Rangeview and Valor Christian set for thrilling 6A boys basketball Final 4 clash

DENVER — Valor Christian coach Jeff Platt has his Eagles with the mindset that they are still on the attack when it comes to chasing back-to-back Class 6A boys basketball state titles.

“We are still going after it like we are hunting,” Platt said after Valor advanced to the Final 4 on Saturday morning. “We have been there and our guys have that experience. The endgame, the ultimate goal, we know what it is. But we aren’t looking past the next one. They have done a great job of focusing on the next game.”

The No. 5-seeded Eagles were the first 6A boys team to punch their ticket to the semifinals with a 72-59 victory over No. 4 Ralston Valley at the Denver Coliseum.

“It is always fun playing each other,” Platt said of facing off against its conference rival. “It is hard because you know each other so well. You don’t know if that will be to your advantage or disadvantage. Our guys have been so good at preparing all year long.”

The Great 8 game was the rubber match between the two 6A Jeffco League squads. Ralston Valley won the first conference meeting 65-58 on Jan. 17. A bank 3-pointer at the buzzer by Valor senior Cole Scherer on the Eagles’ home court Feb. 11 evened up the series with a 60-57 victory for the defending state champions.

“We knew everything about them. They knew everything about us,” Scherer said of the third go-around with Ralston Valley. “We have a lot of respect for them. It was a great game.”

Scherer — Eastern Washington University commit — led the way with a game-high 28 points on 11-for-22 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Brady Wynja also had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Ralston Valley (23-3 record) held a 33-32 lead at halftime thanks to a 3-point play the hard way from junior Zeke Andrews to close out the first half. However, it was all Valor (22-4) in the second half.

Valor outscored the Mustangs 40-26 after halftime to take the double-digit victory.

“It was a lot better not being so close,” Scherer said referring to his game-winning shot in the last meeting. “We stuck to the game plan and blew it open toward the end. We got the good win.”

Sophomore Grant Stevens had a strong second half finishing with 15 points for the Eagles.

“Everyone played a great game,” Scherer said. “Everyone worked on defense to help us win. It might not show up on the stat sheet, but everyone did what they needed to get the job done.”

Valor has won a pair of state titles over the past 10 years. The Eagles captured the 4A state title in 2017 before making a run as the No. 6 seed last year to win the 6A championship.

Ralston Valley senior Tanner Braketa had a team-high 22 points, while his younger brother — sophomore Caiden Braketa — poured in 20 points. The Braketa brothers had five 3-pointers in the first half, but Valor’s defense shutout the Mustangs from long distance after halftime.

“You have to crowd those guys or they are going to bury you,” Platt said of the Braketa brothers. “If you give them an inch they are really capable of hurting you. I thought we tightened up the screws defensively and didn’t give them second-shot opportunities in the second half.”

Tanner Braketa — University of Northern Colorado commit — finishes off his brilliant prep career with over 1,600 points.

(1) Rangeview 75, (9) Regis Jesuit 69 2OT

by Courtney Oakes

The Rangeview boys basketball team didn’t go undefeated in the regular season and make it all the way to the Denver Coliseum just to go home early.

That appeared it might be the case at one point in the fourth quarter of its 6A Great 8 matchup, as the top-seed faced a double-digit deficit to ninth-seeded Regis Jesuit before launching a furious comeback to extend its magical season.

Rangeview outscored Regis Jesuit 18-6 in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime, held defensively on the final possession of regulation and the first overtime and pulled away in the second overtime for a 75-69 victory that moved it into a Final 4 matchup with defending state champion and fifth-seeded Valor Christian.

“We’re feeling amazing, I don’t think any of us panicked when we were down 12 in the fourth quarter,” senior LaDavian King said. “That was the first time we were down at halftime, but I feel like we all came out and made sure it wasn’t out last game.”

Rangeview (26-0) had been in close games at halftime this season and prevailed every time, but it trailed by two points and halftime and then nine at the end of the third quarter thanks to the Herculean efforts of Regis Jesuit junior Eric Fiedler.

Fiedler — who finished with a game-high 36 points — took over the final three minutes of the period with two 3-pointers, an inside hoop and free throw to put Regis Jesuit in front 44-35. The lead grew by three more points on Fiedler’s free throws with just over five minutes left before Rangeview came alive.

King — who battled cramps and a nagging leg injury in crunch time — hit a much-needed 3-pointer to get Rangeview back on track, and coach Shawn Palmer’s team ratcheted up the desperation and defense to get back into the game. A three-point play by freshman Marceles Duncan and a clutch corner 3-pointer from junior Aidan Perez eventually forced overtime.

A see-saw first overtime gave way to a second overtime that swung in Rangeview’s favor, as Duncan scored nine points in the period (and a team-high 23 for the game) and got a lead as large as nine to extend the season.

“You get to the lockerroom and you name about eight different things that had to happen for us to win that game and they all did,” Palmer said. “That was remarkable.”