AURORA — It was as if time had been revisited, a flashback to the glory days of Aurora basketball, when a capacity crowd would come out regularly to see the likes of Mike Jackson, Charlie Simpson and Terry Taylor Jr. in the 1970s and ’80s.
Fast-forwarding to 2011, a packed house at Rangeview that had a line spilling out the door during the junior varsity game was treated to another go-round involving the city’s best rivalry. The host Raiders, bidding for their first league title since their opening years in the ’80s, held off nearby Gateway 66-53 on Wednesday.
Ranked No. 7 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, Rangeview moved to 19-3 overall and 11-0 in the new East Metro League. The Raiders need a win tonight at Prairie View to secure one of their rare crowns and perhaps no worse than a No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
The Raiders enjoyed balance as well as the usual inside superiority and consistency of Jeffrey Solarin, who led all scorers with 21 points and rebounders with 15. The 6-foot-4 senior may be the state’s best player with his back to the basket.
“It’s what we work on,” Solarin said. “I try to get (his defender) on my back so he can’t get around me.”
Said Raiders coach Shawn Palmer, “He was the best player on the floor.”
Rangeview never trailed as 6-10 Marcus Holt (19 points) and Jamal Wright (17) added firepower. The Raiders didn’t seriously pull away as the usually feisty Olympians (15-7, 9-2), featuring Melvin Kasozi (18 points), Abdulai Mansaray, Burphy Kranger, Duan Johnson and Klilekie Linga willing traded punches.
The key stretch, Olys coach Jeff Sweet said, was in the final minutes of the third quarter, when Gateway twice got within a point, only to enter the fourth trailing 45-37.
“It was like the old days,” Sweet said of the atmosphere. “When it was 38-37, we let it get away right there.”
Gateway 8 17 12 16 — 53
Rangeview 12 18 15 21 — 66
Gateway — Mansaray 3 3-5 9, Johnson 4 0-1 8, Kranger 0 9-10 9, Kasozi 7 2-2 18, Guerra 0 0-0 0, Montgomery-Johnson 0 0-0 0, Linga 3 0-2 7, Townsend 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 14-20 53.
Rangeview — Wright 4 9-14 17, Awini 1 0-0 2, J. Solarin 9 3-4 21, Harris 0 0-0 0, G. Solarin 0 0-0 0, Tidwell 0 0-0 0, Paige 2 0-3 5, Holt 7 5-10 19, Turner 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 17-31 66.
3-point goals: Gateway — Kasozi 2, Linga. Rangeview — Paige. Fouled out — Mansaray, Awini. Technicals — Mansaray, Linga, Holt.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
