The hard-luck award through the first five weeks of the boys basketball season belongs to Regis Jesuit.

The Raiders are led by the nation’s fourth-highest scorer in Eric Fielder. The 6-foot-8 Colorado State commit is averaging 35 points and 12 boards per game this winter. Even that kind of production, though, hasn’t been enough during his team’s recent five-game losing streak, which included four games decided by three points or fewer.

How’s this for heartbreak? After ending December with a 95-92 overtime loss to Denver East, the Raiders started the new year with a 75-72 loss at Cherokee Trail, followed by a 70-68 loss at Horizon.

Fielder did his part. He had a career-high 44 points against the Angels and it wasn’t enough for the Raiders to hold onto a 10-point halftime lead. He then had 35 against the Cougars, who outscored Regis 25-12 in the fourth quarter, and another 30 to go along with 17 rebounds against Horizon in what was his sixth straight game with a 30-point double-double.

Fielder’s 34.9 PPG through his first nine games offers an interesting, albeit premature, look through the state’s basketball records. The highest points-per-game average for a season in Colorado belongs to Kim’s Lane Gooden, who finished with 38.8 PPG in 1976. Fielder’s mark would currently sit fourth.

As for the Raiders, they finally got back in the win column and back to .500 in a 73-64 win over Overland on Thursday.

Below we’ll take a look at a few upcoming matchups worth the price of admission.

Class 6A

No. 10 Cherry Creek at No. 29 Regis Jesuit, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Creek-Regis meetup has strung together some thrillers over the past few seasons. The Raiders have won four of the last five by an average of 5.5 points.

Last season, the Raiders erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth to prevail 70-64. Fielder (the second-ranked prospect in the state’s 2026 class, per 247Sports) had 31 points in the win. Jeremiah Hammond (No. 3) had 25 in the loss.

No. 2 Ralston Valley at No. 5 Chatfield, Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The Mustangs are 8-0 and probably won’t lose anytime soon if Caiden Braketa keeps shooting this way. Coming into Friday, he’d made 34 of his 68 attempts (50%) from deep on the season and 29 of his last 48 (60%).

Class 5A

No. 1 Palisade at No. 3 Grand Junction, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Owning two of the top three spots in the CHSAA rankings, Palisade (11-0) will look for its third straight win over Southwestern League-rival Grand Junction. The Bulldogs swept the two-game season series a year ago by a total of five points.

Hunter Howard has done a bit of everything for the Bulldogs through the early slate this winter. In a 30-point win over Ponderosa ahead of the holiday break, he had 21 points, nine boards and three steals.

The Tigers, meanwhile, are led in scoring by sophomores Grant Lewis (14.8 PPG) and Will Weirath (13.3).

No. 5 Rampart at No. 6 Cheyenne Mountain, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Cheyenne Mountain’s Alex Treglia has been shooting the lights out of the ball while averaging 21.9 PPG and is 23 of 53 (43%) from 3-point range this winter.

Rampart, at 7-1, is off to its best start since 2009 when the Rams started 15-0 and reached the 5A quarterfinals.

Class 4A

No. 7 Fort Morgan at No. 8 Eaton, Thursday at 7 p.m.

Fort Morgan got 36 points from JJ Marquez in a 66-60 win over Frontier Academy on Tuesday. Marquez has 30 or more points in his last two games and is averaging 21 PPG this season.

Eaton shot 60% from the field in a win over Platte Valley on Tuesday, led by Austin Crider’s 21 points — 6 of 8 FGs, 8 of 10 FTs.

No. 13 Prospect Ridge Academy at No. 15 Fort Lupton, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

It may be fun to see PRA’s Jack Brandt (24.8 PPG) and Fort Lupton’s Javon Gonzales (19.9) trade buckets.

Brandt scored 35 points in a win over Weld Central on Tuesday.