Ralston Valley boys basketball improves record to 11-0 with road win at Chatfield

LITTLETON — Ralston Valley senior Caiden Braketa showed off his seemingly unlimited range from beyond the arc Wednesday night.

The Black Hills State University-commit had six 3-pointers in the first half at Chatfield High School. The majority of the shots from distance were from well beyond the 3-point line. A few came with Braketa nearly standing on the Charger logo on center court.

“He practices it,” said Ralston Valley coach and Caiden’s father Chris Braketa about the senior’s range from behind the arc. “He is in the gym every day, all day for I don’t know how many years now. It’s fun to see when he gets hot, but it isn’t a complete surprise. He works his butt off at it.”

Ralston Valley stayed perfect on the season with a 76-49 road victory over the Chargers (8-2 record, 0-2 in Class 6A Jeffco League). Braketa finished with a game-high 27 points despite sitting on the bench for the majority of the fourth quarter.

“Early we got inside and got some good looks which opened up the outside,” Braketa said. “I hit a couple. Then they left me open a couple more times. I was feeling it. I let them go and it felt good.”

Braketa went over the 1,000 career points mark earlier this season. He actually watched his older brother Tanner Braketa go over the 1,500 career point mark at Chatfield High School a year ago. Tanner is currently a freshman playing at the University of Northern Colorado.

It wasn’t all just Caiden Braketa for the undefeated Mustangs (11-0, 2-0). Senior Frank Psaute was big in the first quarter pouring in a dozen points in the opening frame. Psaute sank a 3-pointer in the opening minute and went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the first quarter.

“We have talked all season that we can’t just rely on the 3,” Coach Braketa said. “Getting Frank and obviously Zeke (Andrews) inside. Frank is really good on the inside and he got to the free-throw line early. Frank started the whole thing. He was really good that first quarter.”

Psaute finished with 18 points. Senior Zeke Andrews had 22 points in the victory. Ralston Valley’s all-state quarterback that led the Mustangs to the 5A state championship football game in December has scored 20-plus points in Ralston Valley’s last three games.

“I think all three of us nearly had 20 points each,” Braketa said of the Mustangs’ three-headed monster of Braketa, Andrews and Psaute in the second conference win in three days. “I think everyone played really well.”

Chatfield sophomore Nolan Feddersen led the Chargers with 19 points. Junior Carson Heath had 12 points off the bench for the young Chatfield squad.

“Chatfield is young, not a lot of seniors. They are going to be good for a while,” Braketa said. “We have a big one Friday against Valor. The rest of the league is looking better. We are going to have some tough games in league for sure.”

The Mustangs will face an angry Valor Christian team in Highlands Ranch on Friday night. Valor (6-6, 1-1) suffered a 64-58 road loss to Columbine (7-3, 1-1) on Wednesday night. Ralston Valley or Valor has won the largest classification Jeffco League title for the past six years.

“I think the conference is a lot better,” Coach Braketa said. “The league as a whole is much better than it has been in the past couple of years. We can’t overlook anyone in the league. Hopefully that will help us down the road.”