After a season-opening victory against Dakota Ridge, the Raiders dropped three city rivals for an important and dramatic tournament win. In order, Rangeview beat Aurora Central, Hinkley and Gateway for the Aurora Public Schools tournament championship.
"That’s the first year we’ve been able to win that," Raiders coach Shawn Palmer said. "Obviously, our kids were very excited about it; I think we’ve been playing it for five years. We had a last-second 3-pointer (from Jamal Wright) right at the buzzer."
Rangeview is now 9-4, and faced tough Highlands Ranch last night. Palmer was pumped about a key 62-44 win at Littleton. He is getting a good effort from junior Jeffery Solarin, who Palmer called an unorthodox post player.
"He’s only 6-(foot)-3 but he averages almost 20 points a game and 10 rebounds," Palmer said of Solarin. "He has a 6-8 wingspan. He hangs in there pretty tough."
In addition to the Highlands Ranch, Rangeview will have a tough schedule in the coming weeks.
"We have Highlands Ranch, ThunderRidge and Regis for the next three Tuesdays, all at home," Palmer said. "I don’t know if you could say we’re the best league in the state, because Colorado Springs (Metro League) looks pretty good too. But I’d say we’re the top two."
Colorado Springs battle
Speaking of the big city down south, Colorado Springs is gearing up for some showdowns taking place soon. Rampart continues as the state’s top undefeated team, with an 11-0 record.
The Rams are staying ahead of 10-2 Fountain-Fort Carson, and racked up two 100-point games and another of 99. Coach J’on St. Clair and Rampart will face his counterpart Jimmy Grantz and Palmer twice in five days.
Doherty lost a 63-56 home game to Rampart on Jan. 5, but the Spartans put together a fine 67-55 win against Palmer recently. Doherty had a team triple-double with Tyler Velasquez scoring 29 points, Dylan Sisneros collecting 10 rebounds and Mark Jones handing out 10 assists.
Twenty-point club
Individual scoring is down in Class 5A overall, so there’s a select group at the top. The leader, not surprisingly, is Liberty’s Wes McKenzie, a scoring machine for his entire career. Liberty moved up from Class 4A a couple years ago, but the 6-foot-2 senior still can hit for big numbers against the bigger teams. He’s averaging 25 points per game, including a season high of 31 against Fountain-Fort Carson.
Keigan Peterson of Green Mountain averages 21.9 points per game. He’s a 6-foot senior who has scored in double figures every game. His high output was 28 points against Mountain Vista and his low was 12 against Heritage.
Next is no surprise, Bud Thomas of Regis Jesuit. Last season’s player of the year comes in at 21 points per game. The 6-6 senior had a high of 29 against Strake Jesuit of Houston, but Thomas’ value also comes through in rebounding. He averages 9.1 boards per game, with seven games in double figures and a high of 12 twice.
Joseph Abrams of Aurora Central joins the club at an even 20 per game. The Trojans this year are looking more for Dese Lee inside and are also getting strong performances from Shawn Banks. So, it looks as if Abrams is finding the right spots to score.
Sterling versus the Groundhog
Sterling leads Class 4A with an 11-0 record, which includes a 58-50 win at Longmont. Tigers coach Mike Holloway might get a sterner test next at 10-1 Broomfield on Groundhog Day.
