CENTENNIAL — If size matters, and it does in basketball, Regis Jesuit certainly enjoys showing off its height and length.
The Class 5A defending Colorado champion Raiders put on another performance Tuesday night when they had their way with Eaglecrest. Their 74-55 nonleague victory further underlined why every other big school will be chasing them into the beginning of the state tournament in late February.
As usual, Regis Jesuit senior Bud Thomas, 6-feet-6 and Mr. Colorado Basketball the past season by The Denver Post, led the way with 29 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Guard Joey Ptasinski (6-3) added 17 points, 11 in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, junior Ryan Winters (6-7) continues to emerge. In helping the Raiders, ranked No. 1 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, improve to 10-1, the son of former NBA star Brian Winters had 11 points, eight straight in the third quarter, strong defense and nine rebounds.
“It just seemed like the ball was coming my way, I was getting a lot of putbacks,” Winters said. “Just trying to help the team win. I’m trying to work on my offensive game, doing what I’m comfortable with.”
Said Raiders coach Ken Shaw: “He’s making some good plays for us, gave us some good energy and did a good job on defense.”
Regis Jesuit led all the way, used its size to keep the Raptors (3-6) on the perimeter and overcame various lapses that Eaglecrest didn’t quite take advantage of — coach John Olander’s crew managed the shots he likes, but never really got going. Example: star senior guard Andre Marquez scored 24 points, but made only 7-of-19 from the floor.
“They’re just such a good basketball team that makes you work for everything,” Olander said of Regis Jesuit.
Jesse Hall scored 12 points for the Raptors.
Regis Jesuit 15 15 16 28 — 74
Eaglecrest 6 15 16 18 — 55
Regis Jesuit — Clark 1 0-0 3, Ptasinski 6 3-4 17, Dyer 3 0-0 8, Thomas 9 8-10 29, Winters 4 3-4 11, Smith 1 0-0 2, Mencini 2 0-0 4, Benenati 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 14-18 74.
Eaglecrest — Lewis 2 0-0 4, Marquez 7 7-7 24, Haviland 1 0-0 3, Hall 6 0-2 12, Thompson 2 0-0 4, Dernocoeur 0 0-0 0, Houcks 0 0-0 0, Sotelo 0 0-0 0, Udvari 4 0-1 8, Banks 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-10 55.
3-pt. goals — Thomas 3, Dyer 2, Ptasinski 2, Clark; Marquez 3, Haviland. Total fouls — Regis Jesuit 10, Eaglecrest 14. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
