By: Javon Harris, Sports Editor
After receiving a tough loss at the beginning of the season to a solid Thomas Jefferson team, the Raider Boys Basketball team has most certainly “bounced back.”
Upon Tuesday night, The Raider boys’ basketball team had been on a 4 game win streak, including winning a Fort Collins tournament down in Fort Collins. They defeated a decent Castle View team before heading out to Fort Collins where they would run past Rocky Mountain, Holy Family, and prevail against the host team Fort Collins in the championship game 51 to 44.
Senior captain Tarren Storey-Way led the way for the Raiders against Holy Family chipping in 22 points while senior forward Jalen Davis added 15 points to help the team beat a good Fort Collins team Saturday December 13th. They both hoped to continue this high level of play Tuesday night, where they would battle Smoky Hill in a non-league matchup.
Tuesday night, the Raiders traveled to Smoky Hill in hopes of keeping the win streak alive and despite a sloppy 1st quarter, in which the Raiders were down 16 to 2 at one point, came away victorious 70 to 61.
Junior guard Tyrei Randall stole the show in the 1st half as he drained deadly threes and got to the free throw line numerous times to help cut the Buffaloes lead and give the Raiders the 1st lead of the game going into halftime. The 2nd half wouldn’t nearly be as similar to the 1st half for the Raiders as they came out red hot behind Junior Elijah Reed who chipped in a solid 20 points that was just enough for them to get past the Buffaloes.
“We stayed together as a team,” said Randall who ended up with a game high 25 points and 5 assists, “we kept our composure and played together. Going forward we have a chance to be really good as long as we play as a team and play defense, nobody can stop us.” Indeed the team did keep their composure by coming back from a 16-2 deficit to win and improve to 5-1 on the season.
Next up for the Boys Basketball team is Centennial powerhouse, Cherokee Trail. The Raiders will host their 2nd home game of the season as the visiting Cougars come in on Thursday night December 18th. The Boys look to close this semester off with good grades and good wins as they shoot to improve to 6-1.
