AURORA — When your best defender turns in his usual thorough job and also delivers a game-high 22 points, it’s, well, about as good as it gets.
Ask Shawn Palmer, Rangeview’s coach, who watched Tyrei Randall do just that Saturday afternoon as the Raiders handled visiting Highlands Ranch 66-45 in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
“It’s pretty nice,” Palmer said after Rangeview moved to 19-5. “He reminds me of Jeremiah (Paige, a former All-Colorado selection by The Denver Post who’s now at Colorado State), who did so many positive, different things for us, so many special plays. … What is it about these (6-foot-3) lefties that we keep getting, fortunately?”
Randall, who backed up Paige a year ago and still saw fairly considerable time, led the balanced Raiders with 22 points, but his defense, Palmer said, may have been even better and more important.
“I thought he gave (the Falcons’ Pat) Sullivan fits,” the coach said.
For Randall, a junior, it’s simple. The season is now one-loss-and-done basketball. Losers turn in their uniforms.
“I just played within myself,” Randall said. “Last year, I didn’t want to go home, so this was the same motivation, to push forward.”
PHOTOS:
Randall pushed the Raiders’ defense to the point that the Falcons (9-15) managed only six points in the third quarter, when the game was taken over by Rangeview. The Raiders’ bulge crested at 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, Randall, who made 8-of-13 shots from the floor, scored 12 of his points after halftime and made four 3-pointers. Sophomore Elijah Blake added 16 points.
For Highlands Ranch, leading scorer Ryley Stewart, a senior, didn’t dress for the game after an injury to his left wrist. The No. 10-seeded Falcons, who raised some eyebrows with an 18-point victory in the first round over Jefferson County’s Chatfield, hung in for a while, mostly behind Keith Coleman’s 20 points, but they were outrebounded and had turnover trouble against Rangeview’s defensive pressure.
“They’re a tough matchup,” veteran Falcons coach Bob Caton said. “You’re never happy when your season ends, and only one team is happy — the one that wins the championship.”
Said Palmer: “The keys to the game were defense and rebounding, and we’ve had five kids average double figures over the last 10 games.”
Rangeview will host defending state champion Denver East on Wednesday. It will tip off at 7 p.m., Palmer said. The Raiders have larger aspirations but need to win once more to have five consecutive seasons of 20 or more victories.
Highlands Ranch 10 11 6 18 — 45
Rangeview 11 16 12 27 — 66
Highlands Ranch — P. Sullivan 3 0-0 7, Fiddler 3 4-6 10, Coleman 8 3-3 20, Gilbert 0 1-2 1, Holewinski 2 0-0 4, Cunningham 0 3-8 3, Olson 0 0-0 0, B. Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Mesfin 0 0-0 0, Faberowski 0 0-0 0, Jeffords 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-19 45.
Rangeview — Davis 1 0-0 2, Randall 8 2-2 22, Blake 7 2-3 16, Storey-Way 1 2-4 4, Reed 2 0-0 4, Wyatt 2 2-2 7, Hollins 1 1-4 3, Guidry 1 2-2 5, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0-0 2, Johnson 0 1-4 1, Kraemer 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 12-21 66.
3-pt. goals — Coleman, P. Sullivan; Randall 4, Guidry, Wyatt.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
