AURORA | Facts and historical figures for Aurora area boys and girls basketball in the wake of the Eaglecrest boys and Grandview girls winning Class 6A state championships on March 15, 2025, at the Denver Coliseum:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
— The Eaglecrest boys and Grandview girls gave the Aurora area a boys-girls sweep of the large school classification in basketball for the first time since the 2018 season, which saw Grandview win both boys and girls crowns in the then-Class 5A state tournament. An area sweep also occurred in 2013 when the Eaglecrest boys won the 5A title on the same floor at the Coors Events Center in Boulder on the same day that the Regis Jesuit girls won the 5A championship.
— Aurora area boys basketball teams went through a stretch between 2009 and 2019 in which they combined to win eight of the state titles in that span (three for Regis Jesuit, two apiece for Eaglecrest and Overland and one for Grandview and Rangeview), but before Eaglecrest made it this season, an Aurora area team hadn’t made it to the state championship game in the large school classification since Rangeview won the 2019 title. It would have happened in the 2020 season as Grandview and Rangeview were set to meet in a semifinal before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the final three games of the state tournament.
— Aaron Bokol has been part of two of Eaglecrest’s state championship victories, one as a player and one as a member of the coaching staff. Bokol was a sophomore and played five varsity games with the program in 2017, though he did not appear in the Raptors’ 53-47 win over George Washington that secured the 5A state title in John Olander’s last game as head coach. Bokol became a starter in the first season under current head coach Jarris Krapcha in the 2018 season and started again as a senior in 2019 before he went on to play 101 games at the collegiate level at Regis University. He was part of Krapcha’s staff this season as an assistant.
— Eaglecrest’s state championship was the third in program history (joining wins in 2013 and 2017) and it created a tie with Regis Jesuit for the most boys basketball championships won by Aurora area programs all-time. Regis Jesuit (which moved its campus to Aurora from Denver in 1990) won three consecutive titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Three area schools have two to their credit in Hinkley (5A in 1994 and 4A in 1998), Overland (which won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016) and Rangeview (5A in 2019 and 3A in 1985). Aurora Central won its lone state championship in 1983 in 4A and Grandview’s one state crown came in 5A in 2018, leaving Cherokee Trail, Gateway, Smoky Hill and Vista PEAK Prep as programs still in search of their first titles.
— While seven Aurora area boys basketball teams have at least on state championship to their credit, only two Aurora girls basketball teams have won state championships in Grandview and Regis Jesuit. The Wolves added the program’s fifth all-time state title Saturday with its 61-39 victory over Legend at the Denver Coliseum. Grandview also took back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 as well as 2022 and 2023 and owns a 5-1 record in state championship games under coach Josh Ulitzky. Regis Jesuit — which has only had a program since 2005 — has played in nine state championship games (one under current coach Jordan Kasemodel and eight under original coach Carl Mattei) and has a 3-6 record. The Raiders won 5A titles in 2005, 2013 and 2014.
— With five all-time state titles, Grandview has pulled into a tie for 10th all-time on the state’s all-time girls basketball list of all-time state champions according to Colorado High School Activities Association records. Eads leads the way with nine, while Mullen (which won the 5A title this season) is alone in second with eight, while Highlands Ranch, Holy Family and Wray have seven apiece and Bishop Machebeuf, Boulder, Broomfield and Limon have six apiece.
