BOYS BASKETBALL: State Rankings Released

With the second half of the basketball schedule hitting full stride this week, Colorado Preps has released their first boys basketball rankings of the season.  Even though the schedule was limited last week, there were several important games that affected the rankings in the upper three classifications.  Classes 2A and 1A for the most part, took last week off, but all the teams get back on the court this week.

 

CLASS 1A

1.       McClave (7-0)

2.       Shining Mountain (6-0)

3.       Caliche (5-1)

4.       Hi Plains (4-1)

5.       Deer Trail (8-0)

6.       Fleming (4-1)

7.       Cheyenne Wells (6-0)

8.       Pawnee (4-2)

9.       Vail Christian (4-1)

10.   Otis (5-1)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Prairie (5-1), La Veta (7-2), Granada (3-2), Peetz (2-4)

NOTES:  After winning seven games in December, McClave is the number one ranked team in the first 1A rankings of the season.  The Cardinals finished off an impressive month by winning the Lamar Holiday Tournament title by one point over Wiley but may have been more impressive with their 18 point win at Hi Plains seven days before claiming the tournament championship.  Shining Mountain, which collected their fifth win over a larger school on Saturday in a victory over Holyoke, is a very close second.  Caliche and Hi Plains which lost to 2A power Haxtun and McClave as previously mentioned hold down the third and fourth spots.  Caliche of course is the four-time defending state champions while the Patriots return all five starters from a team that reached the state semifinals.  Deer Trail and Cheyenne Wells join McClave and Shining Mountain in the unbeaten ranks.  The Eagles and Tigers are split up by Fleming in the fifth and seventh spots.  Fleming has just one loss to Caliche on their record although they struggled for an overtime victory against Briggsdale in their final game before the break.  Pawnee has a tough first week back on the court as they will face a road trip to Fleming on Friday before hosting Otis the next night.  Otis earned the tenth spot narrowly over Prairie.  Their resumes to date are almost identical so the Bulldogs got the slight nod based on tradition.  High scoring Vail Christian may be a surprise in the rankings.  The Saints lost to 4A Battle Mountain in their opener before rolling up 183 points in their final two wins over North Park and Vail Mountain.  They also have a quality win over Norwood.

 

CLASS 2A

1.       Limon (7-0)

2.       Lutheran (3-1)

3.       Yuma (5-0)

4.       Haxtun (6-0)

5.       Peyton (5-1)

6.       Sanford (5-1)

7.       Ignacio (4-1)

8.       Denver Christian (5-1)

9.       Resurrection Christian (3-3)

10.   Hayden (4-2)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Custer County (5-2), Sierra Grande (4-2), Crowley County (6-1), Heritage Christian (6-0), Alexander Dawson (4-0), Springfield (6-2), Simla (4-1)

NOTES:  Class 2A may be the deepest classification this year as there are at least 15-16 teams worthy of a top ten ranking at this point of the season.  Limon holds down the top spot in the rankings to begin January but the Badgers will be tested right out of the game on Saturday when they face Peyton.  The Panthers are a one point loss to Lutheran to open the season from probably being ranked number two in the poll.  Instead they sit fifth in the first Colorado Preps rankings behind the Lights and unbeaten Yuma and Haxtun.  Yuma has a quality two point win over Resurrection Christian as their highlight of December while Haxtun took out four time defending 1A state champion Caliche in the opening month as well.  The Bulldogs are in the division for the first time this year after spending several campaigns in Class 1A.  Sanford which has just a loss to 3A unbeaten Pagosa Springs holds down the sixth spot.  Ignacio also fell to the Pirates by three points in their final game before the break but also has four wins against out-of-state opponents.  The Bobcats are seventh in the opening poll.  Defending state champion Denver Christian suffered a blowout loss to 3A Kent Denver but has been strong against 2A competition.  Resurrection Christian has played maybe the most difficult schedule of any 2A team and despite their 3-3 record, we expect the Cougars to be a factor in the post-season.  They came within two points of Yuma while playing in one of the most difficult atmospheres in Class 2A.  Hayden reached the finals of the Steamboat Shootout with wins over Montrose and Green River WY.  Their only losses are against 4A power D’Evelyn and Wyoming small school heavyweight Little Snake River.  They edged several quality teams such as Custer County, Sierra Grande, Crowley County and unbeaten Heritage Christian and Alexander Dawson for the final spot in the rankings.

