BOYS BASKETBALL: Rankings Announced (Feb 10th)

Most changes in the rankings this week can be found in Class 1A where the top two teams from last week’s poll suffered costly conference losses.  Those two outcomes caused major changes in the small school rankings.  Otherwise most of the top ten teams were able to put together strong performances as only three new teams were able to crack the rankings.   New rankings are released each Sunday of the regular season.

CLASS 5A

1.       Denver East (18-2)

2.       Mountain Vista (18-0)

3.       Chatfield (18-1)

4.       Regis (15-4)

5.       ThunderRidge (14-5)

6.       Fairview (16-3)

7.       Eaglecrest (15-4)

8.       Fossil Ridge (15-4)

9.       Cherokee Trail (12-7)

10.   Grandview (13-6) 

NEW:  Cherokee Trail

DROPPED OUT:  Rangeview (15-4)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Monarch (15-4), Aurora Central (15-6), Columbine (14-4), Legend (14-5)

NOTES:  Mountain Vista moved very close to wrapping up the Continental crown with an exhaustive 77-72 overtime win over ThunderRidge last Friday.  The win moved the Golden Eagles to 7-0 in league play with a one game lead on both Regis and ThunderRidge and since they’ve already beaten both challenges, they’re in great shape to land the coveted league championship.  ThunderRidge dropped one spot to fifth with Regis bumping up one to fourth with the result.  The Raiders and Grizzlies face off Friday in a matchup likely to determine 2^nd place.  Cherokee Trail is the lone newcomer this week as they scored a huge 53-50 win over Grandview.  Those two entered the game tied with Eaglecrest for first in the Centennial so now only the Cougars and Raptors share the spot.  Those two also meet on Friday to possibly determine the eventual league champion.  Cherokee Trail replaces Rangeview which dropped a key game to Aurora Central that created a three way tie between them and Brighton for the East Metro lead.  Grandview fell two spots to tenth because of the loss to Cherokee Trail and Eaglecrest moved up two by beating both Cherry Creek and Arapahoe.  Denver East kept rolling.  The Angels handled Highlands Ranch (73-54) stretching their win streak to ten.  Chatfield has won 16 straight after disposing of Bear Creek (76-52).  That kept their two game margin over Columbine in the Jeffco intact.

CLASS 4A

1.       D’Evelyn (18-1)

2.       Sand Creek (18-0)

3.       Lewis Palmer (16-3)

4.       Valor Christian (17-4)

5.       Wasson (18-1)

6.       Broomfield (15-4)

7.       Cheyenne Mountain (15-4)

8.       Pueblo East (16-2)

9.       Thomas Jefferson (13-7)

10.   Denver South (17-4)

NEW:  None

DROPPED OUT:  None

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Longmont (15-4), Widefield (14-5), Windsor (14-6), Frederick (14-6), Durango (12-4), Sierra (12-7), Golden (13-6), Evergreen (13-6), Thompson Valley (13-6)

NOTES:  Sand Creek continues their climb up the 4A ladder as their critical win over Lewis Palmer moved them up to second this week.  The victory helped the Scorpions also keep their overall perfect record intact and put them in sole possession of first place inside the rugged Pikes Peak.  They have a rematch with the Rangers on February 19^th in a game that will likely determine whether Sand Cree wins the title outright or if they share it with Lewis Palmer.  Despite the loss, Lewis Palmer slipped just one spot to third as they rebounded to knock off Cheyenne Mountain later in the week.  The Indians also lost to Valor Christian on Saturday but those two losses only cost them two spots to seventh.  Cheyenne Mountain has four losses this year with two to Lewis Palmer and one apiece to Sand Creek and Lewis Palmer.  All four of those teams are ranked in the top four this week.  Broomfield was upset by Longmont in the Northern league but the Eagles remain alone in first.  They dropped two spots to sixth because of the loss.  Wasson continues to roll through the Colorado Springs Metro and as they keep winning their ranking also improves.  They’re in the top five for the first time this week.  Valor Christian’s win over Cheyenne Mountain also brought them back into the top five as well.

CLASS 3A

1.       Brush (14-1)

2.       Kent Denver (14-1)

3.       Colorado Springs Christian (13-2)

4.       Holy Family (14-2)

5.       Sterling (13-3)

6.       University (13-3)

7.       Pagosa Springs (13-2)

8.       Roaring Fork (13-3)

9.       Moffat County (14-1)

10.   Centauri (12-4)

NEW:  Moffat County

DROPPED OUT:  Colorado Academy (13-3), Alamosa (13-4)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Aspen (13-3), Pinnacle (10-6), La Junta (13-4), James Irwin (12-4), St Mary’s (10-7), Manitou Springs (10-7), Estes Park (9-7), Fort Lupton (12-4)

NOTES:  While the top four teams remain solid in their ranking again this week, none of the bottom six teams are in the same place as a week ago.  Roaring Fork, Alamosa and Colorado Academy all suffered losses and that caused major changes in the lower half of the poll.  Sterling and University took the most advantage each climbing four spots to fifth and sixth respectively.  Their head-to-head collision on Tuesday will help us determine if we have them in the correct order and also help decide the top three spots inside the Patriot.  University trails Brush and Sterling by one game in the race and since they’ve already dropped a league game to Brush another loss to Sterling likely leaves them for third place.  A win gets them closer to second and possibly a share of first place.  Roaring Fork lost their rematch with Aspen and dropped two spots to seventh.  The Rams are now tied with Moffat County for the Western Slope lead.  They’ll meet in Craig on Saturday.  The first meeting represents the only loss for Moffat County who finally breaks into the rankings for the first time this week.  The next six days will determine their league fate as they meet third place Aspen on Tuesday as prep for their aforementioned clash with Roaring Fork.  Colorado Academy and Alamosa each were beaten twice in league play so both the Mustangs and Moose were dropped from the rankings.  Alamosa entered the week with momentum from a huge win over then #2 Pagosa Springs but were beaten by both Centauri and Monte Vista over the weekend.  Centauri jumped into the rankings as a result of that win as they join Moffat County as newcomers.  The Falcons were slated for a first place battle with Pagosa Springs on Saturday but the contest was postponed due to travel conditions.

