AURORA — R.J. Demps was having one of those nights. He felt ill, which also described the play of his teammates.
But Demps, after getting denied inside, stole the ball in the lane with 24 seconds to play Tuesday, made a layup, got fouled and made the free throw as Regis survived ThunderRidge 55-52.
The Raiders, ranked No. 2 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, moved to 18-2 overall, 8-0 in the Continental League, in which they have a one-game lead as well as the tiebreaker against one-loss Gateway with three to play.
“Coach (Ken Shaw) said, ‘Show me what you’ve got,’ ” said Demps, held to five points.
He did, then Joey Ptasinski padded the lead to three with seven seconds to play. The Grizzlies didn’t get off a last shot. However, ThunderRidge (12-8, 5-3) all but owned the Raiders most of the game, leading by as many as 12. The Grizzlies also were scoreless for five minutes of the third quarter, yet retained the lead.
It took a combination of better Raiders defense as well as numerous Grizzlies miscues in the second half.
“This game had league championship ramifications. We wanted to win it, didn’t we?” Shaw said after another baffling, weak-energized first half.
Raiders Bud Thomas (16 points), substitute Ryan Winters (eight) and Will Cobb (11) generated just enough offense.
ThunderRidge coach Joe Ortiz was blunt: “We should have won it.”
Fourteen second-half turnovers spelled doom, despite overall spirited play, led by David Arnold (15 points) and Troy Noser (14).
ThunderRidge 18 15 8 11 — 52
Regis 15 8 10 22 — 55
ThunderRidge — Day 4 0-0 8, Waner 0 0-0 0, Heikkila 3 0-0 6, Noser 5 0-0 14, Jimenez 2 0-0 5, Grace 0 0-0 0, Arnold 6 1-2 15, Jones 0 0-0 0, Ernst 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 1-2 52.
Regis — Ptasinski 2 2-2 6, Winters 3 2-2 8, Demps 2 1-1 5, Cobb 5 1-1 11, Williams 0 0-0 0, Thomas 7 0-0 16, Dyer 3 0-0 6, Clark 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 6-6 55.
3-point goals — Noser 4, Arnold 2, Jimenez; Thomas 2, Clark. Total fouls — ThunderRidge 11, Regis 9. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
