Heading into the weekend, 22 teams still have dreams of a state title. By the end of the night Saturday, that number will be trimmed to eight as the regional round will set the field for the upcoming state tournament. Here is a quick look at the match-ups for this weekend.
REGION ONE – WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY (SATURDAY)
11:30am #1 De Beque (19-2) vs #2 Primero (14-8)
2:30pm #1 Sangre de Cristo (20-2) vs #2 Ouray (13-6)
This region pits the champions from District 1 against the runner-up from District 6, and the District 6 champ against the second place team from District 1. De Beque is the defending Class 1A state champion, and the Dragons have won 44 of their last 46 games. They tied for the top spot in the mixed Western Slope league, but took the title by owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with Vail Christian. Their losses came in consecutive outings, by a total of three points, 72-70 in OT at Plateau Valley, and 43-42 at West Grand. Both of those teams are playing in the Class 2A regionals this weekend. None of their stats are available, but 2019 Player of the Year, Wes Ryan, leads a talented bunch for coach Jake Higuera.
Primero shocked a quite a few people by advancing to regionals, but the Bulldogs closed out the regular season by winning eight of their last nine games to get in contention. They went on to grab wins in the first two rounds of the District 6 tournament, including a 59-56 upset of Cotopaxi in the semifinals. Sophomore Michael Damelio led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures in that contest with 18 points. They were doubled up by Sangre de Cristo in the championship game, 70-35.
Sangre finished second to De Beque in the state tournament last season, and has been on a mission to take that final step this season. The Thunderbirds opened with 13 straight wins before being handed an 11-point loss by Raton (NM). They responded with four more wins, including a 68-63 decision over 3A state qualifier Salida. Their lone in-state loss came against Kim/Branson, who is also in the regional round this weekend. Sangre won the Southern Peaks title, before rolling to the District 6 title, winning games by 39, 40, and 35 last week.
As a team, the Thunderbirds average 64 points a game, with 23 coming from senior guard Cole Christensen, who also adds more than five rebounds, with almost six assists and four steals. Kevin Enriquez (9.8), Mario Enriquez (9.6), and Leighton Curtis (9.2) combine for close to 29 points a game.
Ouray put together a third place finish in the mixed San Juan Basin, trailing only 2A regional qualifiers Mancos and Ignacio in the standings. The Trojans had won five of six before falling to De Beque 65-64 in the District 1 title game. They led that contest 51-44 heading into the fourth quarter. Stuart Owens was one of four players in double figures for Ouray in that game, putting up 16 points.
REGION TWO – ENGLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL (FRIDAY AND SATURDAY)
Bracket One
2:00pm #6 Longmont Christian (10-11) vs #7 Haxtun (10-12)
winner plays #1 Mile High Academy (19-3) 6:30pm Saturday
Mile High Academy turned in a second place finish in the 5280 league during the regular season, but did that one notch better in the District 8 tournament. They were able to avenge one of their earlier losses by beating Denver Jewish Day 34-25 in the finals. The Mustangs had fallen to DJD 58-45 in mid-January. Blake Essex leads the team with 20.8 points, 14 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 4.4 blocks a night. The 6’8” junior also records close to three steals a game. Dylan McCottry and Andrew Frain each adds around 11 points.
As the only 1A team in the Mile High league, Longmont Christian took some lumps during the regular season and only finished ninth in the standings. The Warriors made some noise early in the District 4 tournament, bumping Prairie from the bracket in the quarterfinals and then upsetting the #1 seed, Briggsdale, in the semis. That 64-51 victory secured a spot in the regional round. They would see their modest three-game winning streak snapped by Merino, 47-32 in the championship contest. Seniors Ryan Shellenberger, Nick Holst, and Lee Saunders lead a very experienced squad.
Haxtun is the opposite of Longmont Christian, with only one senior and one junior on its roster. The Fightin’ Bulldogs turned a fifth place finish in the rugged mixed Lower Platte into a strong enough RPI to gain the #1 seed for the District 5 bracket. Haxtun won its first two tournament games by a combined tally of 142-85, and appeared to be in cruise control after keeping Stratton/Liberty scoreless in the first quarter of the championship game. A late flurry by the Knighted Eagles cut the final margin to seven, 66-59. Haxtun has several athletic big men, led by Isaac Andersen and Ryan Tempel, but sophomore guard Owen Knode really drives the team for first year head coach Bryce Bivins.
