Rangeview used a dominant first quarter and athletic, up-tempo play throughout Friday’s Class 5A non-conference boys basketball showdown against Cherry Creek to hold on for a 66-63 victory.
The Raiders came into Greenwood Village and jumped out to a 13-4 lead before Bruins coach Kent Dertinger called timeout late in the first quarter to quell the visiting team’s momentum — a hot start that was markedly different than how Rangeview came to play in its previous couple games, losses to No. 8 Grandview and Cherokee Trail.
“Our last two games, we scored 12 points combined in the first two quarters,” Rangeview coach Shawn Palmer said. “We hadn’t been shooting the ball very well, so we keep trying to tweak our lineup and our rotation, and tonight we started a couple sophomores — and Isaiah Hayes had his best game of the year and hit some big shots for us in that third quarter as well.”
Hayes led all scorers with 17 points, while senior Devin Collins added 13, sophomore Christopher Speller had 12 and junior Jodaun Dotson chipped in 10 for a talented Raiders team still searching for its exact identity.
“That’s what these early games are about, and that’s why you want to play good teams,” Palmer said. “You don’t really know who you are until you come to Cherry Creek, or go to Cherokee Trail, or play Grandview — games where teams are too good to play from behind.”
The going doesn’t get easier for Rangeview (5-2), with bouts against No. 3 Smoky Hill and Arapahoe looming before break, and then No. 1 Rock Canyon and Overland on the horizon right after it.
.@RaiderBoysHoops senior captain @ryan_ongala talks fending off Cherry Creek tonight, #Rangeview‘s hot start in first quarter, his physical play inside and more #copreps pic.twitter.com/aWMosD8KNl
— Kyle Newman (@KyleNewmanDP) December 16, 2017
“This is a young group — we’re playing a lot of sophomores out there, and even a freshman,” Palmer said. “But you’ve got to put them into the fire, because that’s how they learn.”
Senior big man Ryan Ongala used his 6-foot-7 presence inside to control the glass throughout the third quarter, while the Raiders made enough free throws in the fourth quarter to post the wire-to-wire win.
Meanwhile Cherry Creek (4-2) had three scorers in double digits, as senior Cade Wood (13 points), senior Darius Price (11) and junior Alec Pell (10) spearheaded a comeback attempt that fell just short.
