Heartbreaking end led to a state championship for Cheyenne Central
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (BVM) — Cheyenne Central’s boys basketball team was the ultimate favorite to win the state title in the 2019-20 season before it lost two straight games in the regional tournament and failed to qualify for the state tournament. But this season ended much differently than the last for the 2020-21 state champion Indians.
For much of the season, the loss in last year’s regional tournament lingered in the players’ heads and helped motivate them for a comeback season.
“I obviously didn’t expect our season to end like that [last year]; it was a heartbreaker,” Indians senior center Lawson Lovering said. “It helped fuel us for the next season, so I’m actually grateful that it happened to us.”
“It was the lowest of lows, but we got to end this year with the highest of highs,” Central head coach Tagg Lain said. “All the emotions that go with the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory, we put all of that inside one year.”
The Indians finished this past regular season 16-3 and were ranked No. 1 in the state. Their three losses came from their games at Thunder Basin and Sheridan and a double-overtime home loss to Campbell County.
But since that loss, the team won every single game to finish out the season. The season was capped off with wins over Thunder Basin in both the regional tournament final and the state title game.
There was more meaning to beating Thunder Basin in both these games than the face value of revenge from earlier this season. The Bolts were the first team to beat Central in the state of Wyoming during the 2019-20 and sent them to the consolation bracket in the regional tournament.
“That experience taught us that we’ve got to practice, work and be determined as much as we can to be the best team,” Lain said. “If we’re going to get beat, we’re going to get beat being our best.”
That defeat to the Bolts left its impact on this season, especially when Central recorded its first loss.
“We went back to Thunder Basin’s gym where we took our first loss of this year, and it was crazy walking back into the gym with this team, it was like PTSD,” Lain said. “We fell right back into those emotions.”
Despite an emotional and gut-wrenching loss, the players brought it back together and knew what was necessary for them to win. However, the team also maintained a style of play that kept it entertaining for them.
“I’ve been playing with those guys since I was really, really young,” Lovering said. “We liked each other; we play for each other. It’s the most fun I’ve had on a team, basically.”
The camaraderie amongst the team was also strengthened during the season. After some seniors were forced to quarantine and miss some time, others stepped up.
“We had some dudes step up and come to the forefront,” Lain said. “Jackson Whitworth, a sophomore guard scored 20, and one game he hit six 3s. Then I thought Cade Burns, who is just a great player, he really stepped up during that time period.”
The process to get to the point of a state title was almost sweeter for Coach Lain than his previous state title runs.
“It [the state championship] probably has more meaning to me than ones I’ve been a part of in the past,” Lain said. “That’s mainly because of what these guys went through, last year and then with COVID this year, not having an offseason, having some doubt about how the thing would go and having to persevere.”
For Lovering, it was a sweet way to cap off his high school basketball career.
“It all felt great,” Lovering said. “It’s a good feeling to have it always be with me forever, I can tell everybody when I grow up that the 20-21 banner up there, that was mine.”
This is the first state title for Cheyenne Central since the 2015-16 season.
Lovering will be attending the University of Colorado in Boulder in the fall to begin his collegiate career.
For Central, the process starts all over as next season is on the horizon.
“We have a chance to go back-to-back and that’s a rare opportunity,” Lain said. “The legacy these seniors left is to work hard, prepare hard, do everything in your power to win and be selfless on the floor.”
