No. 1 Rangeview boys hoops lives up to ranking by beating No. 3 Regis Jesuit
AURORA — Rangeview, newly minted as the No. 1 team in the Class 5A boys basketball rankings, displayed firepower Tuesday that showed they could have staying power.
During a 60-52 road win at perennially tough Regis Jesuit in an all-Aurora showdown, the Raiders took advantage of dynamic team speed and depth in a game they controlled most of the way. They remained undefeated at 10-0.
After Regis, the No. 3 team in the poll, held early leads of 6-1 and 10-6, Rangeview came to life in a hurry as junior guard Elijah Blake hit two 3-pointers, helping to give his team an 18-14 lead at the end of one.
Then, seven Rangeview players scored in the second as they broke the game open and built a 37-23 lead at the half. Blake had 11 points in the first two quarters.
The No. 1 team had a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, but Regis cut the deficit to only six when Marc Reininger, a 6-foot-9 senior, had a three-point play with 4:58 to go. In the end, despite good fourth quarters by Reininger and sophomore guard Elijah Martinez, Rangeview wouldn’t be denied.
The closest Regis got was five, before Tyrei Randall’s crazy athletic finish in traffic with 1:15 left, provided the finishing touches on a resume-building win.
“Obviously it was a big win,” Rangeview coach Shawn Palmer said. “There’s no overstating that. It’s big for two reasons. Anytime you beat Regis, what they’ve been the last eight years is phenomenal, and so some of that excitement is the respect we have as a school for them.
“The other part is that this team is being embraced. Our school loves this team, our community loves this team and I love this team, because they are a bunch of hard working kids. They are in it for each other. They embraced this moment tonight and they played well.”
On an evening in which ten players got minutes for Rangeview, everyone who got in seemed to contribute.
Blake led the way with 14 points, Elijah Reed had 11 and Randall finished with 10. Kris Hollins chipped in eight and Matthew Johnson, coming off the bench, also had eight. Calvin Collins, another non-starter against Regis, made sure there was no drop-off when starters came out as he chipped in seven points.
“We are very unselfish,” Blake said. “Some nights it’s going to be EJ (Reed), some nights it’s going to be Tyrei, some nights it’s going to be Jalen (Guidry). We’re 100 percent ok with that. We have each other’s back.”
Depth also showed on defense.
“I think we come at teams in waves,” Palmer said. “When the guys come in, there’s no step back. We’ve played ten or more all year. Stacie Reed and Marquis Kraemer came in and did a great job defensively. Marquis can guard anybody. Stacie just banged a little bit and picked up some nice defensive rebounds for us. We don’t take steps backwards when we go to that bench. That’s an asset.”
Reininger led a Regis team, who came away with one of the season’s best wins last week over Overland, with 15 points. Martinez had 14 and Connor Hobbs finished with eight.
Ken Shaw’s team made some big shots late, but were bothered by the speed of Rangeview, both defensively on dribble penetration and offensively with the turnovers Rangeview created. Regis dropped to 8-2 on the season. They host Castle View in a Continental League opener on Friday.
Blake, who not only scored but found his teammates with great vision, says Rangeview will continue to play hungry.
“We can’t be content with where we are at right now,” he said. “Our ultimate goal isn’t to be No. 1 in the regular season. We want a state championship.”
Rangeview, after three consecutive wins over top-10 teams ThunderRidge, Cherokee Trail and Regis, hosts George Washington on Friday.
