AURORA | Rangeview avoided a third straight close loss to Aurora Central with a strong fourth quarter, winning a battle of ranked teams by double figures Thursday night.
The Raiders dominated the fourth quarter after falling behind briefly at the end of the third and finished off a 57-45 victory over the Trojans in the opener of the Aurora Public Schools Tip-Off Classic at Aurora Central, gaining some revenge for losses of two and three points to their district rivals last season.
Junior Jeremiah Paige finished with a team-high 18 points, Tim Ealy added 14 and Trey Bridges 11 for Rangeview, which played its first game since a loss to Arapahoe in last season’s Class 5A state semifinals. Coach Shawn Palmer’s Raiders — who face Gateway at 7 p.m. Friday — came into the game ranked No. 6 in the Denver Post’s preseason coaches poll, while Carlton Hurst-led Aurora Central were ranked No. 3.
Hurst, who recently signed with Colorado State, went for a game-high 26 points for Aurora Central, but coach Ian Calvert’s team was plagued by cold shooting all night and a lack of defensive stops in the fourth quarter.
Aurora Central takes on Hinkley — a 57-44 winner over Gateway — at 5 p.m. Friday.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at [email protected] or 303-750-7555
RANGEVIEW 57, AURORA CENTRAL 45
Score by quarters:
Rangeview 15 14 9 19 — 57
Aur. Central 10 13 13 9 — 45
RANGEVIEW (57)
Trey Bridges 4 2-4 11, Larry Bridges 4 0-1 9, Dezant Burks 2 1-4 5, Tim Ealy 7 0-0 14, Jeremiah Paige 7 4-5 18, Cristian Garcia 0 0-1 0, Tim Wyatt 0 0-0 0, Aaron Hawkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 7-15 57.
AURORA CENTRAL (45)
LaDarius Thomas 3 0-0 8, Carlton Hurst 10 4-6 26, Marcus Tripplett 0 0-0 0, Leonard Hurst 2 1-2 5, Tyler Stephenson 2 0-0 4, A’Deril Agnew 0 0-0 0, Kavion Mason 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 5-8 45.
3-point field goals — Rangeview (2): Larry Bridges, Trey Bridges; Aurora Central (4): Carlton Hurst 2, LaDarius Thomas 2. Total fouls — Rangeview 11, Aurora Central 12. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
