AURORA | Playing in the first round of the Class 5A boys state basketball playoffs for the first time since 2010, Regis Jesuit showed it knows how to win in any round of the postseason Wednesday night.
The 19th-seeded Raiders continued their recent surge of strong play with a 73-51 victory 0ver 46th-seeded Arvada West on their home floor, punching their ticket to the second round.
Coach Ken Shaw’s Regis Jesuit team built a double-figure lead after one quarter against the Wildcats and held off various runs the rest of the way to earn their way into a matchup against Continental League rival and 14th-seeded Chaparral at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Junior Elijah Martinez knocked down three of the Raiders’ 10 3-pointers on the night and finished with 13 points, a total matched by sophomore reserve Samba Kane for team-high honors. Sophomore Payton Egloff also made three 3-pointers on his way to nine points for Regis Jesuit, which improved to 13-11.
Defensively, the Raiders held Arvada West’s leading scorer Lukas Maly to just four points after the senior forward came into the game averaging 17.9 per contest.
Senior Tony Erickson and junior James Pelon made four 3-pointers apiece on their way to 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Wildcats (9-15), who failed to win a postseason game for the first time in the past five seasons.
Regis Jesuit gained a chance to play Chaparral again after suffering a 65-47 loss to the Wolverines in Continental League play on Feb. 15.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(19) REGIS JESUIT 73, (46) ARVADA WEST 51
Score by quarters:
Arvada West 9 6 13 23 — 51
Regis Jesuit 20 18 12 23 — 73
ARVADA WEST (51)
Tony Erickson 7 0-0 18, Joshua Rogers 3 0-0 7, James Pelon 5 2-2 16, Matt Spencer 1 0-0 2, Lukas Maly 1 2-3 4, Isaiah Brewer 1 0-0 2, Ethan Lindeblad 0 2-2 2, Joseph Call 0 0-0 0, Zander Lynch 0 0-0 0, Alex Bowler 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-7 51.
REGIS JESUIT (73)
Elijah Martinez 5 0-0 13, Connor Hobbs 3 0-0 7, Payton Egloff 3 0-0 9, Jamil Safieddine 1 0-0 3, Matt Wheelock 3 1-1 7, Sam Bannec 3 1-4 8, Samba Kane 6 1-2 13, Justin Lamb 3 0-0 6, Justin Kargarzadeh 1 4-4 7, Joseph Lamptey 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 7-11 73.
3-point field goals — Arvada West (9): Tony Erickson 4, James Pelon 4, Joshua Rogers; Regis Jesuit (10): Payton Egloff 3, Elijah Martinez 3, Sam Bannec, Connor Hobbs, Justin Kargarzadeh, Jamil Safieddine. Total fouls — Arvada West 12, Regis Jesuit 15. Fouled out — None.
