AURORA — On Dec. 8, the Rangeview boys basketball team had just been trampled by Arapahoe in nonleague play, a 26-point whipping that left the Raiders with a 2-3 record.
Outlook? Not good.
“We had too many egos on the team,” Rangeview sophomore Jeremiah Paige said. “But then we started playing, everybody was getting the ball and were happy with their touches. Since then, it has been working for us.”
Just like that, Rangeview (22-4) turned it around. The Raiders have won 20 of their last 21 games, including 12 in a row, and play tonight in Boulder in the Class 5A semi- finals against No. 1 seed Arapahoe (24-2).
With only four seniors, and only one who’s a starter, the Raiders had to figure out their identity.
“We didn’t have one, but then we found it,” said senior guard Gabe Solarin, the team’s leading scorer with an average of 16.8 points. “We don’t have a dominant big man, so we had to use our talents. We jelled. We just hit a realization that we’re better than we were playing.”
Rangeview has discovered that speed, quickness, smarts and a willingness to rebound and play defense pay dividends. Ninth-year coach Shawn Palmer knew it all along. It just took time to convince his players. “I thought we’d take some lumps early, but we’ve turned it around and are exceeding expectations,” said Palmer, whose pedigree includes playing point guard at the now defunct Silver State Baptist and at Northwestern College in Minnesota.
Solarin, whose shooting range begins once he laces up his sneakers, has a bombs-away style that’s endorsed by his coach.
“We kind of give him a little bit of a leash because he’s been an efficient shooter,” Palmer said. “The fact that he’s willing to take those really opens up things for us. But he’s coachable and listens.”
Paige, a 6-foot-3 left-hander, is effective from the lane and the perimeter. He’s trouble for the opposition when the Raiders spread the floor.
“I trust him,” Palmer said.
Rangeview is at its best when consistently getting to the rim and free-throw line, and dictating the tempo. That was evident in the Great 8, when the Raiders shook off a slow start before taking command to outlast Cherry Creek.
The Raiders’ transition game has been outstanding.
“Coach told us one of our main strengths is running the ball, beating teams down the floor,” Paige said.
The Raiders have a rematch in the semifinals with Arapahoe, which has noted their progress.
“We hammered them pretty good the first time, but they’ve come a long way,” said Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder. “Shawn’s done a great job.”
A victory tonight would be big for the school and city east of Denver. Rangeview has won only two boys state titles, the 1985 basketball crown (3A in a 4A system) and the big-school cross country championship two years later.
The Raiders are in their sixth final four. Their last apperance was 1993, when a sophomore named Chauncey Billups led George Washington to the first of consecutive championships.
The last east-side city team to win it all was Aurora Central, led by Charlie Simpson and Gary Taylor, in 1983.
“It would be large for the school and, for us, really big,” Paige said.