Bracket Two
5:00pm #5 Merino (14-8) vs #8 Stratton/Liberty (12-10)
winner plays #2 Denver Waldorf (15-5) 2:45pm Saturday
Denver Waldorf went unscathed throughout 5280 play, but the Spartans did have some close calls. They beat Beth Eden Baptist and Denver Jewish Day by three points each, had a four-point win over Mile High Academy, and topped Rocky Mountain Lutheran by five points. Those narrow margins caught up with the Spartans in the District 8 tournament, as they were defeated 54-45 by DJD in the semifinals. Denver Waldorf did bounce back to claim third with a 58-50 win over Flatirons Academy. Aly Sakho averages a double-double for the Spartans, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds a game. The 6’7” senior owns a triple-double this season, tallying 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a win over Flatirons Academy on Feb. 6th. Dylan Quinn also averages double figures in points, pumping in better than 15 a night.
Like Haxtun, Merino used its regular season schedule in the LPAA to build up its RPI and prepare for a postseason run. The Rams were only one game out of the cellar in that tough league, but came on strong in the final week of the season, drubbing Briggsdale by 40 points and closing out with a nice win at 2A Wiggins. They would win all three games in their District 4 championship run by at least 15 points. The Rams are trying to get back to state to improve upon last year’s 1-2 performance. Their three games were decided by a total of 14 points.
Stratton/Liberty has had some bi-polar performances throughout the season, looking both very good and very bad, sometimes in the same game. That was the case for the Knighted Eagles in the District 5 title game against Haxtun. The fourth place team out of the mixed Union Pacific was held scoreless for the first nine minutes of that game, and trailed 19-2 early in the second quarter. They would rally back within seven early in the fourth, trail by close to 20 later in the frame, and finish with a seven-point deficit. Jaret Lichty and Ashtin Davidson are both capable of going off for 25 points on any given occasion, but Stratton/Liberty’s best success comes when it’s third and fourth scorers are stepping up and relieving the pressure on those two. Trevor Frank, Alex Cruz, and Jon Gallardo have filled those roles of late.
Bracket Three
12:30pm #4 Denver Jewish Day (17-5) vs #9 Idalia (11-11)
winner plays #3 Briggsdale (18-4) 8:15pm Saturday
The district semifinal loss to Longmont Christian nearly cost Briggsdale a first round bye this weekend, as the Falcons only finished a small fraction ahead of Denver Jewish Day in the RPI. As Wyatt Patton goes, so go the Falcons, and in that district loss, he struggled. The high-scoring senior was held to 12 points and he committed 10 turnovers. Patton responded with a 26-point effort in the third place game against Peetz, and the Falcons won 76-55 after opening up a 35-9 first quarter lead. Braden Krise and Malik Carlson are threats on the perimeter, while Ty Dill and Luke Lambertson handle the bulk of the work in the paint.
Denver Jewish Day opened the season 1-2, but the Tigers then reeled off eight straight wins ahead of their loss to Denver Waldorf. They would add a four-game winning streak before the end of the regular season, and have another four-game streak snapped with the loss to Mile High Academy in the District 8 final. Jon Kochavi (18.3) and Eitan Kochavi (10.3) combine for more than 28 points, and they also snag more than 19 rebounds between them. Freshman point guard Gavin Foonberg adds another eight points and close to four assists.
Idalia won the YWKC league, and appeared to be on it’s way to the top seed for the District 5 tournament, but the Wolves closed the regular season 3-7. That put them in the bracket as the #3 seed. After picking up a win over Lone Star in the opening round, they found themselves in a shootout with Stratton/Liberty in the semifinals. Four Wolves would score double figures, with three recording double-doubles, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 70-67. Caleb Wingfield, who led the team with 19 points and 12 boards in that loss, put Idalia on his back the following night. Down by 15 late in the third, the senior guided his squad back to a 68-62 win, scoring a career-high 30 points in the game. Yahir Enriquez, Dax Towns, and Talon Glanz give the Wolves four solid options on offense.
REGION THREE – LA JUNTA HIGH SCHOOL (FRIDAY AND SATURDAY)
Bracket One
6:30pm #2 Pikes Peak Christian (13-9) vs #3 South Baca (11-9)
winner plays #1 Kit Carson (20-1) 6:30pm Saturday
Each of the brackets in Region 3 have a representative from each of the three districts, giving each district an opportunity to get all of its teams to state. Kit Carson is the top overall seed for the region after winning both the High Plains league and District 2. The Wildcats have won 20 straight games after dropping the season opener against 2A Limon 50-38. Twelve of those wins have been against teams still playing this weekend. Sullivan Farmer (13.0) and Jayden McCombs-Farmer (12.4) combine for more than 25 points, but the team has four more players averaging between five and seven points.
