AURORA | A capsule preview of the 2026 Class 6A boys basketball state tournament Final Four contest between Rangeview and Ralston Valley scheduled for March 13, 2026:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 6A FINAL FOUR BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFF GAME
No. 3 Rangeview (23-3) vs. No. 2 Ralston Valley (25-1)
March 13, 7:15 p.m. at Denver Coliseum
BREAKDOWN: Rangeview and Ralston Valley meet in the postseason for the first time ever, but have played in the regular season four times in the past six seasons. The Mustangs have won the last two contests with a 54-42 victory in 2023-24 and a 69-42 win in 2022-23, while the Raiders posted a 48-45 win in the 2021-22 season and prevailed 82-60 in 2020-21. …Rangeview is in search of the program’s third all-time state championship, as it previously won the then-AAA state title back in 1985 under original coach Terry Taylor Sr. and then took the then-5A crown in 2019 under current coach Shawn Palmer. …Ralston Valley has one previous state championship in program history, as it won the then-4A classification back in 2003.
RANGEVIEW: Coach Shawn Palmer’s Raiders — the City League Gold Division champions — come into the Final Four contest on a 17-game winning streak that includes a second round playoff victory over No. 35 Erie (73-37) followed by a 84-63 Sweet 16 defeat of No. 14 ThunderRidge and a 51-33 triumph over No. 6 Cherry Creek in the Great 8. In three postseason games, sophomore Marceles Duncan has averaged 17 points per contest, topped by a 24-point outing against ThunderRidge, junior Archie Weatherspoon V has averaged 16 points between the three games and senior Aidan Perez has a pair of 16-point efforts (vs. Erie and Cherry Creek) and has averaged 12.3 points per game, while senior Anthony Andrew also has a double-digit postseason scoring game. Rangeview has knocked down 36 3-pointers in three postseason contests. …For the season, Weatherspoon V has a team-leading average of 19.4 points per game (plus a team-best 3.8 assists per contest), while Duncan is next at 18.1 ppg (plus 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per contest to pace his squad in both) and Perez checks in at 13.6 points per game, while Andrew is just off double figures with an average of 9.0 ppg.
RALSTON VALLEY: Coach Chris Braketa’s Mustangs — champions of the 6A Jefferson County League — bring a 10-game winning streak into the Final Four dating back to its only defeat, a three-point loss to No. 4 Arvada West on Jan. 31. In the postseason, Ralston Valley has defeated No. 34 Heritage (83-48 in the second round), then topped No. 15 Regis Jesuit 60-43 in the Sweet 16 and then edged No. 7 George Washington 54-53 in a Great 8 thriller. In three postseason contests, senior Caiden Braketa has made 15 3-pointers that have helped him average 21.7 points (including 30 against Heritage), while senior Zeke Andrews — who had the game-winning basket in the closing seconds against George Washington — has contributed 16.7 points per game, while seniors Cole Pfeifer and Frank Psaute also have double-digit scoring games. For the season, the Mustangs have a trio of players who averaged in double figures in Braketa (19.5 points per game, plus team-best 5.1 assists per contest), Andrews 15.7 points (plus team-highs in rebounds at 7.9 rpg and blocked shots at 1.7 bpg) plus Psaute at 14.1 points per game (plus the team lead in steals at 2.0 per game).
WINNER GETS: The Rangeview-Ralston Valley winner moves into the 4 p.m. March 14 6A state championship game at the Denver Coliseum against the winner of the other semifinal between No. 5 Rock Canyon and No. 1 Chaparral.