Early notes from the Front Range League

<p>The basketball season is two weeks old and only three of the 12 teams in the 5A Front Range League have a losing record.</p> <p>What does it mean on the grand scale of things? Maybe not much. But with a season shrunk and a condensed playoff field not far ahead, every game tends to mean a little more.</p> <p>Here are four quick notables from Week 1.</p> <p><strong>It’s Greysen Carter’s team now</strong></p> <p>The Fairview standout averaged an impressive 17.5 points per game as a junior when he was paired with the league’s MVP in [player_tooltip player_id="526680" first="Jalen" last="Page"]. But with Page now gone, Carter will likely need to do even more if the Knights hope to win their fourth straight conference title.</p> <p>Through four games, Carter is averaging 21.5 PPG on 50 percent shooting. In a tight loss to Rangeview Wednesday, he scored 26 on 9 of 17 shooting. Then followed it up with 29 on 12 of 18 shooting in a win over Rocky Mountain.</p> <p>Carter, who is committed to play baseball at Vanderbilt, has a nice inside-out game. A year ago, he thrived leading the break, turning stout defense into easy buckets.</p> <p>Fairview, ranked the No. 1 team in the state by MaxPreps coming into the season, sandwiched wins against Rocky Mountain and Brighton with losses to ThunderRidge and Rangeview.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="917029" first="Jimmy" last="Starry"] and [player_tooltip player_id="770449" first="Drake" last="Arthur"] lead new-look Boulder</strong></p> <p>Boulder, the runner-up in the conference the past two seasons, followed an opening night defeat to Rock Canyon with wins over Arvada West and Broomfield.</p> <p>Starry hit a game-winning free throw against Broomfield Friday and is averaging 13.3 points per game through three games. Arthur has 13 PPG and is averaging seven boards.</p> <p>The pair were instrumental pieces for the Panthers a year ago when they reached the Sweet 16 under Riley Grabau. But now, with a handful seniors graduated from that group, the two appear ready to lead under new-coach Matthew Smith.</p> <p><strong>Legacy has taken a drastic step forward</strong></p> <p>The Lightning are 3-0 with a blowout win over Brighton followed by a pair of two-point victories over Castle View and Loveland.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="916976" first="Gavin" last="Poxson"] is averaging 15.7 PPG on 60 percent shooting to lead the way, while Tyson Spradling is at 12.3. Both also lead the team with an average of 6.3 boards. Those two along with Macully Sehr proved to be a nice core last year from a team that started slow but found its groove late, finishing 8-16.</p> <p>This team could turn heads as the season rolls along.</p> <p><strong>Kevin McMahon shines early for Broomfield</strong></p> <p>The Eagles are another team that graduated a core of strong seniors, including standouts [player_tooltip player_id="915334" first="Grant" last="Swenson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="990067" first="Ryan" last="Collins"].</p> <p>The torch, at least through four games, looks to have been passed to McMahon.</p> <p>The senior, who averaged just 3.2 PPG as a junior, is averaging 19.3 on 53 percent shooting. He had 22 and 20 in wins over Holy Family and Prairie View and 18 and 17 in losses to Erie and Boulder. At 6-5, the senior has a nice burst on the attack. He’s also proven lethal from outside the perimeter, hitting 7 of 15 from 3.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>