Caleb Fay for years has shown up at Todd Schayes’ house every Sunday to borrow his keys to the Kent Denver gymnasium.

Fay has known the longtime Sun Devils coach since he was in sixth grade. While their time together has gone by in a flash, Schayes saw once again why Fay put in all the work as Kent Denver ran past University 95-81 for the 4A boys state championship on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.

Fay, who is heading to the Air Force Academy to play basketball next year, delivered a signature performance to cap a historic high school career. He scored a game-high 32 points to take him over 2,200 for his career, while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists with zero turnovers.

He did so in his third straight Class 4A title game, and now he’s delivered Kent its first back-to-back state titles in boys basketball.

“It’s so hard to get here,” Schayes said. “You could have injuries, you could be sick, you could have a lucky banked shot. Just to get here three times and win it twice — (with) 2,200 points and the rebounds and the assists — it speaks volumes. He’ll go in the books as one of high school boys’ great players and it’s well-deserved. You couldn’t ask for a better child.”

Schayes also made his claim Fay is not just the Class 4A Player of the Year once again, but he should also win Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year, an award that often doesn’t go to someone outside the top classification.

This was a day nearly 10 months in the making.

After the Sun Devils won their first state championship in 28 years last March, the team took some time off before returning to the gym on May 1. Despite losing four senior starters, they had a clear message to repeat.

“‘Let’s get another one,’” Schayes said his team told him. “They’re just so competitive. We have three guys on the team that won a state 3A soccer championship down in (Colorado) Springs. They’re unfazed. Any drill that we do — free throw shooting, jump shots — they don’t want to lose. It made my job easier. It wasn’t me. We just keep plugging in what we do and they’re like, ‘Coach, we’re in. Let’s try to score 100 every single night.’”

For a while, Kent seemed destined to cap a magical season by doing just that — becoming the first team at any level since 1971 to score 100 points in a state championship basketball game.

The Sun Devils took their foot off the gas in the final minutes, so they had to settle for 95. But it will still go down as the day a legendary career came to an end.

“I’ll leave that for the people who write up the record books, but (Fay) is leaving a lasting impression in our community and on our basketball program and on our school,” Schayes said.