(30) Arapahoe Vs. (35) Fort Collins

<p><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/bryson-stevens/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/bryson-stevens/">Bryson Stephens</a></a> finished with 26 points to lead both teams.  He had a monster second half with 20 of his 26 points coming then.  He connected on two threes in the second half and did his usual getting by defenders finishing at the rim or mid-range.  He was eight of ten from the foul-line on the night as well.  Sophomore, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/derik-pranger/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/derik-pranger/">Derik Pranger</a></a> also had a nice first playoff game for Arapahoe, scoring from distance and in the paint.  He finished with 16 points and connected on three from deep, two of which came in the third quarter in which him and Stephens had all their points.  Korey Hess also finished with 16 points, in a talented backcourt for the Warriors.  He had ten of the teams eighteen points in the first quarter including two three-pointers.  Arapahoe was too much for Fort Collins to handle on the night, they struggled breaking the press and at times could not score in the half court as well.  Arapahoe held them to five points in the second quarter, with a stretch of at least four minutes holding them scoreless.  Senior big man, Emeri Palacio led the way for Fort Collins, scoring a team high 22 points.  He was six of fifteen from two-point range but a perfect seven for seven from the foul-line.  He had a big second half in an effort to keep Fort Collins close but Arapahoe would always have an answer.  Senior guard Raymond Johnson also had a strong game with 14 points.  Twelve of his fourteen came in the second half, he came out of halftime with a sense of urgency to keep Fort Collins around after being down twenty at half.  It was 38-53 entering the fourth quarter but Arapahoe would pull away with ten points in the quarter from Stephens and five from Hess, winning the game 73-50.</p> <p>(30) Arapahoe will move on to face (3) Ralston Valley on the road this Saturday at 6 p.m.  This should be a very entertaining matchup between two teams that have a number of different threats.  Ralston Valley enters the playoff as the number three seed after going 20-3 on the year and 7-1 in league play.  They are a senior led team with a lot of experience and different pieces that can hurt teams, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caleb-rillos/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caleb-rillos/">Caleb Rillos</a></a> is averaging a double-double for them this year at 18.3 points per game and 10.4 rebounds.  He is a good athlete and has good size at 6'5, doing the majority of is damage from inside the arc.  <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caden-gigstad/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caden-gigstad/">Caden Gigstad</a></a> leads them in the backcourt, he averages: 15.3 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.7 RPG and is a guard that can score from all three levels.  It will be fun to see him matchup with the Arapahoe backcourt.  Luke Carlston is the third player for the Mustangs who averages double digits in scoring at 10.5 points per game while grabbing six rebounds a contest as well.  This should be a very competitive game with both teams fighting for a chance to get to the sweet sixteen.       </p>