As we stated with our story on Class 1A boys, Colorado Preps is doing things differently concerning rankings this year. Instead of posting top 10 teams in the state, we’ll do a weekly check on the post-season layout and make our projections on the district qualifiers and regional tournament pairings.
In Class 1A girls’ basketball, there are three regions that will qualify eight teams to the state tournament. Each week, we’ll project the two games inside Region 1A and then layout the pairings for the nine-team events in Regions 2A and 3.
So here’s our first look at potential regional brackets for Class 1A girls’ basketball. In laying out brackets in Regions 2 and 3, please keep in mind that seeding committees will use RPI and try to prevent district matchups in the opening round.
CLASS 1A — REGION 1
It appears through the early going that a total of six teams are battling for the four available regional berths. North Park and DeBeque appear to be 1-2 in District 1 while Dove Creek may be a factor in the end. Belleview Christian (6-2), Front Range Baptist (5-2) and Cornerstone Christian (4-3) are the only three teams with winning records in District 8 so they could be the favorites at this point.
In District 1, North Park is our top seed. The Wildcats were unbeaten before falling to 2A Vail Christian last week. They also have a 59-44 win over DeBeque so they have the advantage in head-to-head as well. DeBeque also has a win over Dove Creek so we put the Dragons in second based on that win.
In District 8, we’re taking Front Range Baptist as the top seed as even though they have one fewer win than Belleview Christian, the Falcons have played a stronger schedule including a win over 2A West Grand. Belleview Christian keeps the number two seed ahead of Cornerstone Christian.
Projected Regional Pairings
#1 North Park vs #2 Belleview Christian
#1 Front Range Baptist vs #2 DeBeque
CLASS 1A — REGION 2
Our top three seeds for the region are all located in District 4 as Fleming, Briggsdale and Heritage Christian seem to have the early advantage on all other possible qualifiers. The Wildcats are the number one seed from District 4 based on a head-to-head win over Briggsdale but that could change as the teams will for a second time later in the season. Heritage Christian cannot be overlooked as the Eagles have wins over West Grand and Estes Park and they played well in a loss to 3A ranked Resurrection Christian. They’re a very good third seed from the district.
In District 5, Arickaree/Woodlin has losses to Briggsdale and Kit Carson but has also beaten district rivals Idalia, Bethune and Flagler/Hi Plains. Based on head-to-head the Indians take the top seed there. Idalia has beaten Flagler/Hi Plains and Genoa Hugo twice along with Caliche. Otis is our pick as the third seed as the Bulldogs suffered three of their four losses to 2A opponents. Flagler/Hi Plains though could sneak in ahead of Otis by February.
In District 7, Elbert (3-5) has the most wins but we place the Bulldogs behind Kiowa (1-4) for the top spot. All four losses by Kiowa are to 2A opponents plus they have a win over Flagler/Hi Plains. Elbert has yet to post what we would consider a quality so they drop to number two. Scheduling also plays a role in putting winless Genoa Hugo (0-8) as the third seed as we believe their rugged slate will get them over the hump in the district tournament.
Projected Regional Pairings
#4 Arickaree/Woodlin vs #9 Genoa Hugo — winner plays #3 Heritage Christian
#5 Idalia vs #8 Elbert — winner plays #2 Briggsdale
#6 Otis vs #7 Kiowa — winner plays #1 Fleming
CLASS 1A — REGION 3
Three likely regional qualifiers are still unbeaten on the season so it’s easy to put Kit Carson (7-0), Kim/Branson (9-0) and Sangre De Cristo (7-0) as our top three seeds overall. They’re also in different districts so right now they’re favored to land district championships as well.
Behind Kit Carson in District 2 are four teams that will likely battle throughout the season for better seeding in the district tournament. McClave (5-2), Eads (6-2), Cheraw (4-4) and Cheyenne Wells (4-3) all have enough talent to reach the regional round. McClave has a win over Eads so we put the Cardinals second in the district with the Eagles third. We also put Eads 9th in the regional pairings below and that shows the depth of the bracket as the Eagles are ranked in the top 10 statewide this week.
Holly (6-2), Springfield (4-3), South Baca (4-2) and Wiley (4-4) could have a similar race for the final two spots behind Kim/Branson in District 3. They’re closely bunched together right now and will probably stay that way through many head-to-head battles on the season. Holly (6-2) has the best record of the bunch so they’re our pick as #2 in the district with Springfield #3 based on wins over South Baca and Wiley.
In District 7, it appears Sangre De Cristo, Antonito (4-2) and La Veta (5-1) have separated a bit from the pack. Sangre De Cristo edged Antonito 46-45 in week one with a second meeting set for February 10th. Antonito’s second loss came to Kim/Branson last week 52-42. La Veta has won three straight after a loss to Kim/Branson.
Others in contention include Cotopaxi, Sierra Grand and possibly Creede but the Miners have already lost to Sangre De Cristo and Cotopaxi by a combined 65 points. Sierra Grande fell to Antonito by 26 and Cotopaxi suffered a 10-point loss to La Veta.
Projected Regional Pairings
#4 Antonito vs #9 Eads — winner plays #3 Sangre De Cristo
#5 Holly vs #8 La Veta — winner plays #2 Kim/Branson
#6 Springfield vs #7 McClave — winner plays #1 Kit Carson
