Of the burning questions to be answered by Colorado schoolgirls entering the 2008-09 season, the hottest clearly is: Will Regis finally break through and win a Class 5A basketball championship?
Raiders coach Carl Mattei already knows the score before first tipoff. The Raiders are 75-8 over three seasons despite disappointing (to them) finishes of, in order, runners-up in 4A, 5A semifinalists and 5A runners-up.
With an extraordinary seven Division I signees, gobs of experience and continued national attention, the Raiders enter play still balancing confidence and doubt.
Just as long as the players enjoy themselves, Mattei said of a program that has been put through the wringers of instate basketball, more than once by its own doing. Again, Regis will test national waters through tournament play and its local mettle against the Continental League, which accounted for the final four teams in 2007-08 and threatens to dominate the party again in March at the University of Colorado.
Three-time defending champion Highlands Ranch, which waxed Regis in the 2007-08 regular season, then held off the Raiders in the finale, has enough talent to defend, notably outstanding two-way guard Meagan Fulps. Coach Caryn Jarocki loves a challenge and she’ll have one, including from nearby ThunderRidge, which returns a strong inner core, notably Rachel Messer.
Chaparral, a surprise semifinalist a season ago, yearns to be in gear by the stretch run despite heavy losses to graduation.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
THE DENVER POST/ 9NEWS PRESEASON POLL
1. Regis
2. Highlands Ranch
3. ThunderRidge
4. Horizon
5. Lakewood
6. Monarch
7. Arapahoe
8. Chaparral
9. Cherry Creek
10. Legacy
