AURORA | The second round of the Class 5A boys state basketball team was nothing different for Regis Jesuit, which rode its shooting prowess to the Sweet 16.
The Raiders averaged six made 3-pointers during a 14-win regular season and coach Ken Shaw’s 10th-seeded team picked it up even more from the perimeter Saturday afternoon against visiting Chatfield as nine triples — four from senior Tavian Willsea — keyed a 71-47 victory over the 23rd-seeded Chargers.
Junior TaRea Fulcher made two 3-pointers of his own and finished with a game-high 21 points, while Willsea finished with 18 — four shy of his season-high — and senior Kyle Sandler added 12 to send Regis Jesuit into the Sweet 16 for the third straight season and fifth time in the past six.
The Raiders will be at home for their Sweet 16 contest March 2 against Legacy, the No. 26 seed that pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament thus far by knocking out seventh-seeded Horizon in the second round. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Regis Jesuit has local company in the Sweet 16 in No. 6 Eaglecrest and No. 11 Smoky Hill, which topped Highlands Ranch (story here) and Rocky Mountain (story here), respectively, along with 13th-seeded Rangeview, which prevailed over Cherry Creek (story here).
The Raiders delivered Shaw his 800th career coaching victory Feb. 8 (story here) that is part of a stretch of six wins in their last seven, with the only loss coming to fifth-seeded Douglas County in Continental League play.
A win over Legacy would send Regis Jesuit to the Denver Coliseum for a quarterfinal contest against the winner of the Sweet 16 game between No. 15 Ralston Valley and No. 2 Fossil Ridge.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(10) REGIS JESUIT 71, (23) CHATFIELD 47
Score by quarters:
Chatfield 11 4 12 20 — 47
Regis Jesuit 19 4 21 26 — 71
CHATFIELD (47)
Shay Rumsey 2 0-0 5, Jake Marschall 0 0-0 0, Marquis Jones 5 2-2 13, Christian Foutch 3 0-0 6, Chase Miller 3 3-6 9, Parker Teff 2 0-0 6, Campbell Packebush 1 0-0 2, Brady Snow 2 0-0 4, Colin Mote 1 0-0 2, Liam McGuire 0 0-0 0, Dagan Myers 0 0-0 0, Cutter Painter 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-8 47.
REGIS JESUIT (71)
TaRea Fulcher 7 5-5 21, Tavian Willsea 5 2-4 18, Ben Rasure 1 3-4 5, Matt Yost 0 2-2 2, Kyle Sandler 2 6-6 12, Archer VanSickle 1 0-0 2, George Bowdouris 1 0-0 2, Dorias 1 0-0 3, Walters 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 18-21 71.
3-point field goals — Chatfield (4): Parker Teff 2, Marquis Jones, Shay Rumsey. Regis Jesuit (9): Tavian Willsea 4, TaRea Fulcher 2, Kyle Sandler 2, Dorias. Total fouls — Chatfield 16, Regis Jesuit 13. Fouled out — Chatfield: Rumsey. Technical fouls — None.
