AURORA | A look back at some of the key games, tournaments and happenings in Aurora prep sports between Feb. 23-March 1, 2017:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
There will be a new state champion in Class 5A boys basketball this season as Overland’s two-year reign came to a close Feb. 25.
The Trailblazers graduated the majority of the players that pushed them to the past two 5A state titles, but had been playing very well going into their second-round playoff contest at home against the No. 21 Far Northeast Warriors.
Coach Danny Fisher’s Overland team even had a five-point lead with just six minutes to play, but the Warriors got all the bounces and rebounds in the final minutes to deal the 12th-seeded Trailblazers a 68-56 defeat.
Overland — which had a six-game winning streak snapped and finished 13-11 — was unable to win at least one playoff game for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Senior Asad Yousuf paced the Trailblazers with 10 points, while seniors Nick Holmes and Tristan Legins were credited with nine points apiece and junior Goy Wang eight, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a Far Northeast team that had five players score in double figures.
• Cherokee Trail exited from the 5A boys state basketball playoffs in the second round with a 20-point loss at Rampart. The 18th-seeded Cougars — a Great 8 team last season — had trouble handling the inside game of the massive Rams, who featured twin towers who stand 6-foot-11 and 6-9, respectively. The duo of Jackson Ehrlin and Dawson Carper combined for 40 points and 32 rebounds to push Rampart to victory.
Cherokee Trail coach Morgan Gregory felt good about his team’s four-point deficit at halftime, but the Cougars (13-12) managed just five points in the third period to fall behind by 15 and were in too big of a hole to escape.
• The Regis Jesuit boys basketball team had reached at least the Great 8 round of the 5A playoffs for three straight seasons, but had that string snapped with a 53-50 second-round road loss at Chaparral Feb. 25.
Coach Ken Shaw’s No. 19 Raiders nearly paid back a recent sizeable loss to the Wolverines, a Continental League rival, but watched the game slip away in the closing seconds. Regis Jesuit got outscored by 10 points in the fourth quarter and saw its season end at 13-12.
Junior Elijah Martinez led the Raiders with 16 points, while sophomore Jamil Safieddine added 13 and sophomore Payton Egloff chipped in nine.
• Matthew Johnson poured in 25 points and the 32nd-seeded Rangeview boys basketball team hung around with top-seeded Eaglcrest before falling 67-50 in 5A state second round game Feb. 25.
• Riding high off its first 5A state playoff victory in nearly a decade, the 35th-seeded Eaglecrest girls basketball team had its season come to an end Feb. 24 with a 76-38 second-round loss at No. 3 Horizon.
The Raptors — who upset No. 30 Liberty in the opening round — were held to single digits in each of the first three quarters by the Hawks, who had six players score eight points or more in the game.
Eaglecrest finished 10-15.
• First-round winner Rangeview encountered a buzzsaw in Ralston Valley Feb. 24 in a 5A second-round playoff game.
Coming off a victory over Palmer in the opening round, coach Lamonte Weddle’s 29th-seeded Raiders found themselves trying to keep up with the fourth-seeded Mustangs, who have won 23 straight games since a loss to Grandview in its season opener.
Rangeview had its season end at 15-10.