MONUMENT – Finding Lewis-Palmer boys basketball’s best strength is no easy task. In fact, it might be easier to find its best weakness, but again, that’s not something that a casual observer can just pinpoint over the course of 32 minutes.
A few wins helped the Rangers jump to No. 2 in the Class 4A boys basketball rankings and it’s a spot that they looked every bit deserving of after beating Widefield 87-35 on Tuesday. The full range of their abilities were on display and as a result, the Rangers (5-0 overall) are looking more and more like the team that went on to win the 2019 4A state championship.
“We’ve seen a little bit of adversity,” coach Bill Benton said. “The Holy Family game was definitely a test for us, but I like where we’re at. I see similarities (to the 2019 team) in the joy that they have watching each other play and playing with each other, sharing the basketball and those things.”
Little time went by before the L-P home crowd got a glimpse of just how versatile this team is going to be this season.
They can score down low.
In the early stages of the game, the Rangers were trying to set the tone in the post. They kept feeding Brady Jones the ball and he either went to work on the block or if he was outside the paint, had no issue attacking the basket.
“I take a bit of pride (in establishing the tone down low),” Jones said. “We each have a chance to have a (productive) night. I take a lot of pride starting it fast and throwing our first punch.”
They can score from the outside.
Jones scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter forcing the Gladiators (2-3) to make some adjustments. They started collapsing more in the second in order to get extra defenders around him to make scoring more difficult.
Jones just kicked the ball out to Cameron Lowe. The Air Force commit got his first good looks in the second quarter and knocked down three 3-pointers and two additional field goals. He ended the night scoring a game-high 20 points and they all came in the second and third quarters.
“We like to work inside-out, especially when we have a size advantage inside,” Lowe said. “When (Jones) gets going, it opens up me. I have no problem getting him the ball because he’ll score and the defense will shift its focus so that opens up me.”
And several others. Eli Robinson added 13 points and Cohen Edmondson scored eight. The team as a whole made 34 shots and went 14 of 15 from the free throw line. Shamari Moncrief and Travaris Coleman each scored 11 points to lead Widefield.
Offense is certainly a strength, but the Rangers can also defend.
With a desire to push the pace of the game, Benton likes to add a little pressure on the defensive side of the ball to more or less give the offense a little kickstart.
“It’s hard to run when you’re getting the ball at the net each time,” Benton said. “If we can get some pressure on teams, turn them over some and get some easy runouts that helps with the point total.”
The Rangers like to play an aggressive man-to-man set, but Benton threw in a 1-2-2 press at times to provide some different looks.
“We mixed a little bit of that in there, yeah,” he said.
And it worked. It all worked.
The Rangers will push through a non-league slate that involves Sand Creek, Vista PEAK, Sierra and Lutheran before heading into the winter break. They’ll see a few more non-league battles against Pueblo East and Chaparral before diving into PPAC play.