Title takes on extra meaning
State championship dedicated to Basson — teammate who suffered stroke
COLORADO S RINGS» Mead sophomore shooting guard Nick Basson woke up on the Friday morning of March 12 with difficulty focusing, facial numbness and trouble speaking.
Basson, the Mavericks’ thirdleading scorer, just nine days before the Class 4A basketball state championship game, suffered a stroke.
Flight for Life transported Basson, 16, from his Mead home to UCHealth Hospital in Aurora. He required potentially life-saving surgery.
“I knew there was something wrong because it took me forever to do my school work,” Basson said. “I didn’t know what was happening. I had the facial droop and everything, and my voice was really messed up.”
Basson’s re-telling of the health scare is confirmation he survived the ordeal. And, when No. 5 Mead faced No. 3 Montrose on Sunday for a state title, his story inspired teammates in a dominating 68-44 Mavericks victory. Basson cheered from the Mead bench inside Broadmoor World Arena.
“It shook everybody, and it’s still kind of hard to believe, but I think it definitely made us tighter when we found out he was going to be OK,” Mead coach Darin Reese said. “It jelled the guys even more. That was definitely motivation.”
Mead (15-3) claimed its first boys basketball state title since 1957 behind an onslaught of scoring from Elijah Knudsen. The 5foot-9 junior guard dropped 30 points on 50% shooting from the floor (12-of-24). Knudsen was fearless in transition, hitting four 3-pointers with an ultra-quick
release. His buckets came in bunches.
“My dad built me a gym in my house so I’m able to work out at home every day, and get hundreds of shots up,” Knudsen said when asked to explain his scoring confidence. “It’s just practice.”
Reese added: “When he hits one or two, you want to give him a little bit of space, because he can get going.”
Montrose (18-1) trailed by 15 points to begin the second quarter when it finally made a push. Strong inside play from junior forward Ashden Oberg, the team’s leading scorer (17), sparked a comeback effort that cut the Montrose deficit to 2723 entering halftime.
But Mead’s offense regained rhythm in the third quarter, paced by Knudsen’s 11 points, and the Mavericks coasted the final two quarters until hoisting the championship trophy in celebration. They did it for Nick.
In pregame, Mead players donned warmup shirts with the name (Basson) and uniform digit (1) of their embattled teammate. Basson has been medically cleared for some basketball activity, he said, but is still working toward a full return to the game he loves.
“It’s definitely been like a roller coaster for me,” Basson said. “It’s been really rough not knowing if I’m going to be out here with the guys. … It started off low, being at the hospital and everything. But being able to come back and watch these guys has been really great.”
Knudsen added: “It made for a couple nights of rough sleep worrying about (Basson). But it brought us motivation and effort on the court when it came to game time.”
Mead’s championship is also a consolation of sorts for the sudden cancellation of last year’s state basketball tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Mavericks reached the Final Four as the top-ranked team in 4A with a 25-1 record in 2020 when the sports world stopped. Sunday provided sweet redemption.
“Mead is a special community, it’s still got that small-town feel even though we draw from multiple areas,” Reese said. “I know if fans were allowed, they would have packed this place. … I can’t help but think of those seniors from last year that should have had this opportunity but just didn’t get it.”