Rocky Mountain's Karp Returns To Court After Battle With Cancer

FORT COLLINS—When cross-town rivals Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain met in front of a capacity crowd Tuesday night, everyone in the gym knew they would be in for an emotional match-up.

But after a game filled with intense momentum swings, two lengthy stoppages to mop a mist of baby powder off the floor, and one of the most emotional returns a sports fan can witness, the crowd left with more than their money’s worth.

Fort Collins won the game handily in the end, 54-37, and kept themselves in position for a high seed in the upcoming state playoffs.

But one moment that stood out for everyone in the gym was when Rocky senior Garrett Karp jogged onto the court for the first time this season, with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Karp, who has played in the Lobos’ program for his entire high-school career, was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes, early last summer.

After undergoing months of chemotherapy treatments, Karp finally made his way back onto the basketball court Tuesday before a standing ovation from everyone in the stands.

“It was emotional, very emotional,” Karp said about his return. “To be out there on the court with all my teammates—it was once in a lifetime for me.”

As icing on the cake with about 30 seconds remaining, Karp squared up a mid-range jump shot and banked it in. And although the game was already decided, those two points sent every person—from both schools—into a frenzy.

“That was very special. It means a lot,” Rocky head coach Bruce Dick said. “(Garrett) is real close to all these guys; it meant a lot to all of us.”

To begin the night, nearly two hours earlier, the game kicked off with a bizarre start.

After Fort Collins jumped out to a 5-0 lead, the game was whistled to a stop for nearly five minutes to clean up an accumulating layer of baby powder from the court, after Rocky Mountain students threw handfuls into the air at the tip-off as part of an all-white theme.

The game was delayed a second time less than two minutes layer as the referees decided the surface had become too slippery.

“I’ve never seen that at a high school game,” Fort Collins head coach Monty Alcaraz said.
Although there were no injuries to the players due to the powder, the pauses in the action seemed to stall the rhythm of both teams early on. The teams traded short scoring spurts on their way to a 24-16 halftime score in favor of the Lambkins.

Emotions were still high in the second half, but Fort Collins played in control and steadily pulled away in the second half on their way to the 17-point victory.

“This was a big-time game,” said Lambkins senior Nate McAuliffe, who scored a game-high 19 points. “This was a great atmosphere. It was special to play under a crowd like this… I’ve been here for four years and this was my first time beating Rocky. It feels great.”

Senior Austin Maag scored 15 points and Ben Marum added nine for the Lambkins, who improved to 20-2 (9-1 in the Front Range), heading into their season finale Friday night at Boulder.

The Lambkins stood up to the challenge defensively as well, holding every Rocky scorer to single digits.

“The entire year, we’ve been playing well,” McAuliffe said. “Our composure and our confidence are up right not. We have one more game, but this was a good win going into the playoffs.”

Editor's Note: Check back with Mile High Hoops next week for a full report on Rocky Mountain senior Garrett Karp.

Contact the writer at mlaughlin@milehighhoops.com