Five years after canceled tournament denied Rangeview shot at title, undefeated Raiders want to finish what 2020 team started

Five years ago, the Rangeview boys basketball team was denied a chance to repeat as state champion in the worst way possible.

It wasn’t a devastating defeat or an injury to a top player. Rather, the Raiders rolled into the Final Four a sparkling 26-0, but then CHSAA canceled the final games of the tournament due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So this year, as Rangeview is 25-0 heading into Saturday’s Class 6A Great 8 showdown against Regis Jesuit at the Denver Coliseum, the top-seeded Raiders are intent on polishing off what that 2020 team didn’t get the chance to.

“We totally understand the circumstances involved, but those guys were such a special group, so I really wanted them to be able to finish things out, and that broke my heart,” said Rangeview head coach Shawn Palmer, who’s in his 22nd year with the program. “Our group this season wants to finish what they started, and they’ve talked about that a lot: playing for them.”

Three of the starters from that 2020 team — Palmer’s son Cade, as well as Jayden Foster and current Wyoming Cowboy Obi Agbim — spoke to the Raiders at some point this winter to add fuel to Rangeview’s fire. It’s worked: The Raiders cruised to the City League title averaging a 26.12-point margin of victory.

Headlining the Raiders’ pursuit of perfection is All-Colorado guard LaDavian King, who is averaging 16.1 points while shooting 41% from beyond the arc.

The Southeastern University commit transferred from Eaglecrest in the middle of last semester. King’s situation at Eaglecrest soured, and Palmer says CHSAA ruled him eligible to play for Rangeview due to a bona fide move. Eaglecrest did not contest the transfer.

King says he spent a couple of hours of solitude in a pew at church after leaving Eaglecrest, praying and reflecting.

“I knew this was my last run, so I wanted to do whatever Coach Palmer wanted me to do, whatever was necessary for my teammates to feel comfortable around me for us to win,” King said. “I knew I needed to be a basically whole new LD coming into Rangeview and figure out my personality with those guys and play my role.

“… (That day at church) talked to myself about things that didn’t go right at Eaglecrest, and things I wanted to be better at as I headed to Rangeview. I took more accountability on myself.”

Palmer says King’s been everything he’s needed at Rangeview, where the senior was embraced by incumbent players and took on a leadership role with younger guys. Beyond King, the Raiders’ starting cast features senior point guard Royce Edwards, senior forward Kenny Black-Knox, sophomore guard Archie Weatherspoon V and freshman forward Marceles Duncan.

In particular, Palmer says the 6-foot-5 Duncan (14.0 points/4.8 rebounds/3.1 blocks/2.8 steals) has evolved into “one of the best players in the state” following an unimpressive debut against Regis Jesuit in Rangeview’s first exhibition game in November. The Raiders lost that game, and Duncan had only three points and two rebounds. He’s since become a focal point of the team’s success.

Rangeview’s well-roundedness is one reason the Raiders believe they can make a push over the next couple of weekends to the program’s second state title.

“We know teams are going to make runs on us, or turn up the energy level because we’re the No. 1 team,” King said. “But if we just stay calm, composed and share the ball, really no one can beat us if we do those three things.”

On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Eaglecrest also has the wind at its back entering the final rounds of the 6A tournament.

King’s old team is back in the Great 8 for the fourth time in five years after losing to ThunderRidge at the buzzer in the Final 4 last season. Eaglecrest dropped its season opener to Regis Jesuit and then fell to Bingham (Utah) later in December, but the Centennial League champions have ripped off 16 straight wins since, including three in overtime.

Raptors eighth-year head coach Jarris Krapcha says that after King’s departure from Eaglecrest in the fall, “we’ve had other kids capable of stepping up, and we’ve had a good group to keep this thing rolling.”

“We’ve bought into how we’re trying to defend,” Krapcha said. “Our defense has carried us night in and night out, really solid man-to-man defense, and we usually do a pretty good job crashing the glass. When you can control both ends of the glass and defend, you’re going to have a pretty good shot to win most games.”

Center Garrett Barger (12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds) and guard Anthony Nettles (15.8 points) are Eaglecrest’s catalysts. Fellow seniors in wing Lucas Kalimba, forward La’quince York and forward Gavin Gallegos are also impactful, as is sophomore guard Kris Coleman.

With both Eaglecrest and Rangeview primed for a potential collision course in the championship on March 15, count King as rooting for that matchup.