CLASS 2A

1.       Limon (15-0)

2.       Peyton (14-2)

3.       Yuma (14-1)

4.       Sanford (11-3)

5.       Lutheran (11-4)

6.       Resurrection Christian (12-4)

7.       Ignacio (13-3)

8.       Hayden (14-2)

9.       Heritage Christian (14-1)

10.   Rocky Ford (14-2)

NEW:  None

DROPPED OUT:  None

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Haxtun (12-3), Sierra Grande (12-3), Denver Christian (11-3), Sangre De Cristo (10-5), Akron (12-5), Dolores (11-5), Meeker (11-5)

NOTES:  Top ranked Limon barely remained unbeaten and atop the rankings on Saturday night as they survived for a more difficult than expected 42-40 win over Burlington.  Both teams were unbeaten in league play but since the Cougars had not posted a win outside the Union Pacific, they were heavy underdogs to the top ranked Badgers.  Limon played the game without 18 point a game scorer Chandler Dohe and could never shake the pesky Cougars.  Yuma was also involved in a very tight conference game but they came up short on the road falling to a very talented Haxtun club by two points.  That loss cost the Indians the Lower Platte lead as they’re now tied with the Bulldogs and Caliche (1A) for the top spot.  It also dropped the Indians one spot in this week’s poll.  Peyton took advantage as the Panthers climbed to second as they scored a nice win over arch-rival Calhan to create a two game lead over the Bulldogs and two others inside the Black Forest.  Peyton is just one point losses to Limon and Lutheran away from a perfect season and likely number one ranking.  The rest of the poll remains the same as a week ago as teams four through six cruised the week with wins.  Lutheran seems to be getting hot at the right time as they collected a high quality win over a 13-win 3A team in Colorado Academy.  That win finished up their 3A Metro league slate and they likely will finish in a third place tie.  The only problem with our rankings is that we can’t find room for quality teams such as Haxtun, Denver Christian and Sierra Grande who are all playing good basketball but at the bottom of the poll, Hayden has won ten straight and leads the Western Slope by two games; Heritage Christian has just the one loss to Resurrection Christian but has a win over Denver Christian while Rocky Ford has won ten straight to create a three game lead in the Santa Fe.

CLASS 1A

1.       Fleming (12-2)

2.       Shining Mountain (14-1)

3.       McClave (14-1)

4.       Caliche (12-3)

5.       Cheyenne Wells (14-2)

6.       Hi Plains (12-3)

7.       Holly (11-5)

8.       Elbert (10-4)

9.       Otis (12-2)

10.   Denver Jewish Day (10-3)

NEW:  Denver Jewish Day

DROPPED OUT:  La Veta (14-3)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Vail Christian (11-4), Wiley (10-6), Community Christian (11-5), Pawnee (8-5), Prairie (11-4), Granada (9-4), Norwood (11-5), Deer Trail (11-4)

NOTES:  While rankings in the remaining four divisions stayed virtually the same, that’s not the case in Class 1A where the top two teams from last week both went down to defeat so there are many changes in the rankings.   The rankings are also confusing this week as head-to-head is our number one criteria but we have many examples of team A beating team B only to see team C beat team A making it difficult to put teams in a “sensible” order.  The easy answer this week is number one as Fleming becomes the third team in as many weeks to hold down the spot.  They collected an easy win over Weldon Valley on Friday night and then continued their hot shooting with a quality road win at Hi Plains the next day.  That win in a battle of #3 vs #4 pushed the Wildcats into the top spot heading into the final two weeks of the season.  Shining Mountain and McClave both entered the week unbeaten but both suffered frustrating losses.  The Lions were coming off a great win over 3A Kent Denver but stumbled in a narrow loss to Denver Jewish Day.  McClave lost a 14 point fourth quarter lead in a one point home loss to Cheyenne Wells.  Ironically the Lions and Cardinals are ranked second and third in the state but because of their losses last week likely won’t win their conference championships.  Caliche moved into a first place tie with Haxtun and Yuma atop the Lower Platte bumped up one spot to fourth.  Cheyenne Wells is fifth this week but the Tigers are probably the most difficult team to rank this week.  They beat McClave this week but lost to Holly the previous week and then Holly was upset by Wiley.  So with the Tigers we kind of split the middle and put them in between McClave and Holly.  Hi Plains fell two spots to sixth because of the Fleming loss and Holly dropped one with the narrow loss to Wiley that ended their eight game winning streak.  Elbert and Otis stayed put while Denver Jewish Day used their win over Shining Mountain and a loss by La Veta to find a spot in the top ten for the first time this season.  They narrowly edged Vail Christian and Wiley for the open vacancy.  The Saints knocked off a very good Meeker team and now is in position to finish second in the Western Slope chase.  Wiley scored the aforementioned win over red hot Holly.