Cheyenne Mountain feels ambitious this season.

Like, playing-on-the-final-day-of-the-season ambitious. A 4-0 start could certainly help the Red-Tailed Hawks boys basketball team achieve that goal.

The Red-Tailed Hawks remained undefeated after a 53-45 victory against Pine Creek in Cheyenne Mountain’s home opener Tuesday.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but it’s good to get this victory and start the year with this sort of momentum,” junior Alex Treglia said. “This is a shift with the program and that starts with the upperclassmen. They lead well and help us lock in.”

Cheyenne Mountain finished last season 18-7, which was preceded by a 2-21 year in 2023-24. But the Red-Tailed Hawks own a 4-0 mark for consecutive seasons and beat Pine Creek twice in a row – the first time they’ve accomplished that feat since 2012 and 2013.

In Tuesday’s matchup, the Red-Tailed Hawks built a 13-10 lead after the first quarter and played tug of war with the advantage with Pine Creek (1-1). That was until Treglia hit a pair of free throws with 2:07 left to give Cheyenne Mountain an 11-10 advantage that the Red-Tailed Hawks never relinquished.   

Pine Creek cut the deficit to two points several times including on a last-second layup in the second quarter to trim Cheyenne Mountain’s lead to 25-23, but the Red-Tailed Hawks erupted in the third period.

“Our coaches got on us a little bit at the break and that helped us make some good adjustments,” Treglia said. “The coaches did a good job of making the necessary adjustments to help us lock back in and have a good third quarter.”

The Red-Tailed Hawks outscored the Eagles 18-13 in the third and James Dalsaso had seven of Cheyenne Mountain’s points in the frame.

Dalsaso, who finished with a game-high 19, scored seven in the opening half. But a pair of lefty layups along with a timely 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in the third put the Red-Tailed Hawks ahead 39-35.

Cheyenne Mountain outscored Pine Creek 4-1 in the final 51 seconds to take a 43-36 lead into the fourth.

“We needed someone to bring us back in the game and help us with the energy and I think I was a key piece for that,” Dalsaso said. “We’re looking to win state this year and in the first half we didn’t look like contenders. The second half we all picked it up and coach hyped us up and we came together and helped each other out.”

The Red-Tailed Hawks’ lead grew as large as 50-39 with 3:33 left in the game, but the Eagles cut it to 50-45 with 1:10 on the clock in the fourth.

Although Cheyenne Mountain thwarted Pine Creek’s comeback attempt, players realize they’ll require cleaner play as the year progresses.

“It’s good to see that scenario now, but we need to be better about that,” Dalsaso said. “We need to be locked in all season and we need to be ready for everything if we’re serious about making a push.”