Three weeks into the schedule and boys’ basketball teams have already hit the midway point of the regular season. As we do each Sunday, Colorado Preps takes a look at each conference race in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A and then lists the most important games coming up during the week. More in-depth previews of those contests will be provided in our daily reports.
Photo by Joel Priest.
CLASS 1A
5280: Belleview Christian won a big game with Mile High Academy 71-41 last week and they have control of the race – the Bruins are 4-0 in league play and tied with Denver Waldorf and Flatirons Academy (both 1-0) in first place.
- Tuesday: Denver Waldorf at Mile High Academy
- Thursday: Belleview Christian at Denver Waldorf
- Thursday: Mile High Academy at Denver Jewish Day
ARK VALLEY: Springfield opened league play with win over South Baca on Friday. Kim/Branson will have two league games this week against Wiley and South Baca with both on the road. Springfield has just one league contest at home. Kim/Branson and Springfield collide on the 26th.
- Tuesday: Kim/Branson at Wiley
- Thursday: Walsh at Springfield
- Friday: Kim/Branson at South Baca
BLACK FOREST: Simla (3-0) and Elbert (3-0) have the most wins and share the top spot with ECA (1-0) – three teams have a combined record of 15-3 so it should be a good race. All others have at least two league losses. ECA doesn’t face the other two until the final week. Simla and Elbert face off on the 24th.
HIGH PLAINS: Cheraw (2-0) and McClave (1-0) have the lead by one game over Eads, Granada and Cheyenne Wells. Kit Carson (0-2) is likely out of the title picture. Cheraw scored big win over C-Wells on Friday and the same night McClave upended Eads – Cards are 3-2 but were winless last season. Cheraw doesn’t have a league game this week but will face Eads and McClave in the following week.
- Tuesday: McClave at Granada
- Tuesday: Eads at Cheyenne Wells
- Friday: Cheyenne Wells at McClave
NORTH CENTRAL: Fleming, Prairie and Briggsdale are all 1-0 and those leaders start to square off this week. Fleming (3-2) and Briggsdale (5-2) the only league teams with winning records overall so their head-to-head contest is likely to determine the title. They meet on Monday the 22nd.
- Saturday: Prairie at Fleming
SOUTHERN PEAKS: Sangre De Cristo (2-0) and Creede (1-0) lead Sierra Grande (3-1) by one game in the standings. The Miners scored a very important win over Sierra Grande on Saturday. The two leaders meet this week and then Sierra Grande and Sangre De Cristo tangle next week.
- Saturday: Sangre De Cristo at Creede
YWKC: Idalia (2-0) is in good shape after beating Arickaree/Woodlin on Saturday. Their game with Hi Plains next week (26th) may now determine the championship.
NON-LEAGUE
- Tuesday: Genoa Hugo at Simla
- Tuesday: Peyton at Elbert
- Tuesday: Monte Vista at Sangre De Cristo
- Tuesday: Wray at Hi Plains
- Wednesday: Flatirons Academy vs Wray
- Saturday: Flatirons Academy at Briggsdale
- Saturday: Simla at Peyton
CLASS 2A
BLACK FOREST: Peyton and Colorado Springs School share the conference lead at 2-0 as both have wins over Calhan and DH Prep. The Panthers also had a great weekend; beating top 10 opponents Fowler and Sanford as part of the Fowler Tournament. Those wins should get them into the top 10 this week. The two leaders meet this week for their league game. They also tangle on the 23rd in non-league activity.
- Thursday: Colorado Springs School at Peyton
SANTA FE: Holly (4-0) and Fowler (3-0) continue to sit atop the standings with Hoehne (3-1), Swallows Charter (2-1) and Crowley County (1-1) one game back. Holly won a non-league game with Fowler on Saturday so they become the favorite based on that victory. The league contest between the two is set for the 25th in Holly. Holly has two games with third place teams this week. Crowley County and Swallows Charter were slated to play last Friday in what would have been an important game for third place but it was postponed due to COVID. A new date for that game has not been set.
- Tuesday: Holly at Swallows Charter
- Friday: Hoehne at Crowley County
- Saturday: Holly at Hoehne
SOUTHERN PEAKS: Crested Butte (2-0) and Sanford (1-0) have the lead by one game on Monte Vista (1-1), Center (2-1) and Del Norte (0-1). The two leaders meet this week with the winner gaining control of the title chase.
- Friday: Sanford at Crested Butte
LOWER PLATTE: Wray (4-0) and Yuma (3-0) continue to set the pace with Holyoke (2-1) and Wiggins (1-1) one game back. Wray beat Sedgwick County and Yuma dropped Merino last week in important wins. Yuma hosts Wray this year but not until March 5th. Wiggins and Holyoke will determine third place in their make up game on Monday.
- Monday: Wiggins at Holyoke (Make up from last Saturday)
- Tuesday: Sedgwick County at Holyoke
- Tuesday: Yuma at Haxtun
- Saturday: Wray at Merino
SAN JUAN: Mancos (4-0) is in first place with Ignacio and Dove Creek (Both 3-0). Dolores (2-1) is one game off the pace. The big one is this week between the Bluejays and Bobcats. Dove Creek also beat Dolores on Saturday but it was a non-league game as they meet again on the final day of the regular season (March 6th).
