AURORA | Cade Palmer had a little message for his childhood hero, mentor and former Rangeview boys basketball star Jeremiah Paige Friday: “You finally don’t hold every single record.”
As the son of longtime Raiders head coach Shawn Palmer, Cade Palmer had been in the gym all the time during Paige’s stellar prep career in the early 2010s — in which he etched his name all over the recordbooks for the traditionally successful program — but he finally had some bragging rights.
With the first of the six 3-pointers he knocked down in Rangeview’s 86-59 win over Columbine, Cade Palmer broke a tie with Paige to take the mantle of the program’s all-time leader in made triples. He now has 145 and can add to it with an expected double-digit amount of games ahead in the pandemic-shortened season.
“This is the only one I’ll get from him, so I messaged him after the game: ‘You finally don’t hold every single record,” Palmer told the Sentinel. “I definitely remember watching JD (Paige) in games and practices and really wanting to be like him a lot. …I knew going into the game that I could get it. It was pretty cool.”
It was a good bet that Palmer would break the tie with Paige given he was working on a streak in which he had made at least one 3-pointer in 26 straight games — dating back to last season’s opening game — and he needed just three minutes against the visiting Rebels to get it done.
Junior Elijah Thomas scored eight straight points in an early flurry to push Rangeview in front 10-0 in the rematch of a Class 5A Great 8 playoff game from last season (won by the Raiders) before Palmer made his record-setting triple from the left wing.
On the bench, Shawn Palmer gave a fist pump when the ball dropped through the net as he was one of very few in the gym — which was empty of fans due to pandemic precautions — who knew the significance.
“It took me a second to realize that it happened and I was excited,” Shawn Palmer said. “I didn’t tell anybody until after the fact and we talked about it at halftime.”
Cade Palmer went on to make five more 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points, while Thomas finished with 17 and senior Devin Philio 14 as Rangeview cruised to what is the program’s 47th consecutive victory.
When it was over, Palmer reached out to Paige, a 2014 graduate who is now only Rangeview’s career leader in points scored, free throws and steals, plus single game made 3-pointers — 13 — in a 2014 game against Prairie View in which he also set the single game record for points scored with 52.
Paige, who went on to a successful Division I career at Colorado State and now plays professionally overseas, also ranks second in 3-pointers, assists and blocked shots.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Rangeview 86, Columbine 59
Score by quarters:
Columbine 7 11 20 21 — 59
Rangeview 23 22 22 19 — 86