HIGHLANDS RANCH — They’re still the ones.
Under a national spotlight, the Highlands Ranch Falcons showed why they have won five of the past eight Class 5A titles Tuesday by running Regis off the floor.
Ranked No. 15 by USA Today, a spot below Regis, the Falcons ripped the Raiders 74-49 in front of an estimated 2,000 jam-packed fans.
Top-ranked in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, Highlands Ranch is 15-3 overall, 7-0 in the Continental League and undefeated in Colorado. No. 2 Regis fell to 16-2, 6-1.
“They’re a great team, but we just got it going and made some shots,” Falcons senior Jade Davis said.
It was no contest after eight minutes. Regis led 12-8, then it was all Highlands Ranch, which outscored the Raiders 44-19 in the middle quarters. The Falcons abused Regis’ zone defenses as they went over, around and through them, and had additional success against man-to-man in the second half as they flashed players in the high post, then cut off them for layups and open jumpers.
Davis scored 15 points, including three 3-pointers that were sparks. Colorado Buffaloes signee Alyssa Fressle, also playing in front of former Falcons star Ann Strother, now with the CU program, put up a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Johnson played smartly and scored 16 points.
Said Falcons coach Caryn Jarocki, “We were just ready for some competition.”
Raiders coach Carl Mattei, perplexed by his team’s lackluster showing, had no answers.
“Big-time players show up in big-time games, and we didn’t,” he said.
Regis 12 11 8 18 — 49
Highlands Ranch 8 28 16 22 — 74
Regis — Williams 1 5-6 7, Rolniak 0 1-2 1, Bokenkamp 2 2-2 7, Shealy 2 0-0 4, Winters 5 3-4 14, O’Dorisio 3 3-4 11, O’Neil 0 0-0 0, Roben 2 0-0 5, Nacickaite 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-18 49.
Highlands Ranch — Fressle 4 9-10 17, Fulps 3 0-0 8, Johnson 5 5-6 16, Ryba 3 2-3 8, Davis 6 0-1 15, Burke 2 0-1 4, Floyd 1 0-0 2, Seifert 1 0-0 2, Mallon 0 0-0 0, Hawkins 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 18-23 74.
3-point goals — O’Dorisio 2, Bokenkamp, Roben, Winters; Davis 3, Fulps 2, Johnson. Fouled out — Williams, Winters.
