Class 1A district tournaments continue today and run through Saturday as teams try to earn a top three finish to reach the regional round next week. As we stated in a story on Wednesday, RPI standings from the end of the regular season will be used to seed teams in the regional bracket.
Since the numbers won’t change based on results from this week, we can get some early thoughts on how the regional tournaments may shape up. With semifinals on tap in most districts today and tomorrow, each bracket is down to four teams. So, we list the 12 remaining potential qualifiers in order by RPI from the end of the season.
Once we get down to nine official qualifiers in each bracket, then Colorado Preps can project regional pairings. RPI will be the dominant decider with teams moved to avoid district pairings in round one. The top three seeds in each bracket receive first round byes.
1A GIRLS NORTHEAST
This regional combines the top three finishers from Districts 4, 5 and 7. Briggsdale, Fleming, Merino and Haxtun remain in contention for the three spots from District 4 while Lone Star, Stratton, Idalia and Hi Plains are the four semifinalists in District 5. Two quarterfinals in District 7 have been delayed due to weather but for these purposes, we place the higher seeds in those two games on our list. Those teams are Simla and Elbert.
- Briggsdale
- Fleming
- Merino
- Lone Star
- Kiowa
- Stratton
- Idalia
- Evangelical Christian
- Simla
- Haxtun
- Elbert
- Hi Plains
1A GIRLS SOUTHEAST
The Southeast regional will include the top three finishers from Districts 2, 3 and 6. All three brackets are to the semifinals with McClave, Cheyenne Wells, Kit Carson and Cheraw battling for the three available slots in District 2 and Kim/Branson, South Baca, Springfield and La Veta doing the same in District 3. Sangre De Cristo, Centennial, Sierra Grande and Antonito pair up in the District 6 semifinals.
- McClave
- Sangre De Cristo
- Cheyenne Wells
- Kim/Branson
- Kit Carson
- South Baca
- Cheraw
- Springfield
- Centennial
- Sierra Grande
- Antonito
- La Veta
1A BOYS NORTHEAST
Similar to the girls’ division, District 7 still has two quarterfinal games on tap today that have been delayed due to weather. As higher seeds, Simla and Hanover are favored in the matchups so we put the Cubs and Hornets into our list of potential regional qualifiers. Evangelical Christian and Pikes Peak Christian are already through the semifinals in that bracket. Briggsdale, Haxtun, Merino and Prairie won quarterfinal games in District 4 last night and Genoa Hugo, Idalia, Stratton and Otis did the same in District 5.
- Evangelical Christian
- Briggsdale
- Haxtun
- Simla
- Merino
- Hanover
- Genoa Hugo
- Pikes Peak Christian
- Prairie
- Idalia
- Stratton
- Otis
1A BOYS SOUTHEAST
Districts 2, 3 and 6 have all moved to the semifinal round so there are four teams in each battling for the three available regional berths. Granada, McClave, Wiley and Cheyenne Wells are all in the top five of regional seeding but one team will be left out as they’re all inside District 2. Kim/Branson, Springfield, Primero and La Veta are battling in District 3 with Sierra Grande the favorite to win the District 7 crown. Creede, Cotopaxi and Mountain Valley are the three other semifinal clubs in that bracket.
- Granada
- Sierra Grande
- McClave
- Wiley
- Cheyenne Wells
- Kim/Branson
- Springfield
- Primero
- Creede
- La Veta
- Cotopaxi
- Mountain Valley
1A WESTERN REGIONAL
RPI will not come into play to pair the teams up on the Western side of the state. The first-place team from District 1 will meet the second place team from District 8 with the winner advancing to the state tournament. And then a second bid will go to the winner of the District 8 champion against the runner-up team from District 1.
District 8 has already determined regional qualifiers in the girls’ division as Flatirons Academy and Rocky Mountain Lutheran won semifinal games earlier this week. They meet on Saturday at Englewood high school to determine seed order. Flatirons is the defending state champion and heavily favored to land the win as they beat Rocky Mountain Lutheran 78-18 in regular season action.
The District 1 girls tournament begins today with Dove Creek and North Park the top two seeds. Same schedule for the District 1 boys tournament as Caprock Academy and Ouray are seeded first and second.
In District 8 boys, semifinals are set for today with defending state champion Belleview Christian meeting Flatirons Academy and Denver Jewish Day facing Denver Waldorf.
