It was a weekend that loyal McClave fans will never forget, as the McClave boys earned their second consecutive trip to the 1A State Basketball Tournament, to be held in Greeley next weekend. It will be only the second trip to the state tournament for the boys' team in school history. The 63-58 win over rival Wiley in the Regional championship would have been good enough, but the 85-81 four overtime thriller against Creede the night before will be remembered by McClave fans for many, many years.
Friday night McClave matched up with an athletic Creede team in their Regional opener. With both teams sluggish early, Creede ground out an 11-9 first quarter lead. Senior Ryan Geisinger began to heat up in the second quarter, however, scoring 10 of the team's 12 points, as McClave trailed at half, 22-21. Geisinger was the catalyst again in the third stanza, scoring nine points, as the Cards took a seemingly safe 37-31 lead. But the game Miners fought back, outscoring McClave in the final quarter and knotting the score with just :05 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into the first overtime.
McClave, who fought foul problems all evening, began losing players. Blayze Melgoza fouled out in the fourth quarter, and coach David Stavely lost two more starters in the first overtime.
McClave was down five in overtime three, with four starters fouled out, but a Jimmy Bencomo steal and lay-up cut the margin to three. When McClave got the ball back after a Creede turnover, it was Geisinger, with three Creede players draped all over him, who hit a 25-foot three pointer at the buzzer to send the game into a fourth overtime.
Senior Nick Kuhns hit four straight big free throws in overtime four for the margin of victory, but it was Geisinger who carried the day for McClave with 45 points, believed to be a school record. He hit seven three pointers and was 10 for 17 from the free throw line in an unbelievable display of shooting.
That set the stage for the championship match-up with Wiley the next day. McClave showed no signs of fatigue, however, as they raced to an 18-14 first quarter lead. But Wiley, shooting much better than the last time the two teams met, had three three's in period two to tie things up at halftime, 25-25.
The third quarter proved to be the difference, as McClave pounded the nets, outscoring Wiley 27-13 in the quarter. It was senior Mike Weber and sophomore Gabe Benabides doing the damage, scoring 10 points apiece in the period. Wiley caught fire in the final stanza and closed the margin to three twice but could never get closer.
"What an unbelievable weekend," said coach David Stavely. "I was speechless after the Friday game. I have been around basketball for a long, long time and I have never seen anything like that game Friday. With the adverse conditions we faced, for us to hang around and come back and win that game was just something else. I am just so proud of these guys. The heart they showed was something else. We didn't play all that well Saturday, but we played well enough to win and that is all that is important right now."
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It was a weekend that loyal McClave fans will never forget, as the McClave boys earned their second consecutive trip to the 1A State Basketball Tournament, to be held in Greeley next weekend. It will be only the second trip to the state tournament for the boys' team in school history. The 63-58 win over rival Wiley in the Regional championship would have been good enough, but the 85-81 four overtime thriller against Creede the night before will be remembered by McClave fans for many, many years.
Friday night McClave matched up with an athletic Creede team in their Regional opener. With both teams sluggish early, Creede ground out an 11-9 first quarter lead. Senior Ryan Geisinger began to heat up in the second quarter, however, scoring 10 of the team's 12 points, as McClave trailed at half, 22-21. Geisinger was the catalyst again in the third stanza, scoring nine points, as the Cards took a seemingly safe 37-31 lead. But the game Miners fought back, outscoring McClave in the final quarter and knotting the score with just :05 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into the first overtime.
McClave, who fought foul problems all evening, began losing players. Blayze Melgoza fouled out in the fourth quarter, and coach David Stavely lost two more starters in the first overtime.
McClave was down five in overtime three, with four starters fouled out, but a Jimmy Bencomo steal and lay-up cut the margin to three. When McClave got the ball back after a Creede turnover, it was Geisinger, with three Creede players draped all over him, who hit a 25-foot three pointer at the buzzer to send the game into a fourth overtime.
Senior Nick Kuhns hit four straight big free throws in overtime four for the margin of victory, but it was Geisinger who carried the day for McClave with 45 points, believed to be a school record. He hit seven three pointers and was 10 for 17 from the free throw line in an unbelievable display of shooting.
That set the stage for the championship match-up with Wiley the next day. McClave showed no signs of fatigue, however, as they raced to an 18-14 first quarter lead. But Wiley, shooting much better than the last time the two teams met, had three three's in period two to tie things up at halftime, 25-25.
The third quarter proved to be the difference, as McClave pounded the nets, outscoring Wiley 27-13 in the quarter. It was senior Mike Weber and sophomore Gabe Benabides doing the damage, scoring 10 points apiece in the period. Wiley caught fire in the final stanza and closed the margin to three twice but could never get closer.
"What an unbelievable weekend," said coach David Stavely. "I was speechless after the Friday game. I have been around basketball for a long, long time and I have never seen anything like that game Friday. With the adverse conditions we faced, for us to hang around and come back and win that game was just something else. I am just so proud of these guys. The heart they showed was something else. We didn't play all that well Saturday, but we played well enough to win and that is all that is important right now."