 

CLASS 3A

1.       Kent Denver (5-0)

2.       Pagosa Springs (6-0)

3.       Brush (6-0)

4.       Holy Family (5-1)

5.       Peak to Peak (7-1)

6.       Colorado Springs Christian (4-2)

7.       Faith Christian (3-5)

8.       Aspen (5-1)

9.       Eaton (4-3)

10.   Colorado Academy (8-0)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Centauri (7-1), Estes Park (5-2), Jefferson Academy (4-2), Sterling (5-2), Roaring Fork (5-2), Alamosa (6-3), Valley (3-4), Machebeuf (4-2), University (5-2)

NOTES:  The top three spots in the Class 3A rankings are held by the lone unbeaten teams remaining in the division.  Kent Denver rolled through a strong December schedule including solid wins over University, Denver Christian and Eaton.  Pagsoa Springs played very well at the Buena Vista Tournament including quality wins over Jefferson Academy and Denver Science.  They also downed 2A powers Sanford and Ignacio during the month.  There was some confusion about the results against Sangre De Cristo last week but the Pirates played their JV in the 59-39 loss so the game does not count against their varsity record.  Brush right now is probably the favorite to land the Patriot League crown and begins a tough January schedule by meeting Yuma and Jefferson Academy on Friday and Saturday.  Holy Family and Peak to Peak are basically separated by a result against Eaton.  Holy Family beat the Reds while Peak to Peak dropped the season opener to Eaton so the Tigers get the edge over the Pumas in the race for fourth and fifth.  Spots six through eight are determined on a stair step basis.  Colorado Springs Christian beat Faith Christian while Faith Christian toppled Aspen.  Faith Christian remains in the rankings despite the 3-5 because the five time state champions have earned that level of respect plus we understand they will be adding transfers to the mix when the January schedule opens.  Eaton has played their traditionally difficult early season slate and that continues this week with games against Machebeuf and Faith Christian.  The Reds have wins over Peak to Peak and Jefferson Academy and losses to Kent Denver and Holy Family.   At 8-0, Colorado Academy is not ranked higher because their schedule doesn’t compare favorably to teams ranked ahead of them.  Their best wins are against Alamosa and Denver Science.

 

CLASS 4A

1.       Valor Christian (10-2)

2.       D’Evelyn (8-1)

3.       Pueblo East (8-1)

4.       Lewis Palmer (7-2)

5.       Thomas Jefferson (8-2)

6.       Cheyenne Mountain (8-0)

7.       Sand Creek (7-0)

8.       Longmont (5-0)

9.       Broomfield (5-3)

10.   Denver South (7-2)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Discovery Canyon (8-0), Wasson (7-1), Falcon (7-2), Eagle Valley (7-2), Windsor (6-4)

NOTES:  With so many quality teams in Class 4A, the separation between numbers one and ten is not that much.  Valor Christian is unbeaten against 4A opponents and based on their exciting win over D’Evelyn, the Eagles take hold of the top spot in our first rankings.  The Eagles have dropped games against Doherty and Columbine by a total of 15 points.  Against Valor, D’Evelyn was seeking a third consecutive high quality win.  They knocked off both Lewis Palmer and Thomas Jefferson to close December so despite the loss to the Eagles, the Jaguars claim the second spot.  Pueblo East earned a slight edge over Lewis Palmer in the battle between third and fourth.  Pueblo East is unbeaten against in-state competition and also has a win over Chaparral while the Rangers lost to the Wolverines last month.  Thomas Jefferson dropped the one point decision to D’Evelyn and also lost to Legend but the Spartans have quality wins over Cherry Creek, Pine Creek, Montbello, Cherokee Trial and Rampart to finish out the top five.  Cheyenne Mountain, Sand Creek and Longmont are a combined 20-0 but they have not face the same level of competition as the top five.  Discovery Canyon is another unbeaten left out of the rankings because of scheduling.  They were bypassed in favor of Broomfield which has four wins against 5A opponents and Denver South which is unbeaten against in-state competition including a 35 point win over 3A five time defending state champion Faith Christian.

 

CLASS 5A

1.      Denver East (9-2)

2.       Mountain Vista (10-0)

3.       Arapahoe (8-1)

4.       ThunderRidge (7-3)

5.       Overland (8-1)

6.       Chatfield (8-1)

7.       Columbine (7-2)

8.       Regis (7-3)

9.       Rangeview (7-2)

10.   Eaglecrest (6-2)

TEAMS TO WATCH:  Boulder (6-1), Arvada West (8-2), Legend (7-2), Fossil Ridge (6-2), Rampart (8-3), Fairview (5-2), Highlands Ranch (7-3), Grandview (6-3), Aurora Central (7-4), Lincoln (7-3)

NOTES:  Other than Denver East, Mountain Vista and Arapahoe, its rather difficult to differentiate between many of the top teams in the big school ranks.  Several teams spent the month trading wins against one another so the resumes to date are very much alike.  Denver East though remains the team to beat.  The Angels rolled through their in-state competition and suffered only two losses against a slew of talented out of state opponents.  Mountain Vista scored a huge win over Arapahoe on Friday to remain the only unbeaten team remaining in the division.  Regis also moved close to the top five after downing Grandview in impressive fashion on Friday.  The Raiders struggled early in December but seem to be playing much better basketball as the January schedule opens.