AURORA | The city’s fantastic boys basketball season has continued into the postseason, as it’s probably no surprise that five of the eight teams remaining in the Class 5A state playoffs all hail from within the borders or on the edge.
The city’s three No. 1 seeds — Eaglecrest, Overland and Rangeview — all came away with victories in Wednesday night’s Sweet 16 round, as did No. 2s Cherokee Trail and Regis Jesuit, creating a veritable Aurora reunion ahead on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
Game times for the four quarterfinal games will be announced Thursday morning the Colorado High School Activities Association, with time slots set for 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
With two Aurora teams coming out of both the Jim Baggot Region (Eaglecrest and Regis Jesuit) and the Bill Weimar Region (Rangeview and Cherokee Trail), the city will have two of the teams in the Final Four scheduled for March 11 at the Coors Events Center and one of those teams will advance to the March 12 5A state championship game.
On the other side of the bracket, defending 5A state champion Overland needs a Great 8 win over No. 2 Doherty to claim the Ray C. Ball Region title and a Final Four victory against the winner of the Chauncey Billups Region (either No. 2 Chatfield or No. 4 Cherry Creek) to create an all-Aurora state championship game.
The Sweet 16 round featured a few fairly comfortable wins and two tight ones for Aurora teams.
In one of the night’s thrillers, Cherokee Trail staved off a challenge from an explosive Legend team on its way to a 56-52 victory. Coach Morgan Gregory’s Cougars advanced to the Great 8 for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they lost to Mountain Vista in overtime with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
Senior David Thornton made two clutch free throws inside of the final 10 seconds and finished with 21 points, junior Jaizec Lottie also made some key free throws down the stretch on his way to 12 points and senior Ronnie Barfield chipped in eight points for Cherokee Trail.
The Cougars’ Great 8 foe, Rangeview, remained undefeated with a nail biting 57-56 win over Arvada West.
Coach Shawn Palmer’s Raiders found themselves trailing the Wildcats by a point at halftime and could never quite pull away in the second half. Kris Hollins sank a free throw with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation that turned out to be the difference.
Eaglecrest downed Denver East for the second time this season with a 56-46 victory.
Junior Colbey Ross didn’t have the same offensive explosion he had in the first meeting — when he went for 38 points — but his 18-point effort was key and he made nearly every free throw down the stretch to seal the victory.
Victor Garnes and Josh Walton added seven points apiece for the Raptors.
Eaglecrest next faces Regis Jesuit, which used a 24-9 second quarter to put enough distance between itself and Dakota Ridge.
The Raiders trailed 10-9 at the end of a quarter, but sophomore Elijah Martinez had a big second quarter to send them into the locker room with a 33-19 edge. The Eagles closed a bit in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t come all the way back.
Martinez and senior Michael Wambsganss paced Regis Jesuit with 15 points apiece, while senior Geoff Kelly added 13 and junior Connor Hobbs contributed 10.
The most lopsided result of the evening went to Overland, which posted a decisive 68-40 victory over Boulder.
After a late tip off because the Panthers were late after their bus broke down on the way to the game, Overland pulled away after the teams were tied 10-10 after one quarter. A 16-5 third quarter in favor of the Trailblazers all but sealed the result.
Senior Alijah Halliburton led the way for Overland with 20 points, while senior De’Ron Davis added 10 and senior Reggie Gibson chipped in nine.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
CLASS 5A BOYS SWEET 16
(2) Cherokee Trail 56, (3) Legend 52
(1) Eaglecrest 56, (5) Denver East 46
(1) Overland 68, (3) Boulder 40
(1) Rangeview 57, (5) Arvada West 56
(2) Regis Jesuit 60, (3) Dakota Ridge 53
