Five 5A Championship Takeaways: Chaparral versus Rangeview
Saturday evening the 2019 season finally ended in a highly entertaining championship that seen the Range view Raiders beat the Chaparral Wolverines 61-47. Here are my five takeaways from the championship game. Historic win No too long ago the Range…
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Continue ReadingSaturday evening the 2019 season finally ended in a highly entertaining championship that seen the Range view Raiders beat the Chaparral Wolverines 61-47. Here are my five takeaways from the championship game.
Historic win
No too long ago the Range view Raiders were in the championship game but fell short. A couple of those players remember that championship but could not yet do anything about it but got to avenge that loss with the school’s first win in 34 years. Yes, Coach Palmer brought Range view their first championship since 1985 and it was behind a special group of underclassmen with Seniors Quincey Jewett, Kamren Stroter and Jodaun Dotson leading the way that seen the Raiders finish the season with a 19-game winning streak.
Great start for Range view
Range view started out the game exactly how they wanted as they got out to a quick 13-7 start. Then the second unit came in which is one of the best in the entire state and the flood gates opened. Obi Agbim came straight in the game and made an impact as he hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter alone. He had 11 points at the half and gave the Raiders a spark but Chaparral fought to stay in the game as Dalton Waldron led at the halftime intermission with eight points and five rebounds. The Raiders led at the 22-15 and knew that Chaparral was fresh off of a game where they saved their best basketball of the season for the second half. Rangeview weathered that storm and their play at the beginning of the game got them through to secure the big win.
Chaparral Seniors
Chaparral was a team that was led by their seniors throughout the season and they had plenty that led the way and stepped up in their own rights. In the playoff run to the championship they brought it and all stepped up in their own way. Bryce Matthews will play baseball at the next level but showed off his athleticism and led Chaparral against Cherry Creek with 20 points to help get the Wolverines to the championship, Joseph Dalton seen his scoring drop to end the season but made up for his play in various ways including help rebound and defend, Tizell Lewis was a tenacious defender that seen his team ride his defense in the final four comeback, Jack Czarnecki was a reliable source off of the bench who could extend the defense and give solid minutes off of the bench and Tanner Giles was a force offensively throughout the tournament that seen him win player of the game as he led the team with 22 points in their comeback win over Thunder ridge. These are all solid players that can help a school at the next level and have a bright future ahead of them.
Player of the game
The player that stood out most in the championship game was Christopher Speller who saved his best basketball of the season for the final run. He was a consistent force down the home stretch and in the most important game of his career put up a team-high 17 points and also had three rebounds and assists to go along with it. He finished with 21 points in the final four game and showed that Range view was a team that had many weapons that had to be accounted for. He attacked the basket, broke the press and ran the offense and got others involved and now has a championship banner to bring back to his school.
Taking a look at next season
Both teams have seniors that they will truly miss and both will look different next season but expect both to come back with another strong team that has a chance to return back to the championship. Chaparral will return starters Kobe Sanders and Dalton Waldron for the inside-out punch that the school needs but it will also have to have underclassmen emerge to help.
For Range view they will also lose a few seniors but they will return the bulk of their full team and head into the season as the favorites next year and have a very strong chance to defend their title. Both Christian and Christopher Speller return, Cade Palmer will be still lighting up the nets from outside and Agbim and Isaiah Hayes will also be back in the mix. This is a strong team that will only get a year better with more chemistry and time together so expect them to be right back in the same spot next year.