AURORA | Four city teams remain alive in the Sweet 16 round of the Class 5A boys state basketball tournament, scheduled for March 4, and all four will play on their home floors looking for a win to send them into the March 7 Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum. A look at each of the four games involving Aurora teams:
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
6 p.m. — NO. 5 BOULDER AT NO. 1 REGIS JESUIT
Breakdown: Coach Ken Shaw’s Regis Jesuit team has yet another playoff contest with Boulder, which has become a regular postseason foe in recent years. The Raiders beat the Panthers in the second round in both the 2010 5A playoffs — on their way to winning the state championship — and in 2013, when they lost to Eaglecrest in the Great 8 …Top-seeded Regis Jesuit (22-2) comes into the matchup off a 66-50 second round win over Grandview in an all-Aurora playoff contest that was close into the fourth quarter before Regis Jesuit padded the lead late. Junior Geoff Kelly scored a game-high 25 points for the Raiders, who also got 16 from senior Taylor Kallsen and 14 from Kip Boryla to hold off the Wolves, who made it much of a contest than it was when Regis Jesuit won 88-41 in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 3. For the season, Kallsen is the team’s leading scorer at 11.7 points per game, while Boryla (11.0 ppg) and senior Bryan Staerkel (10.4 ppg) also average double figures for a very balanced Raiders team …Fifth-seeded Boulder (19-6) — which is coached by former Regis Jesuit assistant Eric Eisenhard — knocked off another Aurora team, No. 4 Cherokee Trail, 59-50 in the second round. The Panthers’ top two scorers on the season, junior Landon Taliaferro (13.9 ppg) and senior Garrett Turner (13.0 ppg) combined to score 30 points in the win over the Cougars in a game in which Boulder got an early lead and held on by taking care of the basketball and hitting its free throws. The winner moves on to the Great 8 March 7 to play for the championship of the Jim Baggot Region against either No. 2 Rangeview or No. 6 Denver East for a spot in the 5A Final Four.
7 p.m. — NO. 6 DENVER EAST AT NO. 2 RANGEVIEW
Breakdown: Coach Shawn Palmer’s Rangeview team has advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the 5A state playoffs for the fifth straight season and have won in that round in all but the 2013 season, when it lost to Eaglecrest with a berth in the Great 8 on the line. The Raiders face off with defending state champion Denver East, which knocked them out in the first round of the 2010 playoffs in the last postseason meeting between the teams …Second-seeded Rangeview (19-5) pulled away from No. 10 Highlands Ranch in the third quarter and early fourth quarter on its way to a 66-45 win in the second round on Feb. 28. Junior Tyrei Randall made four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and sophomore Elijah Blake added 16 for the Raiders. For the season, Randall and senior Jalen Davis lead Rangeview in scoring averages at 13.2 points per game apiece, while senior Tarren Storey-Way is next at 12.6 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per contest. …Sixth-seeded Denver East (15-1o) has already won twice in the postseason, downing Fairview 69-39 in the opening round and knocking off third-seeded Rock Canyon 69-61 in the second round. Senior guard Brian Carey — the lone returning starter from last season’s championship team — leads the Angels with a 24.6 points per game average and is coming off a 25-point performance against Rock Canyon. Colorado Academy transfer Jack Buckmelter has averaged 15.1 points per game in his 13 contests and finished with 26 points in the postseason opener against Fairview, while senior Jordan Willis is a monster on the boards with an average of 11.1 rebounds per game (second best in 5A) plus 8.8 points. The winner advances to the Jim Baggot Regional final on March 7 at the Denver Coliseum against the winner of No. 1 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 Boulder with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
7 p.m. — NO. 4 GRAND JUNCTION AT NO. 1 OVERLAND
Breakdown: Coach Danny Fisher’s Overland team made the 5A Final Four last season and needs a win over visiting Grand Junction to take another step toward returning to Boulder. The Trailblazers last played the Tigers in the postseason in 2009, when they beat Grand Junction in the second round to get to the Sweet 16. …Top-seeded Overland (19-5) shook off the rust from an eight-day hiatus after its regular season finale to down eighth-seeded Castle View 71-50 in the second round on Feb. 28. A 21-7 advantage in the third quarter helped the Centennial League champions put the game away, while junior guard Reggie Gibson stayed on the floor in the fourth quarter while many starters were rested and added to his game-high total of 24 points. Fellow juniors De’Ron Davis and Alijah Halliburton added 15 points apiece in the victory. On the season, Davis is the team leader in three categories: average (16.9 ppg), rebounds (10.8 rpg) and blocked shots (5.1 bpg), while Gibson has rocketed up to second in average at 11.3 points, just ahead of Wyoming signee Austin Conway (10.6 ppg) and Air Force pledge Ryan Swan (8.4 ppg). …Fourth-seeded Grand Junction (18-6) also had a first round bye, then held off visiting Northglenn 68-57 in the second round. Senior D.J. Wells racked up 25 points to lead the Tigers in the victory and tops a trio of double-digit scorers on the season with an average of more than 14 points and nine rebounds per contest. Seniors Ridge Droskin (14.0 ppg) and Ben Volkmann (13.7 ppg) join Wells in double figures regularly, with senior Stockton Rock just behind at 9.6 ppg. The winner moves into the Bill Weimar Region title game on March 7 at the Denver Coliseum against either sixth-seeded Montbello or No. 2 Mountain Vista with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
7 p.m. — NO. 4 FOSSIL RIDGE AT NO. 1 EAGLECREST
Breakdown: Coach John Olander’s Eaglecrest team has reached at least the Sweet 16 round of the 5A playoffs for the eighth time in the past nine seasons and has won three of the previous seven trips. The Raptors haven’t faced Fossil Ridge before in the postseason, but did meet the SabertCats in tournament play last year in the regular season and lost 58-51. …Top-seeded Eaglecrest (19-5) had eight days between the end of the regular season and its second round playoff game against eighth-seeded Heritage on Feb. 28, but scored 19 points in the first quarter and eventually pulled away from the Eagles for a 68-46 victory. Senior Blend Avdili finished with a team-high 15 points for the Raptors and sits second on the team with an average of 16.4 points per game in addition to a team-high 7.3 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Colbey Ross scored 14 points against Heritage and checks in at 17.3 ppg on the season along with 3.8 assists per game, second to brother Elijah Ross, who dishes out 4.6 assists per game to go with 12.3 points per contest. Senior sharpshooter Peter Anderson has scored at a clip of 10.5 points per game as well. …Fourth-seeded Fossil Ridge — which made it to the 5A state championship game last season — got past fifth-seeded Arvada West 64-52 in the second round behind double-digit scoring efforts from senior Ryan Quaid (19 points), along with sophomore Braxton Bertolette (13 points) and junior Jackson Everhart (12 points). For the season, the 6-foot-7 Quaid has averaged 17.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, both tops on the team, while Bertolette is next with an average of 13.1 points per game, while senior Zacc Drovdal has average 10.7 per contest. The winner moves into the Ray C. Ball Region championship game on March 7 at the Denver Coliseum to play either No. 2 Legend or No. 3 George Washington with a spot in the 5A Final Four on the line.
