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| Rangeview’s Jeremiah Page goes up for 2 of his 40 points during Saturday playoff game versus Highlands Ranch |
Rangeview Ousts Highlands Ranch
By Matt Langley
LangleyScouting.Blogspot.com
3/2/2013
Aurora, CO – Junior Rangeview Raider Jeremiah Paige scored 40 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Raiders knocked the visiting Highlands Ranch Falcons out of the state tournament Saturday afternoon 70-64. The Falcons got 20 points from junior Evan Motlong, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a slow start and an on fire Paige.
Highlands Ranch started the scoring first going inside to its big postman junior Zach Braxton. Rangeview negated the Falcons’ size advantage with an active zone defense that doubled teamed and forced Braxton to pass the ball back out to the guards. The Falcons’ guards had a rough first half of shooting the ball from the outside, making only 1 three-pointer. Those missed Falcon three-pointers were turned into long rebounds for the Raiders who turned those into fast break opportunities. The Falcons also struggled from the free throw line shooting 17 of 34 for the game, and most of the misses came in the first half. The Raiders’ defense was also busy creating turnovers that lead to fast break points and held the Falcons to just five points in the second quarter. Paige scored 21 points in the first half and junior Trey Bridges nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to help the Raiders to a 38-17 half time lead.
The Flacons used a full court press to force the Raiders into at least six turnovers during the third period helping the Falcons cut into Raider lead. The shots the Falcons were missing in the first half were falling in the second and helped to score 27 points in the third quarter. Motlong struggled from three-point range in the first half but was able to get threes to fall in the second. Braxton’s basket at the buzzer cut the Raider lead five for the Falcons, 49-44. The easy baskets the Raiders had gotten in the 1st half dried up and turnovers proved costly.
The last 2:45 of the game witnessed a combined 31 points as it would come down to Paige and the Falcons’ sophomore Nick Shumpert. Shumpert scored 10 of the Falcons 14 points in that stretch, while Paige scored 10 of Rangeview’s last 17 points. It came down to free throw shooting for the Raiders who made 13 of 18 in the last 1:35. After Shumpert made a three-pointer bringing the Flacons to within 61-60 with 50 seconds to go, Paige answered with a drive and a foul that resulted in an old fashion three-point play pushing the lead back to four. After a Falcon bucket cut the lead to 64-62, Bridges sank two free throws for the Raiders. Then, Paige scored his 39th and 40th points on free throws with two seconds left to give the Raiders the 70-64 win.
The Raiders move on to face Aurora rival Eaglecrest in the round of 16 at Eaglecrest on Wednesday night.