- Tuesday: Ignacio at Mancos
- Friday: Mancos at Dolores
UNION PACIFIC: Limon (4-0) clinched the championship on Friday as they beat Byers and Genoa Hugo knocked off Deer Trail. That left the Badgers with a one game lead on three second place teams with just one game remaining. Since they’ve beaten all three clubs already, they’ve clinched a spot in the state playoff bracket. Second place could go to the Friday winner of Byers and Genoa Hugo.
- Friday: Byers at Genoa Hugo
WEST SLOPE NORTH: West Grand (3-0) has jumped out to the lead with Meeker and Vail Christian (both 1-0) also sharing the top spot. Meeker opened league play by beating Soroco on Saturday (70-46). Vail Christian went into quarantine so games with Soroco and North Park were postponed. Vail Christian-North Park will now play on Thursday. Hayden is another conference team into quarantine so that could impact future schedules as well.
- Thursday: Soroco at North Park
- Friday: Meeker at West Grand
WEST SLOPE SOUTH: Caprock Academy created a tie for the top spot with their win over DeBeque on Saturday. Both teams are now 4-1 in league play. Olathe is also 2-1 but had to postpone games with both the Dragons and Eagles during last week. Those teams now collide this week but the postponed games also need to be made up as they become very important to the league standings. Each team play each other twice to determine the overall league champion.
- Wednesday: Olathe at Caprock Academy
- Friday: DeBeque at Olathe
MILE HIGH: As expected, Highland (5-0) and Denver Christian (4-0) sit at the top. They lead Longmont Christian and Lyons (both 2-1) by one game. Highland has already beaten both third place teams so they’re in good shape for a top 2 finish. Their game with Denver Christian isn’t until March 6th.
- Friday: Denver Christian at Lyons
NON-LEAGUE
- Tuesday: Limon at Merino
- Tuesday: Byers at Denver Christian
- Saturday: Strasburg at Limon
CLASS 3A
METRO: Four teams share the top spot as Manual (4-0), Lutheran (3-0), Kent Denver (3-0) and Colorado Academy (2-0) all remain unbeaten. There is an asterisk there as CA and Kent were scheduled to play last week but that game was cancelled and will not be made up. That leaves an unbalanced league schedule among some of the top clubs in the division. All other conference teams have at least two league losses. Big week for Kent as they also have Lutheran coming up on the 22nd.
- Tuesday: Faith Christian at Kent Denver
- Thursday: Kent Denver at Manual
PATRIOT: Sterling (4-0) and Brush (2-0) continue to hold down the top spot and will meet this week to determine the leader at the midway point of the schedule. Strasburg and Resurrection Christian (both 3-1) are tied for third but the Indians gained that tiebreaker based on beating the Cougars last week (58-56). Eaton fell to 2-2 with the loss at Estes Park last week but will be a tough out for some of the teams ahead of them including two such matchups this week.
- Tuesday: Eaton at Strasburg
- Thursday: Brush at Sterling
- Saturday: Sterling at Eaton
TRI PEAKS: Manitou Springs and St Mary’s (both 5-0) hold down first place with Buena Vista and Salida tied for third (both 4-1). Buena Vista was upset by Vanguard on Saturday and that cost them a share of the league lead. They can make up some of that lost ground this week as they face both first-place clubs. Salida’s league loss is against Manitou Springs by one point. St Mary’s plays both third place teams this week and wins give them and Manitou Springs a nice cushion going into their matchup next week (25th).
- Wednesday: Buena Vista at Manitou Springs
- Wednesday: St Mary’s at Salida
- Friday: St Mary’s at Buena Vista
WESTERN SLOPE: Huge win for Coal Ridge over Aspen on Saturday. It pushed the Titans to 2-0 in league play and kept them in first place with Basalt (2-0) and Roaring Fork (1-0). Coal Ridge has as many wins overall (5-1) as those two combined so they become the favorites because of Saturday’s win. Basalt has a loss to Aspen but it came in non-league play.
- Tuesday: Moffat County at Coal Ridge (Bulldogs have not played a league game yet)
- Thursday: Roaring Fork at Aspen
- Saturday: Basalt at Coal Ridge
CONFLUENCE: DSST-Conservatory Green (4-0) has the most wins but shares the top spot with Lotus (2-0) and DSST-College View (2-0). DSST-Green Valley (3-1) is alone in fourth. Green Valley lost to Conservatory Green last week
- Saturday: DSST-Green Valley at Lotus
- Saturday: DSST-College View at DSST-Conservatory Green
FRONTIER: Pinnacle (6-0) and Arrupe Jesuit (4-0) top the standings with DSST-Montview (5-1) and Bennett (4-1) one game back. Pinnacle has already beaten Bennett but doesn’t face Arrupe until the 27th and Montview until March 2nd. None of the top four clubs meet this week.
INTERMOUNTAIN: Centauri (3-0) remains alone in first by one game over Alamosa (2-1) and by two over everyone else. The Falcons finish up the first round of league games against Bayfield on Friday. Game two with Alamosa is on the 26th. Alamosa can take a huge step to a top-2 finish by beating Pagosa Springs later this week.
- Saturday: Alamosa at Pagosa Springs
