Ava Gave each scored six.

“They executed what we asked them to do phenomenally well,” Grandview head coach Josh Ulitsky said after the win. “We needed to take care of the basketball, take away the 3-point line and rebound. So, those were the big keys for us.”

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best athletes for their success on the court, in the classroom, and in the community. The award distinguishes Grandview’s Sienna Betts as Colorado’s best high school girls basketball player, and she’s also been selected as a finalist for the distinguished Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced later in March. Betts is also ranked as the nation’s No. 2 recruit in her class by both 247 Sports and ESPNW.

Betts, 6-foot-4, has maintained a 4.2 weighted GPA in the classroom. She signed a written letter of athletic aid for playing basketball at UCLA this fall. “Sienna is the definition of a great player,” said Jerry Knafelc, head coach at Arapahoe High School. Three-time winner Betts joins recent Gatorade Colorado Girls Basketball Players of the Year Lauren Betts (2021-22 & 2020-21, Grandview High School) among the state’s former award winners.

“She can score the ball nearly at will, block shots better than anyone, talks on defense and has a great work ethic,” said Knafelc. “What makes her truly great to me is that she makes everyone else on her team better and genuinely embraces this role. I’ve coached against a number of very good players, some of whom have won the Gatorade Player of the Year award. None of them did it better than Sienna.”

Following the Girls 6A game, the Boys 6A Championship Game took center stage in what turned out to be a real rim rocker, with Eaglecrest facing the defending champion Valor Christian Eagles. The Raptors would survive a fourth-quarter comeback by the Eagles to win by one basket, 65-63. After being eliminated in the Final Four last season, it was the first state title for Eaglecrest since 2017 and their first in the 6A division.

The games had several lead changes throughout, keeping the crowd thoroughly engaged. No. 2 Eaglecrest (26-2) led 14-12 after the first quarter before going into halftime with a 29-23 lead. Ranked No. 5, Valor Christian (23-4) pulled ahead in the third quarter, outscoring the Raptors 23-12, to take a 46-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Led by senior Ant Nettles, Eaglecrest finally reclaimed the lead with 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and held off a late charge from the Eagles to win their program’s third overall boys basketball title.

“We’re state champs. We’re state champs,” Nettles said after the victory. “It meant a lot to the team, knowing how it felt to lose and now how it felt to get back here and make it further than last year. It’s everything to us. Bringing it home means everything.”

Nettles (15.7 ppg) led Eaglecrest with 14 points. Garrett Barger (12.7 ppg) scored 12, and Jason Noone scored 11, including several critical free throws down the stretch. Cole Scherer, who averages 26.9 points per game, still scored 35 points in the losing effort. Valor Christian’s Brady Wynga (14.4 ppg) added 14 points for the Eagles. Eaglecrest and Valor Christian entered the championship game, riding win streaks of 18 and 14 games, respectively.

“We just wanted to come out strong and stop number one,” Nettles said about Valor Christian’s senior Cole Scherer. “He’s a great player. But we just wanted to come out, play our game, stop him, and we got it done. It feels good. We just focused on stopping him and keeping him contained.” Eaglecrest and Valor Christian entered the championship game riding win streaks of 18 and 14 games, respectively, before heading into the do-or-die championship game.

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