DENVER | Aidan Perez didn’t play in the game that got the Rangeview boys basketball team the chance to play at the Denver Coliseum, but he helped make sure it got at least one more game at the venerable venue.
The junior reserve — back from injury — knocked down a huge 3-pointer from the left wing in the final minute of regulation as Rangeview roared back to tie Regis Jesuit and eventually prevailed 75-69 in double overtime in an all-Aurora classic in the Great 8 round of the Class 6A playoffs.
It was the latest case of a big play coming from many different sources for top-seeded Rangeview, which extended its undefeated season and made it to the semifinals for the first time since the coronavirus-shortened 2019-20 season.
“We’re the No. 1 team in the state, we knew who we are, we just had to do it,” said Perez, who finished with eight points, including five in a fourth quarter in which Rangeview outscored Regis Jesuit 19-10. “We weren’t doing what we had to do at first, but we ended up coming out with a W. It’s a teamwork game.
“It felt really good to help my team as much as possible.”
Freshman Marceles Duncan had a team-high 23 points, while sophomore Archie Weatherspoon V added 19 and senior LaDavian King had 14 as Rangeview (26-0) moved into the March 13 semifinals, where it will meet fifth-seeded and defending state champion Valor Christian in a 4 p.m. contest at the Denver Coliseum.
Ninth-seeded Regis Jesuit got a 37-point performance from junior Eric Fiedler and had a lead as large as 12 points in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on as it sought the program’s first return to the Final Four since the 2022-23 season. Senior Lucas Dickinson added 20 points for coach Ken Shaw’s Regis Jesuit team, which finished the season 19-7.
Fiedler earned a whopping 20 free throw attempts and two of his 18 makes came late in the second quarter as Regis Jesuit took a 25-23 edge into halftime.
Rangeview had close games at halftime on several occasions — including twice in the postseason, leading No. 33 Cherokee Trail and No. 16 George Washington by just three points apiece in the first two rounds — but found itself down nearly double figures after three quarters for the first time.
Fiedler scored 12 points in the third quarter, including the last nine, capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that had Regis Jesuit ahead 44-35 and with all the momentum.
“They dictated everything until the last couple of minutes,” Palmer said. “We wanted to pressure the ball, speed them up and rebound and we were just falling short in all of those areas, that’s why we were down nine. …It didn’t turn around quick, not until the last couple of minutes, but they did a good job for a young team.
“It was almost like we grew up during the game.”
Indeed, Rangeview showed incredible maturity, but fell behind even further at 12 points (48-36) on two more free throws from Fiedler. It was all Rangeview for the remaining 5:40 of regulation, however, as it went on an 18-6 run as it upped the pressure.
Senior Kenny Black-Knox III, Rangeview’s leading scorer in the first two postseason games, hadn’t scored a point through the first three quarters, but knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:26 left to make it a four-point game.
Down six with just under two minutes left, Rangeview got a three-point play from Duncan to pull within three and then tied it up when Weatherspoon V drew the defense on a drive and kicked out to Perez, who drained a 3-pointer with just under a minute left.
“I don’t think any of us panicked down 12,” King said. “That was a big 3 (from Perez) and it put us back in the game. It hyped us to keep going and keep eating.”
Rangeview held off Regis Jesuit on the final possession and again on the last sequence of the first overtime, which featured six points apiece from Fiedler for Regis Jesuit and Weatherspoon V for Rangeview, which sent the game to a second overtime at 60-60.
Limited to playing mostly halfcourt for the entire game, Rangeview finally got a dunk that gives it energy when Duncan threw it down in transition after a Weatherspoon V steal. He would score two more baskets on a baby hook shot and drive working on Fiedler (who was saddled with four fouls) to give Rangeview a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
On Regis Jesuit’s possession to go for a tie down two, King — battling cramps and leg issues all game and simply refusing to come out — outhustled several other players to get to the loose ball and got fouled. His two free throws made it a four-point game and the lead would remain at least that the rest of the way.
“We’re all brothers, so no matter what, we never get down on each other,” Duncan said. “We just keep pushing through as a family.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 6A BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS (GREAT 8)
(1) RANGEVIEW 75, (9) REGIS JESUIT 69
Score by quarters:
Regis Jesuit 12 13 19 10 6 9 — 69
Rangeview 15 8 12 19 6 15 — 75
REGIS JESUIT (69)
Zach Harlan 0 0-1 0, Mason Marshall 0 0-0 0, Lucas Dickinson 8 3-4 20, Alec Roumph 3 0-0 7, Eric Fiedler 8 18-20 37, Brandon Hawkins 1 0-0 3, Joseph Haubert 1 0-0 2, Deion Cesario-Scott 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 21-25 69.
RANGEVIEW (75)
Royce Edwards 1 2-2 4, LaDavian King 4 4-8 14, Kenny Black-Knox III 2 2-2 7, Archie Weatherspoon V 4 8-10 19, Marceles Duncan 10 3-7 23, Aidan Perez 3 0-0 8, Yasin Sekue 0 0-2 0. Totals 24 19-31 75.
3-point field goals — Regis Jesuit (6): Eric Fiedler 3, Lucas Dickinson, Brandon Hawkins, Alec Roumph. Rangeview (8): Archie Weatherspoon V 3, LaDavian King 2, Aidan Perez 2, Kenny Black-Knox III. Total fouls — Regis Jesuit 23, Rangeview 19. Fouled out — Regis Jesuit: Fiedler. Technical fouls — None.
