There is no draft or free-agency period in high school basketball.
Nonetheless, the Regis Raiders could not be more balanced and complete, from the point to the post, even if coach Carl Mattei had lined up every player in the state and handpicked his team.
“I look for weaknesses and think, ‘Do we have any?”‘ Mattei said. “This is something special. Four years ago, there was no such thing as Regis girls basketball.”
In just its third varsity season, Regis is the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 5A girls state tournament, which started Wednesday, with the championship to be decided March 9 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
After two seasons at the 4A level, which included a Final Four appearance and a state runner-up finish, Regis isn’t exactly entering a new frontier by moving up to the big time. As the lone 4A team, the Raiders won the Continental League last season.
They defended that title in rousing fashion with two victories over defending state champion Highlands Ranch, one against runner-up Horizon and a 22-1 record overall.
The Raiders’ loss came in a national tournament against La Jolla (Calif.), which was ranked No. 25 in the nation at that point.
“Last year, we wanted to play 5A, but we didn’t have a graduating class and weren’t able to,” Regis sophomore point guard Mariah Williams said. “We always wanted to be 5A. We want to play the best.”
Now at the highest level, Regis knows its competition. And the competition knows Regis.
It’s hard not to notice. The Raiders suited just eight players for the regular season, but seven of those already have Division I scholarship offers from NCAA schools.
“We are a complete, all-around team,” said Mindy Nielson, Regis’ only senior. “The bench is especially strong. If a starter needs to come out, there are three others who can fill in. Teams can’t try to stop one specific person, because someone else will step up.”
Nielson, who will play at Brigham Young, where her parents met, is called “Mother Hen” by Mattei because of her ability to keep the peace on a young team.
“She has basically taught these kids how to be a team,” Mattei said.
Nielson is the Raiders’ leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points, and Mattei called her a “true chemistry player” whose role cannot be overlooked.
None of the others can be overlooked, either, because without one there would be no Regis. It is their combined abilities that make the Raiders so good.
At the point, Williams can break the ankles of a defender with her slashing style, and she can take it to the rack (11.4 points per game) or dish the ball (6.0 assists) with equal ease.
“You need a point guard to be successful,” Mattei said. “I have the best in the state.”
Williams always has an outlet in shooting guard Meghan Winters, another sophomore and the daughter of former NBA player Brian Winters.
Winters and Mary Bokenkamp, part of Regis’ solid bench, are shooting close to 50 percent from 3-point range.
Securing the paint is Diana Rolniak, a 6-foot-3 sophomore who is averaging nearly five blocked shots a game.
While Rolniak sprouted early – “I’ve been in the 6-foot range since seventh grade,” she said – this has been a breakthrough season for the inside force.
Which leads to The Force – hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners power forward T’Keyah Shealy.
“T’Keyah is nasty, tough, physical and even obnoxious,” Mattei said of the sophomore. “I’ll put her on anyone. She even held (reigning Denver Post Ms. Basketball Hannah Tuomi of Horizon) in check.”
The Raiders could have stayed at the 4A level and tried to get some revenge against Mullen, the team that beat them in the championship game last season. But Regis took care of that with a 53-32 shellacking of the Mustangs in December.
“Nothing against Mullen; they want to win championships,” Mattei said. “But so do we. People say we did it with recruiting, but we lost three (including the talented Taylor Johnson, who transferred to Lakewood) and no one’s come in. It shows what hard work can do.
“Even if we lose, lesson learned. We competed against the best.”
