By Dawit Gebremariam ’21

The 2021 Regis Boys Basketball Team are establishing themselves once again as a Colorado basketball powerhouse this season. They are off to their best start since the 2014-15 season with a 12-1 regular season record and are coming off a win in their Sweet 16 matchup against Doherty by a score of 79-36.

The Raiders are ranked as the number 2 seed in the 5A CHSAA State Tournament. And after witnessing them come back from a 17 point second half deficit to beat the East Angels, this team is the real deal. When the team chopped the lead down and end up scoring 53 points in the second half to win, fans saw that the potential is there to put up another banner in the Guy Gibbs Gym.

Led by the likes of seniors Blakely Staughton, Michael Wolf, Alonzo Paul, and others, the Raiders have been able to steamroll opponents winning by an average margin of 26.8 points per game this season.

They have averaged 70.1 points per game with a 50 percent field goal percentage and four players averaging double-digit points. With only thirteen games in the regular season, the team shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Yet the seeds for this team were planted during last years season as the Raiders were able to turn their season around from starting 0-9 to making it to the Great 8 in the CHSAA 5A Tournament.

“Starting 0-9 was really difficult. Having that test early on will benefit us this year” Staughton said of last year’s run. That experience from last year is certainly paying off this year. Yet, this team seems to be more unique from those teams of the past. With a season shortened due to COVID, this team has been able to come together as one cohesive unit and play great team basketball.

When asked what makes this team special, senior point guard, Alonzo Paul, talked about how the teams enjoyment of the game of basketball and of each other are huge keys to their success in game. Whether its making jokes with each other or giving advice to their teammates, this years team are a close knit group and are pushing each other to get better everyday.Yet with six out of the thirteen players being seniors on the team, the Raiders are in ‘win-now’ mode. With their extreme success this season, the boys have their hopes on winning the whole thing.

“The goal is to win a state championship. We’ve been preparing the last seven months or so to work towards that goal, and I think this is going to be the year,” said senior leader Michael Wolf.

The crazy thing is that this team hasn’t even reached their full potential yet. Alonzo Paul said, “I don’t think we’ve gotten the chance to reached our full potential yet… I think when we start stepping it up playing against better competition, you’ll see our full potential, shooting well and having fun playing the game.”

With senior center Ty Bergman back at full strength and junior forward Kyle Sandler returning from injury, the Raiders are finally healthy and still have another gear that this team can unlock. With the regular season done and playoffs continuing, the Raiders look well on the road to glory. They are experienced, battle tested, and are ready for anything that stands in their way.

They are finally hitting their stride and are looking like the deadliest team in Colorado.