FORT COLLINS — Heading into Colorado’s mandatory winter break, Class 5A is where it was when the season opened Dec. 1.
It’s all about chasing Regis Jesuit.
The defending champion Raiders, playing in their unusually high 10th game before the shutdown until after New Year’s Day, had their way with Fort Collins on Saturday night.
Displaying superior shooting, rebounding and defense, Regis Jesuit held the Lamb- kins to a woeful two points in the fourth quarter in taking a wire-to-wire, 64-45 nonleague victory.
Top-ranked in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, the Raiders improved to 9-1, won their 28th straight game against in-state competition and played their ninth road game.
“We were in a stretch there where we didn’t shoot the ball well, but I thought our defense gave us the cushion we needed,” Raiders coach Ken Shaw said. “Our defensive intensity picked up the second half, and I thought our work on the boards was good.”
No. 6 Fort Collins, which dropped its first game in six tries, had a pattern of getting close, then falling back. Three times the Lambkins got within a couple of baskets, but the Raiders’ pressure, including on the perimeter, took them out of range.
Plus, Fort Collins went ice cold down the stretch. The Lambkins made just the one basket — in 10 attempts — in the fourth quarter, missed both of their free-throw attempts and were beaten down the floor by the Raiders repeatedly when it counted.
Austin Maag, who led the Lambkins with 19 points, was 0-for-7 from the floor over the final eight minutes.
“We shot 38 percent, and you won’t beat anyone shooting 38 percent,” Lambkins coach Monty Alcaraz said.
In addition to outrebounding the Lambkins by 15, Regis Jesuit rode another stellar showing by Bud Thomas, the reigning Mr. Colorado Basketball, who scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, eight in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Joey Ptasinski added 20 points.
“We’re the road warriors,” Thomas said. “Fort Collins is a tough place to play, and we decided to give it everything we had.”
Regis Jesuit 18 17 14 15 — 64
Fort Collins 14 15 14 2 — 45
Regis Jesuit — Clark 3 0-0 7, Ptasinski 8 2-3 20, Dyer 1 1-1 3, Thomas 10 1-1 24, Winters 1 1-2 3, Mencini 1 0-0 2, Smith 2 1-1 5. Totals 26 6-8 64.
Fort Collins — McAuliffe 1 0-2 3, Marum 3 0-0 6, Spicer 3 4-4 11, Maag 7 0-0 19, Svitav- sky 2 2-2 6, Kelley 0 0-0 0, Wood 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-8 45.
3-point goals — Thomas 3, Ptasinski 2, Clark; Maag 5, McAuliffe, Spicer. Total fouls — Regis 12, Fort Collins 14. Fouled out — Marum. Technicals — None.
