GREENWOOD VILLAGE | In a back-and-forth contest that went right down to the wire, the Regis Jesuit boys basketball team fell to Cherry Creek in front of a packed house Wednesday night.
The Raiders — who came into the came ranked No. 8 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 6A coaches poll — rallied from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter and tied it on a three-point play by senior Nick Frontz with just over three minutes left, but didn’t score again in a 64-60 non-league loss.
Senior TaRea Fulcher, who scored a game-high 17 points, earned his way to the free throw line in a two-point game with 8.7 seconds remaining, but missed both shots and the 6-6 Bruins (who made just one basket in the fourth quarter) got a big offensive rebound from Blake Purchase and got two free throws from Trevon Chambers to seal the win.
Senior Joe Dorais tallied 15 points and Frontz added 12 for coach Ken Shaw’s Regis Jesuit team, which had a four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 7-4 on the season.
The Raiders trailed 60-53 a minute into the final quarter, but a layup and then a jumper by Dorais whittled the deficit to three points. Frontz erased that when he got a putback and rattled home the ensuing free throw to tie it with 3:19 remaining.
Purchase’s work on the offensive glass was big in the final quarter and his putback with 2:10 left put Cherry Creek back in front by a basket. Regis Jesuit, meanwhile, turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions without getting a shot off and finally got possession on a jump ball with 24.2 seconds left.
Shaw called time out and the Raiders eventually got the ball to Fulcher, who scored 11 of his points in the first half to keep his team in contact, who got fouled. Both attempts were errant and even though the Bruins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for the third straight time, Purchase’s rebound and the subsequent foul shots by Chambers ended it.
Regis Jesuit turns right around with a 7 p.m. Thursday game at home against Chaparral (7-5) in the Continental League opener for both teams.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHERRY CREEK 64, (6A NO. 8) REGIS JESUIT 60
Score by quarters:
Regis Jesuit 19 13 20 8 — 60
Cherry Creek 10 24 21 9 — 64
REGIS JESUIT (60)
Nick Frontz 5 2-2 12, TaRea Fulcher 6 4-7 17, Joe Dorais 6 0-0 15, Damarius Taylor 3 0-0 7, Ridley Soro 0 0-0 0, Zachary Poland 1 1-2 3, Alec Roumph 1 0-0 3, Eric Fiedler 0 3-4 3. Totals 22 10-15 60.
CHERRY CREEK (64)
Jeremiah Hammond 2 0-0 5, Robbie Bailey 1 0-0 3, Blake Purchase 6 3-7 15, Trevon Chambers 5 2-2 14, Dominic Cesario-Scott 0 0-0 0, Jordan Herron 4 0-0 9, Charlie Pugh 5 0-2 13, Franck Belibi 2 0-0 5, Miles DeBolt 0 0-0 0, Quinn Hudelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 5-11 64.
3-point field goals — Regis Jesuit (5): Joe Dorais 3, TaRea Fulcher, Alec Roumph. Cherry Creek (9): Charlie Pugh 3, Trevon Chambers 2, Robbie Bailey, Franck Belibi, Jeremiah Hammond, Jordan Herron. Total fouls — Regis Jesuit 12, Cherry Creek 15. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.