Ralston Valley boys basketball stampede continues with win over Chatfield

LITTLETON — Tanner Braketa hit a milestone Saturday that few high school basketball players reach.

The Ralston Valley senior eclipsed the 1,500-point mark for his career during an 80-57 road victory for the Mustangs (19-0, 9-0 in Class 6A Jeffco League) at Chatfield. Braketa went past 1,500 career points in the first half.

“I’m really proud. I know how much work he has put in over the years,” said Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa, who is also Tanner’s father. “The 1,500-mark is pretty darn hard to get. A few kids from Colorado ever hit that. I’m just really proud of him.”

Tanner, who will continue his playing career at the University of Northern Colorado next year, finished with 30 points through three quarters in the boys basketball afternoon tilt. Braketa sits at 1,512 career points. Pretty impressive since knee surgery before his junior season limited him to playing just a dozen games and scoring just 158 points last season.

“It means a lot, but honestly it is just a number,” Tanner said of the 1,500-point mark. “I’ve got bigger goals for the season down the line. It’s awesome. I’ll enjoy it now, but then get back to work.”

Historically, Akron’s Brady Baer holds the all-time career scoring mark with 2,627 points during his prep career from 2010-14. According to the Colorado High School Activities Association’s record books, the top boys basketball scorer from Jeffco is D’Evelyn’s Luke Stratman who finished with 1,967 points from 2009-2013.

“That is just super impressive. Not a lot of kids do that,” Ralston Valley junior Zeke Andrew said of Tanner joining the 1,500 club. “He has worked so hard. We all love him. I didn’t even know he was that close to it.”

After the victory against Chatfield, Tanner held up a 1,500-point sign with his teammates. It was actually the first time since his sophomore season that Tanner has had a 30-point game.

It was also the 19th straight victory for Ralston Valley who remains undefeated on the season. Tanner (30 points), Andrews (12 points) and junior Caiden Braketa (15 points) led the way.

“I’m not surprised. We’ve been focused day-by-day,” Braketa said of the 19-game winning streak. “It is no surprise. We’ve worked so hard.”

It has turned into a two-horse race for 6A Jeffco title between Ralston Valley and Valor Christian (15-4, 8-1). Ralston Valley took a 65-58 victory over Valor in their first meeting Jan. 17. The conference rematch is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11, at Valor.

“We’ll come out Tuesday and be ready,” Andrews said. “We want to win this (league) outright. We are going to come out Tuesday and compete. We are going to beat them in their own house.”

If the Mustangs are able to sweep the defending 6A state champions, Ralston Valley would officially wrap up the league title Tuesday in Highlands Ranch.

“It’s huge. We all know Valor is the defending state champion. We don’t need to say anything about that,” Coach Braketa said. “They know what it is going to take to get a win at Valor. Their whole team is playing well right now.”

Ralston Valley finishes out its regular season at home against Columbine (Thursday, Feb. 13), at Mountain Vista (Tuesday, Feb. 18) and at Arvada West (Friday, Feb. 21).

The 6A brackets are scheduled to be released by CHSAA on Feb. 23. More than likely, Ralston Valley will earn a first-round bye and host a second-round game Feb. 28.

“I really like how we are going to finish up,” Coach Braketa said of the tough games before heading into the postseason.

Chatfield (6-13, 2-6) has some work to do if it is to make the 40-team state tournament field. The Chargers were sitting at No. 48 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index before games Saturday.

The Chargers had three players — Indiana Hostetler, Merek Chuita and Taylor Stange — all finish in double-digits against Ralston Valley. However, Chatfield still suffered its fourth straight loss.

Chatfield has four regular-season games remaining starting with Lakewood on Tuesday, Feb. 11, next week.