Pikes Peak Christian had a share of the Black Forest lead until the final week of the regular season, when consecutive losses to Evangelical Christian and Edison would leave them in third. The Eagles had a chance to avenge one of those defeats after beating Genoa-Hugo 39-38 in the District 7 semifinals, but they would again come up short against ECA. Six players score at least five points a game for the Eagles, with three in double figures. Ethan Moore leads the way at 13 points a night, followed by Ben Schneider and Uriah Wehner, each at 11 a contest. Wehner grabs a team-best 8.4 rebounds a game.
Thanks to a 67-point effort from Shadow Varnado in a 92-91 OT loss in early February, folks all around the state took the time to find out where South Baca was located. The Patriots would go on to lose their next two games after that contest, but finished the season with wins in four of their last five games. The Patriots were third in the Ark Valley, and added a third place finish in the District 3 tournament to keep their season alive. Joining Varnado (25.1) as a double digit scorer is freshman Ryan Varnado, who pumps in more than 14 a game.
Bracket Two
3:30pm #2 Cheraw (15-7) vs #3 Genoa-Hugo (12-9)
winner plays #1 Walsh (19-2) 3:30pm Saturday
This might be the toughest three team bracket in regionals, with a Cheraw team that pushed Kit Carson twice, losing by three points each time, and Walsh, who has won 15 straight since losing to Kit Carson by five in December. Genoa-Hugo has struggled at times, but has a ton of postseason experience under coach Jason Smith.
With its 57-52 loss to Kit Carson in the finals of the Lamar Holiday Tournament, Walsh stood at 4-2 heading into the holiday break. In the 15 games since, the Eagles have only had six games decided by single digits. Half of those were against out of state opponents, and the other half were the last three played by Walsh. They won the Ark Valley title with a 74-48 victory over Kim/Branson, but just two weeks later, the Eagles escaped with a 46-44 win over the Mustangs to claim the District 3 crown. Rylan McCall, Dylan Renquist, Brennan Hodges, and Coy McDonald were the top four scorers from last year’s team that went 0-2 at state and the four seniors are looking to make a return trip to improve on that performance.
As already mentioned, Cheraw has a pair of three-point losses to Kit Carson on its record, and those are the only two blemishes in the last eight games for the Wolverines. They finished third in the High Plains, but avenged an eight-point loss to Cheyenne Wells in the regular season by beating the Tigers 50-30 in the District 2 semis. The Wolverines have played nine games decided by single digits. They are just 3-6 in those contests.
Genoa-Hugo took a 4-1 record into the break, but quickly dropped to .500 with three straight losses to open January. The Pirates would hit their stride, winning six of their next eight, but a lopsided loss at Kit Carson late in the regular season would lead to a 2-3 mark to finish the season. They picked up a 47-44 OT win over Edison in the District 7 third place game to give themselves a shot to make the state field for the second time in three years.
Bracket Three
12:30pm #2 Kim/Branson (17-4) vs #3 Granada (6-16)
winner plays #1 Evangelical Christian (18-3) 12:30pm Saturday
Evangelical Christian made its first 1A state appearance last year and the Eagles bounced back from an opening round loss to Haxtun to claim the consolation championship with wins over Prairie and Kit Carson. The Eagles got out of the gates fast this season, winning their first seven games. They would lose two of their next three, including a 55-53 decision to Edison that would eventually cost them the Black Forest title. ECA enters the regional round having won 10 of its last 11, and earning the District 7 crown along the way. Jason Holt is a 20-point a night scorer for the Eagles, and Sam Mote adds better than 12 a game.
Walsh is the only in-state foe to own a win over Kim/Branson, as the other two losses by the Mustangs came by four to Raton (NM) and Felt (OK) by six and nine points, respectively. Travis Hamilton and Elijah Aragon both score 10 points a night to lead a very deep squad, with seven more players averaging at least four points a game. Aragon also plays the role of the distributor, handing out close to six assists every outing.
With legendary head coach Manuel Gonzales, Sr. having already announced his retirement, the Granada Bobcats are trying to keep him employed for another week. They bought him one more week by taking third in District 2 last week, bumping off Cheyenne Wells 64-60 in double overtime last Saturday. The Bobcats have only won consecutive games once this season, and endured an 11-game losing streak at one point. Dominic Coleman (20.1) and John Hainer (10.3) give Granada a strong outside-inside attack. They also combine for more than 17 boards a game.
