For my entire high school career, I had no idea that there was a trophy for the Broomfield vs. Holy Family basketball game. This is largely because it has been eight years since Holy Family has won, but on Tuesday, February tenth, the tides changed. Holy Family got a huge win over their big-time rival and finally got the Gryphon back.
This has been a storybook year for Holy Family basketball. Coming off a extremley disapointing 2025 season, seniors Matt Evans, Caleb Schott, and Ryan Grable decided 2026 was going to be different. The boys started the season with 11 straight wins. An extremely impressive feat, considering they are playing schools twice the size of Holy Family. In recent weeks, however, the boys started to slip. With losses to Horizon, Frederick, and Longmont, the boys needed to reset. Then along came Broomfield.
Holy Family and Broomfield are separated by only 4 miles, and there is a lot of bad blood between the two schools. Both are powerhouses in most sports and particularly football. The anticipation for this year’s basketball game was at an all-time high.
Tip-off happened, and the tigers came out firing. The tigers went up 17-0 and looked absolutely unstoppable. Point guard Matthew described the start as, “It was a moment where we just all came together and were just playing off of each other. The energy was absolutely electric.” Unfortunately, Broomfield began to claw back. Largely thanks to junior Kolt Smith’s performance. At the end of the third quarter, the Eagles were leading 40-38. But the Tigers clawed their way back with an invigorating fourth quarter. The tigers pulled off the incredible upset, winning 58-53. Matthew, reminiscing on the win, said, “It was an incredible environment. I am so pumped that we beat them on our home court. We own Broomfield.”
After eight long years, the Gryphon has returned to its rightful home at Holy Family.
