On the inbound, with nine seconds remaining and a berth to the Class 5A final four on the line, Rangeview showed Cherry Creek a man-to-man look.
The Raiders held a slim 47-46 lead, having climbed back from a first-half deficit, and having built a lead of their own only to watch it slowly evaporate.
As Cherry Creek inbounded the ball to Nick Guana, Rangeview switched to a zone. Guana hesitated, and the clock dipped to seven seconds, to six seconds. Then, with Rangeview sophomore Trey Bridges in his face, Guana went left and lifted a contested shot from 20 feet out. It fell short, sealing Rangeview’s 47-46 win.
“I think (switching defensive looks) kind of mixed them up a little bit,” said Rangeview coach Shawn Palmer. “And Trey did a great job defensively.”
Midway through the third quarter, and even into the fourth, Rangeview, the No. 4 seed out of the RW Truscott region, looked to run away. Literally.
Frustrated by a sloppy, low-scoring first half that saw third-seeded Cherry Creek dictate the pace and hold an 18-15 lead, Palmer told his kids in the locker room he was excited because “that was probably our worst offensive half of the year, and we were only down there.”
He charged Bridges with pushing the ball as the second half opened, and it resulted in Rangeview taking its first lead of the game, 33-31, with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Raiders wouldn’t trail again.
“We were basically playing their game” in the first half, said Rangeview sophomore Jeremiah Page, who led his team with 16 points. “We just told ourselves to just play our game.”
The new pace led to Rangeview’s 18-5 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters, and, eventually, a 47-39 lead with three minutes left in the game.
But, aided by some sloppy Rangeview ball-handling, Cherry Creek wouldn’t go away quietly. Guana made it a five-point game on a free throw with 2:16 left, and then Palmer was whistled for a technical foul while arguing a charging call. Cherry Creek’s Matt Ratiner hit both free throws to make it 47-44.
“We made it a little difficult on ourselves in the fourth quarter with some turnovers and some obnoxious coaching,” Palmer said with a smile.
The Bruins’ Austin Smith cut it to 47-46 with 1:41 to go, and Cherry Creek regained possession with 53 seconds left. But, even with timeouts at 31 seconds and nine seconds remaining, the Bruins only managed Guana’s contested 3-point attempt.
Ratiner led all scorers with 17 points.
Tim Ealy had nine points — all in the second half — and eight rebounds for Rangeview.
Ryan Casey: 303-954-1983 or rcasey@denverpost.com
